If you support anyone but England, 2016 got off to a terrible start, with their away win in South Africa, and a series against Sri Lanka which was so one sided I hadn't remembered the third Test was a draw (which meant England didn't win any of their London tests this year). Fortunes picked up in mid summer as Pakistan took the lead at Lord's and then came back to draw 2-2 at the Oval.
The year closed gloriously with a 1-1 draw in Bangladesh and a solid thumping in India which brought great pressure to bear on Alastair Cook's captaincy. And a variety of other perks: the calamitous malfunctioning of the spin attack; a put-upon and irritable pace offensive; an abysmally selected squad of batters that requires yet another overhaul before the summer; and some clumsy wicket keeping. A little of something for everyone.
Probably best not go near the ODI team. Or the T20 side. Apart from that over from Ben Stokes in the WCT20, erm, final.
Here is the year. Starting with the Against England Team of the Year.
1. Tamim Iqbal. A star performer against England over his career. His average of 61.3 is the best of any Asian batter against England other than Mohammad Yousuf (minimum 500 runs). He comes eighth out of players from all countries, just behind Viv Richards and Brian Lara, and ahead of Rahul Dravid and, um, Colin Bland. His wristy manipulation of the England spinners, to off and leg would have been a delight, had it not been at 3 or 4 am.
Two Tests: 281 runs at 57.8. One hundred, one fifty.
2. Murali Vijay. A stylish opening bat underrated by his own fans and who mysteriously never attracts even one millibar of hype. Quite a pleasing driver on the front foot, but at times, it seems his qualities are invisible to the internet, almost as if he was a New Zealander.
Five Tests: 357 runs at 44.6. Two hundreds.
3. Hashim Amla. Unfortunately, Amla's potent mystique as a scholarly and spiritual master rarely survives an interview. Or last year, a spell as South Africa's captain. But he was cherishable in his prowess for seeing off a volley of robust sledging by the English press, who sensed his weakness after a poor first Test in Durban at the end of a disappointing year. Amla hit back with a dogged double century in Cape Town and a fluent ton in Centurion. Job done.
Four Tests: 470 runs at 67.1. Two hundreds, one fifty.
4. Virat Kohli. No one in cricket got better media in 2016. In a wider context, he came only second to David Bowie. By the time Kohli got around to swatting the England bowlers from his perch on top of the Empire State Building, the India captain had already attained the status of an inexorable superhero. Sadly, England weren't able to offer the kind of opposition that did justice to his instantaneous legend. Crushing the England spinners was a bit like Sherlock Holmes arresting some fly tippers. His interest in the mind games was a nice homage to Saurav Ganguly and sketched in a little interesting backstory.
Five Tests: 655 runs at 109.2. Two hundreds, two fifties.