World champs again, and Bazball is here!

RARELY has English cricket experienced in fortunes such a profound shift as it did in 2022, a year that began in the throes of recrimination and ended in the glow of revolution.

The men's Test team has been energised in barely believable fashion by the inspired leadership of Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes, while their white-ball counterparts are now double world champions after adding the T20 crown to their 50-over title.

In the women's game, Heather Knight's side look set for a bold new chapter of their own, with a handful of rising stars emerging and a fresh face behind the scenes in Jon Lewis.

It was impossible to envisage such a positive landscape when the annual fireworks erupted over Sydney on January 1, with the Ashes already surrendered during a bruising Boxing Day Test.

England scraped a draw at the SCG, succumbed to an all-too-familiar batting collapse in Hobart and headed to the departures lounge with a humbling 4-0 defeat and the entire eco-system of the professional game in the sniper's sights.

The blood-letting which followed was thorough, with head coach Chris Silverwood and director of cricket Ashley Giles first to be ushered out of the door. Both had seen their tenures marred by the constraints and complications of Covid-19 but neither proved up to the demands of their respective offices.