Top 5 Test Debutants in 2018
It is that time of the year when we tend to look at some of the great performances which took place in the year which is about to end that is 2018. There were some really good Test matches this year which brought back the glory to the oldest form of cricket.
We had two new teams playing this form of the game as Ireland and Afghanistan made their debut Tests. After many years, England won a Test series in Sri Lanka and even New Zealand won against Pakistan in the sub-continent.
Also Read: Top 5 ODI Debutants in 2018
We saw some great cricketers retire from the longest format such as Alastair Cook, AB de Villiers, Rangana Herath and Morne Morkel. There was even an unpleasant ball-tampering incident where the Australian trio got banned from international cricket.
It was a really good year for the bowlers around the world. The South African and Indian pacers were brilliant. James Anderson went past Glenn McGrath in the wickets tally and the likes of Yasir Shah as well as Mohammad Abbas broke records. There were some terrific individual performances which came from debutants.
In this article, let’s have a look at the top five Test debutants of 2018.
#5 Sam Curran
In the last few years, England had some great swing bowlers but they were missing on a left-arm. When Pakistan toured England earlier this year, Mark Wood, unfortunately, got injured and there was an opportunity to bring in a new pacer. England added the 20-year-old left-arm seamer in the squad and gave him his debut cap in the second Test at Leeds.
Sam Curran was good in that game as he picked up two wickets and scored some runs as well. He definitely showed that he belonged at this level. Curran’s moment came in his second Test against India when he bailed his team out of trouble.
In the first innings, he picked up India’s top three batsmen and then in the second innings scored 63 when England were 87-7. He even got the Man of the Series Award in the series against India. He is definitely one of the finds for England in 2018.