Twenty-twenty-four has been a banner year for Test cricket. If 2023 had been immortalised by an unforgettable Ashes series, this year the memorable results and surprises have sprung from all corners.
The year started with some unsettling news: South Africa picking a third XI squad to tour New Zealand because of a clash with their domestic Twenty20 league. Yet by the end of the 12 months, the Proteas had booked a place in the World Test Championship final by being the most consistent team for the year.
Travis Head, Jasprit Bumrah and Harry Brook headline our Test team of 2024.Credit: Aresna Villanueva
There are a few honourable mentions for players who contributed to those moments without making it into the team of the year. Shamar Joseph’s Gabba deliverance was the first of those, while in India Mitchell Santner beat the hosts’ spinners at their own game to hand New Zealand a mighty upset. And the stylish Rachin Ravindra’s time will surely come soon.
But the best players of 2024 gave us all plenty to remember beyond their raw numbers – winning matches, playing innings of top quality, or bowling spells of near unprecedented class.
1. Yashasvi Jaiswal
A superb first full year in Test cricket for Jaiswal, who confounded England on home soil and then proved his all-weather capability by coshing the Australians with a pair of sublime innings in Perth and Melbourne. Bats with real beauty but plenty of tempo at the top of the order for India, showcasing how much talent India have in their younger generations. Has plenty of scene-stealing attitude too. If he hadn’t been run out on day two at the MCG, he might still be batting now.
2. Kane Williamson
The irony of Williamson’s place in the team is that injury kept him out of New Zealand’s incredible triumph in India. But the marker of his quality is that he still topped 1000 runs for the year while playing just nine matches. This was his most prolific year since 2015, the only other occasion where Williamson has reached 1000. And it is a tribute to how Williamson has helped mould the Black Caps’ dressing room and culture that the team still thrived in his absence.
3. Joe Root
While Virat Kohli and Steve Smith wrestle with their limitations, Root has found a genuinely higher level as a senior pro in the Bazball England side, peeling off 1556 runs and six centuries, even allowing for a bountiful calendar of matches. While his sometime mentor Darren Lehmann has contended that Root is not in the top drawer because he is yet to make a century in Australia, the opportunity looms large next summer.
4. Harry Brook
Was recently ranked England’s top cricketer overall, and is now undisputed as one of the world’s most enthralling players to watch. Brook’s calculated aggression, which makes it extremely hard for bowlers to find a consistent line of attack to him, is a harbinger of the way Test batting is moving for many: there is evidence of his approach everywhere from Jaiswal to the Boxing Day debutant Sam Konstas. The test of bouncy Australian pitches will be endlessly watchable in 2025-26.
5. Travis Head
A relatively quiet year for Head until he detonated against India with a trio of powerful knocks in Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane. Those innings demonstrated why, despite low scores here and there, Head is the most dangerous counterpuncher in the game, able to hit good balls to the boundary with an insouciance that drives bowlers and captains mad. Australia resisted the temptation to move Head up to replace David Warner at the top of the order: that move was vindicated by these innings.
6. Jamie Smith
Clearly tired of the wicketkeeping debate between Jonny Bairstow and Ben Foakes, Brendon McCullum plucked Jamie Smith from county cricket at the start of the English summer even though he was not Surrey’s first-choice gloveman. England were rewarded with a series of hard-hitting, sensible innings and neat work behind the stumps that added considerably to the team’s balance. Given Ollie Pope’s ability to keep also, Smith may spend as much time with England as a batter as he has as a ’keeper, but he has earned the gloves here.
7. Ravindra Jadeja
Still arguably the best all-rounder in the game, and his contributions in Australia provided a reminder that Jadeja is not just an India-only performer. Increasing confidence in his output meant that Jadeja played more Tests in 2024 than in any other year of his career, and with 48 wickets and 527 runs, he is the ideal utility player for a Test match captain.
8. Gus Atkinson
With Australia in mind, England have searched far and wide for high pace options who stand a chance of doing better than the likes of Chris Woakes and Ollie Robinson. Atkinson consistently tops 140km/h, extracts steep bounce, and is a master of the wobble seam deliveries that tend to confound top players these days. Twelve wickets on Test debut at Lord’s upstaged the retiring Jimmy Anderson. Atkinson is also an excellent number eight batter, as a Test century against Sri Lanka attests.
9. Kagiso Rabada
South Africa’s spearhead is always an opponent to be reckoned with, and his high quality performances were among the biggest reasons for the Proteas’ qualification for the WTC decider. A haul of 34 wickets at 19.94 for the year took Rabada past 300 Test victims. By the metric of balls bowled, he is the quickest ever to the mark, beating the previous record set by Pakistan’s firebrand Waqar Younis. And at 29 there is plenty more to come from Rabada.
10. Jasprit Bumrah (c)
The outstanding bowler in the world and one of the greatest ever to play the game. After back surgery in 2023, Bumrah was having a very good year before he came to Australia, but it was here that he passed from great bowler to legend status by having arguably the best series ever by a visiting bowler in this country. Also filled in as captain for Rohit Sharma in Perth and led India with consummate skill. He should be India’s next long-term leader.
11. Matt Henry
A superbly skilful and persistent seam bowler who has risen in prominence ever since he found a way to stay consistently clear of injury. Made life almost unbearable for Australia early in the year, and did similarly well against England. Perhaps the best exponent of wobble seam bowling in the world.
12th man. Kamindu Mendis
A prolific year for Sri Lanka, and misses out on the top six largely because of the quality of others jostling for the proactive middle order role that Mendis has performed exceptionally well for his country.
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