Chris Tremlett: Ashes, England, Stokes and Broad in my 2023 review
The last 12 months haven’t, on the surface at least, been the best for England cricket. They’ve completed the year without a Test or T20I series win and their one-day World Cup performance in India was below par.
But there have been some astonishing moments across 2023 both for England and others. Here are my five top memories of the year.
Cricket at its best
Early on in the year we were glued to our screens as New Zealand looked to chase down England in Wellington having been forced to follow on by Test captain and Kiwi native Ben Stokes.
Who said Test cricket was boring? That was a Test match that would have converted anybody to the five-day format of the game.
Harry Brook continued his run of impressive innings with 186, Joe Root also added another century to his form book but Neil Wagner was England’s undoing in the final innings as New Zealand became just the second side to win a match by one run.
Test cricket like that is unmissable, it is captivating and it is gripping. And though England did not win the series, those close affairs are always a suitable consolation.
Stokes the fire
Of course the bulk of my moments relate to the greatest contest in cricket and one of the most revered in sport: the Ashes.
It was another drawn series for England but they extended their record of denying the Aussies a series win on our shores by another few years, which is always a good outcome when the win is not possible.
We knew we were in for a treat across the summer when Zak Crawley’s first ball went for four at Edgbaston and England later declared in Birmingham, but for me an Ashes moment that’s instilled into me from the summer was Stokes’ 155 at Lord’s.
It was the same day Jonny Bairstow was controversially given out for wandering out of his crease but with England chasing a fourth innings target of 370 to level the series Stokes stepped up.
His 155 turned a traditionally prim and proper Lord’s into a cauldron of atmosphere reminiscent of the World Cup final there in 2019.
Stokes whacked four nines and four sixes as he entertained the packed crowds.
And though it wasn’t quite good enough to take the win, Australia were victorious by 43, it put beyond doubt that Bazball was England’s preferred style no matter what.
That Test match should also be remembered for the heroics of Nathan Lyon to bat injured, those crucial runs certainly helped the tourists.
And it was also the Test when the Long Room of the Pavilion let itself down, and seeing members receive punishments for their unacceptable actions is the kind of proactiveness we need more of in cricket.
What Wood you do?
If Stokes set the tone at Lord’s, despite seeing England going 2-0 down in the five-Test series, Mark Wood certainly set the tone on the opening day of the third Test at Headingley.
I wrote at the time how England were missing a little bit of pace in their attack and Wood certainly provided that for England.
He was a man possessed and as a former bowler it was exactly the grit and determination I like to see in an Ashes series.
You can make a name for yourselves in the Ashes if you’re new to it all – which the pacer isn’t – but Wood made himself practically undroppable from that first day at Headingley. He was astonishing.
Broad’s England goodbye
And on pacers, I couldn’t possibly write this without discussing Stuart Broad. With over 600 wickets for his country he has been such a brilliant servant to England.
And at the Oval, with England needing a win to draw the series, it was written in the stars for him to have the perfect cricketing cameo.
He walloped the last international ball he ever faced for six runs and took the winning wicket to end a career on form.
It is easy to go on for too long and not know when your time is up, so for Broad to make that call and do it while putting in performance after performance is testament to his professionalism and capability. A retirement well earned.
Magic Maxwell
This year wouldn’t be complete without a mention for the one-day World Cup. Seeing Australia winning the women’s T20 tournament was hard enough but watching the men take England’s crown in India was painful, if not magical, to watch.
And Glenn Maxwell’s 200, practically on one leg due to immense pain, was nothing short of sensational.
With Australia in a hole against Afghanistan in Mumbai Maxwell stepped up and did the business.
It looked uncomfortable and painful for the Aussie but he hung in there and really put on a show, it was one of the great World Cup innings.
So there you have it, a year in cricket. And with a T20 World Cup heading to the United States for the first time and England facing India across five Tests on the subcontinent, we should be in for another stellar year.