CMS International Cricket Awards 2019.

[Durhamfootman]

20 mins past my bedtime. Arthur needs to sack Gervais for next year.... he does seem to go on a bit.... and not even particularly funny..... money for old rope!

[Durhamfootman]

he certainly doesn't seem to represent value for money..... a bit like test cricket according to the ECB

[Durhamfootman]

maybe Arthur should consider doing the gags himself... he'd be much better than Ricky the knob

[Durhamfootman]

and more concise too

with better articulated material

[Arthur Crabtree]

In the World Cup in June one bowler above all others dominated the event, his 27 wickets way ahead of the rest; a victim with every twenty balls. As in the World Cup of 2015, MITCHELL STARC was nasty, brutish and unstoppable. Along the way he took a five wicket haul against the West Indies, four to best competition winners England at Lord's. And again at Lord's, he produced the magic that takes the Best Bowling in an ODI category, with 9.4-1-26-5 to overcome eventual finalists New Zealand. The Kiwis were posed a gettable target of 244. At 97 for 2, Starc plucked out Kane Williamson (for the first time in ODIs) for 40 and took five of the last eight wickets to fall as New Zealand lost 8-60.

The competition for Best Innings in an ODI is intense this year because there were so many great knocks at the World Cup last summer. The winner of Best Innings in an ODI in 2019 is a classic; BEN STOKES' 84* not out in the final versus New Zealand. As the competition progressed, there was a sensation of a gathering providence around Ben Stokes. An aura was accumulating like a raincloud in a tropical storm. He scored 82*, 89, 79 as the group games ran down and England were in danger of being squeezed out of the competition. As the nation watched the final on Channel 4, destiny split the heavens. Just when it looked like England had blown it. Chasing 242 to win, England were 86-4. Stokes and Jos Buttler (59) saw England to 196-4 before Buttler perished. England needed only 44, but the other end just couldn't stick with him. All the pressure was on Stokes as he saw his team to a...tie. With the last man run out! Which proved to be just about enough.

[Arthur Crabtree]

This is taking longer than I was expecting! I'll do a couple more and then leave the players of the year until tomorrow.

[bigfluffylemon]

I didn't vote for either of those, but they were in my top 3, and worthy winners for sure.

Boult's 5-21 v India was also an honourable mention for me.

Love your work Arthur.

[Durhamfootman]

Love your work Arthur.

hear him!

[Arthur Crabtree]

Best Test match of the year was unanimous, and so that means the second miracle of Headingley, ENGLAND'S WIN IN LEEDS AGAINST AUSTRALIA, BY ONE WICKET. It levelled the series at 1-1 and kept the Ashes alive. England won after being bowled out for 67 in their first innings by Cummings, Hazlewood and Pattinson. They were set 359 runs to win, which would easily be the biggest total of the match. That just never happens. And the game moved towards its predictable conclusion as if mounted on rails. England were 159-4 and struggling. Jonny Bairstow kept Ben Stokes company for a while as England dug in, but then he went at 245-5, the lower order was blown away like sand in the Sirocco. Buttler, (1), Woakes (1), Archer (15) and Broad with a two ball duck. Jack Leach was batting below Stuart Broad. Surely any illusory hope had vanished.

There were three great factors that wrenched the wheel towards England. Stokes' blocking the previous day and and the morning of the last day. His amazing hitting as the lower order was scattered, with eight sixes. And finally, and perhaps most endearingly, Jack Leach holding an end up for Stokes, while the last 76 runs were made for the final wicket. It is a truth that is so undeniable that it is now a cliche, that one of the most fascinating aspects of the game is that many of its most crucial passages display batters in the most intense of situation purveying a skill for which they have very little aptitude. The bowlers bat at the end. Headingley had that in spades. Well done to Ben Stokes. But well done too to Jack Leach. This was England's biggest ever winning run chase. And at least arguably, their best.

After being bowled out for 67. That's what Test cricket can do.

[Durhamfootman]

that's what 4 day test cricket can do

cheers Arthur and thanks for taking this on..... I'll be back for tomorrow's rain reserve day to see the conclusion

[Arthur Crabtree]

And Ben Stokes of course features prominently in the best ODI of 2019 vote. But this wasn't a clean sweep in the vote, because the competition was strong. The winner was the World Cup final, as ENGLAND BEAT NEW ZEALAND by... by what? The match was a tie. The superover was a tie. England won by more boundaries over the whole month of the competition. Who even knew matches were decided by that?

As so often, it's the smallish totals that bring on the most anxious of conclusions. And England's journey to equal New Zealand's 241-8 was labyrinthine and fraught. In such a close game it feels like every twist was overwhelmingly crucial, but Trent Boult carrying a catch over the boundary off Stokes' bat, and Stokes unknowingly deflecting four overthrows via his hip pocket, seem the most laden with significance. It's tempting to read the game as another ballsy run chase by Ben in a year when it seemed that doing exactly that was his reason for living. But of course it was twice a tie. Just as much New Zealand stopped England from overhauling their total. Trent Boult had two runs to play with in the last two balls of the fifty overs and Adil Rashid was run out for a single and then Mark Wood was run out for a single too.

Half an hour later, New Zealand were beaten by stats. How so like cricket. A marriage of convenience between the thrilling and the arcane.

[Arthur Crabtree]

I'm surrounded by sleeping celebrities. Join me tomorrow for the five Test players of the year. The five ODI players of the year. And the overall cricketer of 2019.

Thanks for your company.

[Durhamfootman]

keep going Arthur.... I'm back; rested and raring to go.... bring on the salmon en croute, the perrier and the tombola

[Arthur Crabtree]

I'll just finish this George Formby film then I'll get back into the penguin suit.

[Arthur Crabtree]

So it's Friday afternoon and we're back for the major awards apart from the members of the 1989 Australian Ashes squad who just carried on drinking throughout the night and are currently sledging all the other tables for being insufficiently macho. We move onto our five Test cricketers of the year. And again, the Australian influence here is strong.

Mayanka Agarwal (India). For the world's best Test side, India have been lightly covered so far this year. Mayank only made his debut last Boxing Day against Australia in an opening spot that had seen a lot of change in the last couple of years. He made 76 and 42 at the MCG, then 77 at the SCG. Runs in Australia mean a lot for touring sides. After a quiet time in West Indies, he announced himself with 215 against South Africa in Visakhapatnam then a follow up ton in Pune. A double hundred against Bangladesh gave him his second 200+ knock of the year, both in under six hours. Nearly 29, he has waited for his chance. He was India's leading run scorer in 2019, so he seems to have nailed it.