GOOD WEEK, BAD WEEK: Dan Christian keeps winning and the dropping of Ben Foakes

It's that time again to have a look back at the past week's ups and downs. TOM EDWARDS picks which people or organisations have had a week to remember or forget...

Good

Dan Christian

The experienced Australia allrounder is in another T20 final. His 31 off 14 balls for the Melbourne Renegades saw his side home in the Big Bash semi-final as they beat the Sydney Sixers by three wickets.

This will be the third BBL final that Christian has been to, and this will be the third team he has been to it with. He won the tournament outright with the Brisbane Heat in 2013, and was part of the Hobart Hurricanes side which was blown away by the Adelaide Strikers in 2018.

Probably not a fashionable cricketer, but Christian gets the job done, hence why he has been involved in so many finals. He’s won three T20 tournaments over the past three years, and has been involved in seven finals (if we include the current BBL).

Pat Cummins

On Sunday the Aussie quick became the first bowler since Mitchell Johnson in 2014 to win the Allan Border Medal, which is the award for best male Australian cricketer over the previous 12 months.

The winner of the award is voted for by umpires, members of the media and teammates. He received 156 votes, just six more than men’s Test Player of the Year Nathan Lyon.

The 25-year-old enjoyed a fantastic year with the ball, taking 44 wickets during the voting period at an average of 25.61. Remarkably, the voting period did not include the first Test against Sri Lanka where he recorded his career-best match figures of 10-62.

Mark Wood

England have been crying out for a proper fast bowler ever since Mitchell Johnson gave them what for during the 2013 Ashes in Australia. Some would say they’ve been slightly too pre-occupied with it. Finally, however, they seem to have found one.

Mark Wood has been in and around the England setup for a number of years with the idea being that he was the solution to this lack of pace conundrum. He could bowl faster than the others, but he was never really getting it up to Mitch’s terrifying speeds.

His spell in the third Test against the West Indies was different though. He was bowling at 95mph some balls and it was difficult to take your eyes off the screen. He ended up with his maiden five-wicket-haul and the player of the match award. The only shame was that he didn’t bowl anyone. There is little better in cricket than seeing a really fast ball utterly obliterate a set of stumps.

^{Mark Wood took 5-41 for England}

Bad

Shannon Gabriel

In a series that was played in very good spirit, or at least that’s the line that Sky was selling, it was quite a shame to see the third Test overshadowed by the revelation that West Indies fast bowler Shannon Gabriel had made homophobic remarks.

The news broke when Sky released footage of England captain Joe Root responding to an unheard quip from Gabriel, saying: "Don’t use it as an insult, there’s nothing wrong with being gay."

Gabriel was banned for four matches and revealed in his apology that he had asked Root "do you like boys?" Not what we want to hear on a cricket field, but if I’m being very honest, was quite thankful it wasn’t worse. Still not good.

Ben Foakes

One moment you're on top of the world – you’ve just won the player of the series award as your side have won a historic 3-0 victory away from home. Two Tests later you’ve been dropped, having not really done that much wrong. That’s how it’s gone for Ben Foakes.

The story is that Foakes is unlikely to get his place back in the side. Jonny Bairstow has the gloves again, something he continually made clear that he was keen to make happen, and is back batting down the order.

Is Bairstow a better keeper than Foakes? No. Is Bairstow better than a No.7? Yes. However, the argument is that Bairstow is a better batsman than Foakes is keeper. Fitting both in, apparently, upsets the balance of the team.

South Africa

The relationship between the South Africa cricket team and SuperSport seems to have taken something of a turn almost 12 months after they (apparently) worked together to reveal Australia’s dastardly cheating.

In their first Test against Sri Lanka, SuperSport broadcasted footage which showed a poster in the South African dressing room which showed their bowling plans for Sri Lanka opener Dimuth Karunaratne.

There are rumours circulating that SuperSport and Cricket South Africa are not the best of buds right now after the latter secured a deal with the former’s rival South African Broadcasting Corporation for their inaugural Mzansi Super League.

^{South Africa's bowling plans}