Friday 22 December 2017 13:26, UK
Our review of 2017 continues with a look at the highs and lows from the ICC Champions Trophy, the Women's Cricket World Cup, Essex's County Championship win, Notts' white ball double and an English invasion at another action-packed IPL...
The top-eight teams in the world arrived in England for the eighth edition of the ICC Champions Trophy in early June with England, Australia, India, South Africa the sides supposed to be fighting it out for the top prize. However, after 18 days and 15 matches, it was little-fancied Pakistan left holding the trophy.
Written off after a dismal display and a heavy defeat to India in their opening game, Pakistan roared back, reeling off four straight wins to defy all expectations and emerge as champions.
They did it the hard way, too. Needing a victory over South Africa to stay alive in the tournament, they obliged. Seven wickets down and with 75 runs still needed against Sri Lanka, they recovered to win. Hosts England stood in their way in the semi-final and they eased past the well-fancied tournament favourites.
And Finally, Pakistan faced rivals India with their 124-run defeat still fresh in the mind. However, Sarfraz Ahmed's side overcame the odds once again, beating India by 180 runs to complete a fairy-tale triumph for the lowest-ranked side in the competition.
Elsewhere, India batsman Shikhar Dhawan claimed the Golden Bat as the leading run scorer in the tournament with 338 runs, while Hasan Ali's 13 wickets saw him finish the tournament as the leading wicket-taker. Both were named in the team of the tournament which was as follows: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (c), Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wkt), Hardik Pandya, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Hasan Ali, Jasprit Bumrah.
Other memorable moments included brilliant hundreds from Joe Root and Ben Stokes as England continued their improvement in white-ball cricket under Eoin Morgan, Bangladesh reaching the semi-finals for the first time, the weather woes of Australia and Sri Lanka's epic chase against India.
We move on to another international tournament held in England, the Women's Cricket World Cup. And much in the same way as Pakistan, England Women recovered from an opening defeat to go on and lift the trophy in front of over 26,000 at Lord's and 100 million people around the world to complete what was a remarkable few weeks for the women's game.
It all started for England in Derby but an expectant crowd went home disappointed as India beat the hosts by 35 runs. They did not dwell on the defeat though as captain Heather Knight (106) and Natalie Sciver (137) joined forces against Pakistan, blasting their maiden ODI tons in a brilliant stand of 213 in 30 overs as England amassed their highest World Cup score, and second-best ever, of 377-7 on their way to a comprehensive victory.
A win over Sri Lanka followed before more fireworks with the bat, this time from Sarah Taylor (147), who pummelled her sixth ODI ton while sharing a World Cup-record stand of 275 with Beaumont (148) in Bristol as England blasted 373-5 in beating South Africa.
The nerves then jangled as England edged out old rivals Australia in a see-saw contest at Bristol with Jenny Gunn holding her nerve in the final over with the ball, limiting the Aussies to 12 of the 16 runs they required. New Zealand were then swept aside to book a semi-final spot before England finished the group stage with victory over T20 world champions West Indies.
England almost slipped up as South Africa bravely defended a modest total of 219, taking the game down to the final over before Anya Shrubsole struck the match-winning boundary with two balls left to bring us back to that brilliant day at Lord's in July.
In front of a sell-out Lord's crowd, England seemed to be heading toward defeat as India found themselves well-placed at 191-3, chasing 229 to win, in the 43rd over. But Shrubsole (6-46) had other ideas, taking five of the next seven wickets to fall as India were bowled out for 219 in the penultimate over of a thrilling finish.
The multi-format Women's Ashes followed for Knight's side and while they could not follow up their World Cup win by bringing the urn home, they showed an excellent spirit to fight back and draw the series. There were also more firsts for women's cricket with the first day-night Test taking place at the North Sydney Oval.
England finished a brilliant year by picking up the Team of the Year award at the BBC Sports Personality awards. There was also recognition for Shrubsole's performance as she was nominated for the main Sports Personality of the Year award and they were both very much deserved to cap what was a brilliant year for the team and the women's game.
The only way was Essex in the County Championship as Ryan ten Doeschate led the county to their first title since 1992.
Newly promoted from Division Two, Essex were not in many people's thoughts when the pre-season predictions were going around but they went through the season unbeaten, winning 10 of their 14 games as they scooped the trophy for the first time in 25 years.
Alastair Cook, Tom Westley, James Foster and Simon Harmer all played their part but two of the standout performers were Dan Lawrence and Jamie Porter, who both won prestigious Cricket Writers' Club awards.
What an incredible story. The year before I felt they were too good a side to be in division two with some of the players they had. They’d been under-performing for years but no-one really thought they’d win it. I felt they’d stay up but to go on and win it was an absolutely outstanding performance. Nobody gave them a chance but they played absolutely brilliant cricket.
Lawrence, who scored 761 runs at an average of almost 45, was named the CWC Young Cricketer of the Year, while Porter, who took 75 wickets at under 17, picked up the County Championship Player of the Year award.
At the bottom of the table, relegation was decided on the final day of the season or was it? In a winner-takes-all clash, Middlesex were relegated one year after winning the title after losing to Somerset, who climbed out of the bottom two to finish a point above them.
However, that was not the end of the matter with Middlesex appealing to the ECB against their relegation after controversially being deducted two points for a slow over-rate during their game against Surrey in August - a match most remembered for a crossbow bolt being fired onto the pitch and causing play at the Kia Oval to be abandoned.
There were threats of legal action from Somerset as the appeal was considered but Middlesex's relegation stood as they joined Warwickshire in dropping down into the second tier.
Talking of Division Two, Worcestershire and Notts' battle for the title went down to the wire. Worcestershire eventually came out on top with Joe Leach's side sealing the trophy in the final session of the season.
