Ben Duckett is voted the 2016 Specsavers County Championship best batsman, as we look at four contenders from a new generation that rose to prominence in this summer...
KEATON JENNINGS
Perhaps the story of the season, not least because his previous best return was 707 in 2013. This year, Jennings broke new ground with 1548 Championship runs, with a rather ridiculous seven (7!) hundreds helping him to an average of 64.50. He proved crucial to Durham’s survival and is benefitting from greater clarity at the crease.
BEN DUCKETT
“Freakish”. That is the word that sums up Ben Duckett’s season, both against the red and white ball. As well as leading Division Two with 1338 runs, he showed that there is a place in the long-form grind for a short-form tyro. At times, he looked invincible, with a season strike rate a touch under 80. Remarkably, of his four hundreds, two were doubles and the lowest was 185. Unsurprisingly, England came calling…
NICK GUBBINS
His massive contribution in the final match of the season proved pivotal to Middlesex clinching the Specsavers County Championship. 1409 runs compiled at a healthy average of 61.25 with four hundreds repaid the faith of Angus Fraser who chose not to retain the services of Chris Rogers in part to give Gubbins his opporunity at the top of the order. A winter with England Lions beckons and who knows what the future may hold for this well organised left hander.
HASEEB HAMEED
What a year it has been for Hameed. Normally, a 19-year-old might be chuffed with commanding a regular spot in his county’s 1st XI. Not Hameed. In August, he became Lancashire’s youngest cricketer to reach 1,000 Championship runs, taking the record off Michael Atherton. That milestone came up during a match against Yorkshire, in which Hameed became the first Lancastrian to score hundreds in both innings of a Roses match. The cherry on top was an England call-up to the winter tours to Bangladesh and India. Safe to say he won't forget this summer in a hurry!