Top 5 cricketing disappointments of 2017

Every year brings along with it remarkable performances as well as its share of disappointments in every sport. And 2017 too belonged to many an outstanding achievement and personal milestones in cricket – Steven Smith, Virat Kohli and Rangana Herath to name a few – and a few disappointing outings. With a mountain of expectations from some veteran and senior players, some of them did not step up to the mark to provide the spark that their respective sides needed.

Sportskeeda notes five such cricketers on whom high hopes were attached, but they had little to show against their names.

1. Ajinkya Rahane

554 runs at 34.63 in 11 Tests

A key member of the Indian middle-order, Ajinkya Rahane had a rare rough patch in 2017. Having suffered a hand injury towards the end of last year, Rahane was brought back into the Test side for the India’s first Test of the year – against Bangladesh at Hyderabad – in place of his replacement, triple-centurion Karun Nair.

Rahane started with an 82 but contributions slowly began to dry up with the Tests against Australia, where he crossed fifty only once in seven innings.

Though he repaired the damage against Sri Lanka by getting a half-century and a hundred in their own backyard, he ended the year on a disappointing note with struggles against both pace and spin. Overall in 18 innings, he managed only 3 fifties and 1 hundred in Tests, whereas contrastingly, he averaged 48 in ODIs, a format not considered to be his forte.

2. Alastair Cook

Alastair Cook has not crossed fifty in his last ten innings

655 runs at 34.47 in 10 Tests

Regarded as England’s pillar at the top, Alastair Cook faltered each time when his team needed him most. With the inexperience of Keaton Jennings and Tom Westley at the start of the home summer and then Mark Stoneman and Dawid Malan – surprisingly, there was a place for James Vince too for the Ashes – Cook, as England’s most capped Test cricketer, had massive responsibility on his shoulders in all the games that England played this year.

The year began on a positive note with two crucial half-centuries in his first five innings, and soon came his fourth Test double hundred of 243 against West Indies at Edgbaston. But his form soon started fading away with failures in the remaining matches against West Indies and low scores against Australia in all three Tests thus far.

It was ten innings ago that Cook last crossed fifty with a highest of 37 since his second double ton at Edgbaston.

3. Tim Southee

The last time Tim Southee took a four-for in an ODI was in 2015

17 wickets at 43.35 in 14 ODIs

Tim Southee has formed a potent new ball pair along with Trent Boult and has tasted great success across formats in the last few years. With the rest of New Zealand’s bowlers lacking in experience, consistency from Boult and Southee is something which their team highly banks upon. But the latter has had a year to forget. Having played 14 ODIs in 2017, the best that Southee could manage was a haul of 3/45 in the Champions Trophy game against Bangladesh.

He repeatedly erred in line and length, often being punished for bowling either too short or too full. As a result, an unimpressive economy rate of 5.88 and a high strike rate of 44.24 defined the year for Southee. The last time he took four wickets in an innings was way back in 2015, when a career-best haul of 7/33 destroyed England in a World Cup encounter at Wellington.

4. Stuart Broad

Stuart Broad has struggled in the Ashes with his inability to generate pace

15 wickets at 39.48 in 10 Tests

England’s Ashes campaign Down Under was all about James Anderson and Stuart Broad in the fast bowling department. Like in their batting line-up, there was a fair bit of international experience missing from their bowlers too, with others like Jake Ball having played only three Tests before the Ashes started while Craig Overton and Tom Curran were yet to debut.

In the ten Tests that they have played thus far in 2017, Anderson has excelled tremendously by averaging a measly 16.86, having collected 51 wickets in the time period.

But Broad has failed to deliver away from home, unlike Anderson in the Ashes. While searching for swing and lateral movement on Australian surfaces offering pace and bounce, Broad has been found far short of his rhythm. The lack of pace generated off the seam has hurt England aplenty, and an average of 39.48 with not a single four-for this year are bad numbers to say the least.

5. Angelo Mathews

Sri Lanka's batting has suffered as a result of Angelo Mathews not scoring heavily in 2017

524 runs at 29.11 in 9 Tests

Yet another senior who fell short of expectations in 2017. The Sri Lankan batting order, sans Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, was heavily reliant on Angelo Mathews to deliver the goods. But persistent injuries to and lack of runs for Mathews has put further pressure on youngsters and inexperienced batsmen. He has failed to read spin – Ravindra Jadeja has dismissed him six times this year – and also been unable to encounter pace – he was dismissed all four times by pacers in two Tests in South Africa this year.

An unhealthy average of 29.11 has failed to instill the required confidence into the fresh legs coming into the team. And this year, there have been only two half-centuries and a solitary hundred from Mathews.