White ball cricket was all about one team in 2017 - Nottinghamshire!
In the 50-over format, runs were the order of the day and it was fireworks all the way from the Notts Outlaws batting line-up. They posted 429-9 in the quarter-final at Taunton with Brendan Taylor (154 from 97) top scoring in what was an 834-run thriller. And they needed every run as Somerset fell just short in reply (405 all out) in what was a bonkers game.
Notts were a fantastic side, they really were. They were by far the best white ball side. From one to 11 they had star names, guys with points to prove.
Having posted a mammoth score three days earlier, Notts then chased one down at Chelmsford in the last four, toppling Essex's 370-5 with three balls remaining to complete the highest successful run chase in an English 50-over game, beating Hampshire's 359-8 against Surrey in 2005.
Surrey were the opponents in the final at Lord's and Notts needed a superb knock from Alex Hales to secure victory after Mark Stoneman's superb 144no helped the Brown Caps post 297-9 from their 50 overs. Hales was in imperious form, striking a career-best, unbeaten 187 off 167 balls to guide the Outlaws to a four-wicket victory and the first silverware of the season.
In the T20 Blast, there may have been a change of captain as Dan Christian replaced Chris Read, but the result was much the same for the Outlaws.
Edgbaston put on a magnificent show. I thought it was a spectacular Finals Day.
Peter Moores' side topped the north group before toppling Somerset once again in the quarter-finals with Samit Patel's quick-fire 45 proving crucial in the five-wicket win at Trent Bridge. Onto Finals Day at Edgbaston and Notts booked a meeting with the Birmingham Bears in the final after beating Hampshire by 23 runs in the second semi-final thanks to superb spells from Steven Mullaney (3-22) and Harry Gurney (3-19).
Before the final there was the traditional Mascot Race which was won for the second successive year by Alfred the Gorilla from Gloucestershire, and who can forget Andrew Flintoff, dressed as Elvis, taking a tumble while performing 'Sweet Caroline' as a duet with David 'Bumble' Lloyd. Anyway, back to the cricket and Gurney was back in the wickets, bagging 4-17 as Nottinghamshire Outlaws completed a domestic one-day double with a 22-run victory over Birmingham Bears.
Outlaws posted 190-4 after rallying from 30-3 thanks to a fourth-wicket stand of 132 between Samit Patel (64no) and Brendan Taylor (65) after Chris Woakes (3-29) knocked over the top-order. Birmingham were in the hunt until the final overs thanks largely to Sam Hain (72 off 44 balls) before the hosts' challenge ended on 168-8 as Nottinghamshire added their first T20 title to the Royal London One-Day Cup triumph of July.
The involvement of England players at the IPL grew again this year and all-rounder Ben Stokes lived up to the billing of the most expensive player at the tournament.
There was somewhat of an English invasion at this year's tournament with all eight franchises boasting an England international - and between them, that contingent were certainly involved in some memorable moments.
Jos Buttler made a brilliant 77 from 37 balls, his maiden IPL half-century, Tymal Mills showed off his blistering pace and deceived many a batsman with his slower ball and Chris Woakes' wickets helped KKR secure a top-four place.
But it was Ben Stokes, bought for £1.7m, who won the hearts of the Indian public with a series of sensational displays for Rising Pune Supergiant.
The 26-year-old played 12 matches and smashed 316 runs at an average of 31.60, including a maiden T20 ton and took 12 wickets at 26.33 with a very good economy rate of 7.18.
Throw in some magical fielding and Stokes played a huge part in RPS' run to the final before missing the play-offs because of England duty.
In the final, it was Stokes v Buttler, Rising Pune Supergiant v Mumbai Indians but the England duo had to make do with watching a thriller on the sofa. And it was Buttler's side that went on to claim their third Indian Premier League crown with a one-run win in what was a final-ball thriller at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad.
Heading back to the international stage, there were positive signs for Pakistan off the field and Windies on the field.
International cricket returned to Pakistan for the first time since 2015 and only the second time since an attack on Sri Lanka's team bus in Lahore in 2009 with a World XI facing the hosts in a three-match T20I series.
In front of packed houses at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, there were jubilant scenes as Pakistan went on to secure a 2-1 series victory against a side led by Faf du Plessis and featuring Hashim Amla, Tim Paine, Grant Elliot, Darren Sammy and Thisara Perera.
There were more positive signs for cricket in Pakistan when Sri Lanka returned for the first time since their team bus was attacked in Lahore in March 2009 - an atrocity which left eight people dead and seven Sri Lanka players and their staff injured. Fans arrived hours early at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.to witness Pakistan's first home match against a major national team in eight years and in front of a capacity 23,000, the hosts secured a 3-0 Twenty20 series whitewash following a 36-run victory.
Shoaib Malik, the only player from either side to have featured in the fateful 2009 Lahore Test, smashed a 24-ball 51 with five boundaries and two sixes, while pace bowler Mohammad Amir, playing his first international match before his home crowd, then finished with a career-best 4-13.
Meanwhile, England may have secured a 2-1 Test series victory over Windies, but there were encouraging signs for the tourists, who were given hope by Hope with a brilliant victory at Headingley.
Just over a week after they were hammered by an innings and 209 runs at Edgbaston in the first day-night Test held in England, Windies completed one of the most remarkable turnarounds in cricket as Shai Hope became the first man to hit two centuries in a first-class match at Headingley to help his side secure a stunning five-wicket victory - their first in a Test in England since 2000.
It proved to be only a small step in the right direction for the tourists with England recovering to claim a nine-wicket win at Lord's to seal the series but those people harbouring hopes for a strong Windies side will be buoyed by Hope's emergence.
