2020: Big year for Joe Root, Tom Banton, Naseem Shah, Ben Stokes
Thursday 2 January 2020 09:54, UK
Cricket will have to go some in 2020 if it is to top 2019, a year in which England won the World Cup after a truly astounding final and Ben Stokes played one of the greatest Test innings in history.
That said, there is plenty to look forward to over the next 12 months, including men's and women's T20 World Cups as well as England trying to become a consistent force in the longest form.
Here is who could, should and, in some cases, needs to impress in 2020...
JOE ROOT
Root was all smiles in a blue kit in 2019 after playing a key role in England's World Cup victory - the Yorkshireman was his team's leading run-scorer on their way to a maiden global 50-over title - but while captaining the struggling Test side, he has frequently looked downbeat.
Root was unable to lead England to a series win last year, with his charges beaten in West Indies and New Zealand, and only managing a draw in the home Ashes. Ireland were overcome in the one-off Test at Lord's but even in that, England were razed for 85 before their bowlers bailed them out.
Questions have been asked of Root's captaincy abilities and handling of new pace ace Jofra Archer, while the large discrepancy between his batting average as skipper compared to when he was purely a player - 52.80 when not captain, 42.53 now he is - is often cited as a reason to relieve him of the top job and let him focus on being England's best batsman once again.
Managing director Ashley Giles has gone on record in saying that Root will lead England in the Ashes in 2021-2022 so maybe we won't see a swift change of captain, but Giles will want to see an upturn in Test results, starting in the rest of the series against South Africa and then at home to West Indies and Pakistan this summer, with plenty of World Test Championship points up for grabs.
Root's position in England's T20 side is also intriguing. He wants to be a fulcrum in all forms and was England's highest-scoring batsman when they made the final of the previous T20 World Cup in India in 2016. Yet he has been left out of their last two T20 squads, and Dawid Malan stole a march in New Zealand by tonking an England-record 51-ball century from the No 3 spot Root used to have an iron-clad grip on. Whether in Tests or T20, 2020 will be a year when Root's roles will be hotly debated.
TOM BANTON
Swashbuckling Somerset star Banton is another of Root's rivals for a T20 World Cup berth in Australia in November and will have ample opportunity to press his claims, including when he lines up for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL. The 21-year-old fired fleetingly in his debut England series in New Zealand, with a top score of 31 in three T20Is, though that was still enough time for the Kevin Pietersen comparisons to gather pace, particularly when he launched a monstrous six over the leg-side.
Banton - who pounded his maiden T20 century for Somerset last summer, in front of the Sky Sports cameras - smoked a half-century on his second Big Bash outing for Brisbane Heat in December, having drilled a 28-ball 80 in the Abu Dhabi T10 League a few weeks earlier. In 2020, he will hope to star for Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League, KKR in the IPL, Somerset in the Vitality Blast, and Welsh Fire in The Hundred. If he comes off regularly, it may be nigh on impossible for England to leave him out.
DANNI WYATT
England Women's T20 World Cup campaign, also in Australia, is just under two months away and if they are to claim the title for the first time since the inaugural staging in 2009, then Wyatt may need to give the innings a rollicking start. She is more than capable of it. The opener is one of only four women, along with West Indies' Deandra Dottin and Australia's Meg Lanning and Beth Mooney, to score two T20I hundreds, one against Australia and the other against India.
Wyatt has also totalled seven half-centuries, including one against Pakistan in Malaysia in a pre-Christmas whitewash, and should be one of the first names on new head coach Lisa Keightley's team sheet. Expect the 28-year-old to score a few as well as save a few with her electric fielding at backward point as England, runners-up in three of the last four events, look to topple hosts, favourites and four-time champs Australia.
NASEEM SHAH
Pakistan's ceaseless production line of talented fast bowlers has churned out another potential gem. Sixteen-year-old Naseem made his Test debut against Australia in November and David Warner - the youngster's maiden Test wicket - said the seamer was a "superstar" in the making. Naseem then became the second-youngest player and youngest-ever seamer to take a Test five-wicket haul when he bagged 5-31 against Sri Lanka in Karachi to help Pakistan win their return series on home soil.
It seems likely that, barring injury, he will test his mettle in English conditions when Pakistan play Root's men at Lord's, Old Trafford and Trent Bridge this summer but he could also come steaming in during the Under-19 World Cup in South Africa this month. Naseem - whose action is somewhat reminiscent of former England paceman Dominic Cork - was initially selected in Pakistan's squad but his success on the senior stage means his inclusion in the junior tournament is no longer certain.
HASSAN AZAD
Could a Karachi-born batsman be lining up against Pakistan in Test cricket? Leicestershire's Azad may need to have a quite spectacular first-class summer to force his way into the England XI, especially with his county residing in Division Two of the County Championship, but his stats and stamina are impressive. Azad topped the run-scoring charts in the second tier in 2019, with 1,189 in 14 matches at 54.04, including three hundreds and eight half-centuries, at a sedate strike rate of 41.57.
He's not flashy, loves a backs-to-the-wall innings, such as the six-and-a-half-hour 90 he scored against Derbyshire last term, and recently admitted that he does not care a jot if he gets through a session without scoring a run. He seems the sort of character England's batting order has been missing. The 25-year-old's career average stands at 50.27 from 24 fixtures and similar returns in 2020 could get him right in the shake-up to be England's next No 3 with Joe Denly not exactly in the first flush of youth.
BEN STOKES
If Stokes' 2020 is anything like his 2019, then surely he will have upgraded his OBE to a knighthood?! England's World Cup and Headingley hero had the year of his life but there is still plenty he can accomplish in the upcoming one. There is the T20 World Cup in November and helping England become 20-over kings as well as 50-over champions will be a high priority after the 2016 T20 showpiece when Carlos Brathwaite smashed him for four consecutive sixes in the final to win the trophy for West Indies.
We should also get a clearer idea of what Stokes' role in England's Test team is going forward - is he still a genuine all-rounder or is he now a batsman who bowls a bit due to his knee niggle? If it's the latter, which, on recent evidence, it very well might be and his workload is lessened, then he could be a strong candidate to become England Test captain with the hierarchy perhaps feeling the job would then not burn out the heartbeat of the side. For now, though, Root remains in charge.
Who are you looking forward to watching in 2020? Let us know on Twitter @SkyCricket.
