The England and Wales Cricket Board are asking for people to vote on who has been England\'s player of the summer, with two players nominated for the award so far.
Moeen Ali
It has been quite the summer for Moeen Ali, who continues to make his way in international cricket. It was in Test cricket that he shone brightest.
It was perhaps a shame that his best performance came in defeat. After a brace of fifties at Edgbaston against Pakistan – 63 and 86* – he hit a high class 108 to dig England out of a hole in the final Test.
Here's Moeen Ali's summer...
When he came to the crease on day one, his side were 110 for five, having already lost the top order with an earlier collapse of three wickets for just four runs. Ali ensured he batted all the way through until he was the last wicket to fall with 328 on the board.
Earlier in the summer, Ali hit an exceptional unbeaten 155 in the second Test at Durham against Sri Lanka.
That innings, featuring 17 fours and two sixes, allowed England to post 498 – Ali being the only century in the innings – thus putting pressure on Sri Lanka, who had to follow on. In the end, they completed a comprehensive nine-wicket win. Across the Test summer, 505 runs at 63.12 was a reminder of his talents.
With the ball, he managed 13 wickets, including a summer best of three for 88 in the second innings at Old Trafford against Pakistan. Here, he took five in the match, as England levelled the series 1-1. It was the Pakistan series where he garnered the most success with 11 wickets at 46.54.
James Anderson
t’s not often the guard between cricket’s oldest rivalry - that of England and Australia - is dropped and compliments gush forward from one side to the other.
But following James Anderson’s spellbinding performances for England against Sri Lanka, Australian legend Glenn McGrath was moved enough to predict that his Ashes counterpart would one day overhaul his record for the most Test wickets by a fast bowler.
The forecast was all the more complimentary when taking into consideration McGrath’s penchant for declaring his home nation to whitewash England in the Ashes. Anderson sits exactly hundred wickets away from matching McGrath’s feat and is three years younger than when the Aussie retired.
James Anderson's summer...
Anderson enjoyed a memorable opening series to the 2016 summer, picking up 18 wickets in the first two Tests, which resulted in him being propelled to the top of the ICC Test bowler rankings. It was the first time in the 34-year-old’s career that he’d been named the number one bowler in the world, as he moved ahead of India’s Ravichandran Ashwin and Pakistan’s Yasir Shah.
The Lancastrian starred with the ball at Leeds and Durham, providing masterful displays of swing bowling in perfect conditions to outfox the Sri Lankan batsmen, ensuring England won both matches.
Those victories gave England an unassailable two-nil lead going into the final Test, where Anderson claimed an extra three poles to finish the series with an astonishing bowling average of 10.80.
It was a remarkable period for Anderson, demonstrating his clinical ability with the ball and a renewed vigor as he called upon his 13 years of experience at international level. While injury prevented him from selection for the starting bout with Pakistan, he soon returned and was in among the wickets once more. His contribution to England’s thrilling win at Edgbaston saw him reclaim the top of the Test bowler chart, overtaking Ashwin.
Click here to cast your vote.
England's next challenge is the Royal London One-Day International Series against Pakistan which gets underway on Wednesday and concludes with the finale at The SSE SWALEC in Cardiff on Sunday September 4. Click here to secure your seats (adult tickets from £35).