1. Ollie Pope’s unlucky No.13

England vice-captain, Ollie Pope, is the epitome of a ‘team player’. Throughout 2024, Pope has opened the batting, batted No.3, No.6, kept wicket, vice-captained, and captained England. He assumed the captaincy for the Sri Lanka series over the summer after Ben Stokes was sidelined with yet another hamstring injury, leading England to a 2-1 series win. What the scorecards won’t tell you though, is that Pope opted to use the DRS system 13 times that series... and failed 13 times. He didn’t even have the luxury of Stuart Broad’s insistence to use as an explanation.

2. Multan Madness

England’s two Tests in Multan in October 2024 will be remembered for a number of reasons. The first saw records tumble, as England amassed their highest total since 1938, becoming the first team to win by an innings having conceded over 550 runs in the first innings.

That win was quickly overshadowed by the revelation that they would play the second Test on the same wicket. Dramatic pictures emerged of gargantuan fans (yes, fans) whirring away at the top of the stumps, drying up the wicket in the most bizarre fashion. Unsurprisingly, England capitulated to a 152-run defeat as Pakistan’s spin duo ragged their way to a famous win.

3. Josh Hull

England have been no stranger to weird and whacky selections under Brendon McCullum. But selecting Josh Hull for the final Test of the summer was the most bonkers of the lot. Hull had a first-class average of 84.54 at the time of his selection, and appeared to be picked more for his (literal) high-ceiling value, standing at six foot seven. Nevertheless, his one Test appearance to date yielded three wickets, but the jury is still out on the payoff from that particular bit of madness.

4. Passport problems

Not only did England select three spinners with one Test cap between them for their tour of India - that famously gentle introduction to Test cricket for young players - only two of them were able to get into India for the first match of the series. Shoaib Bashir was forced to return to the UK with visa issues, a fate which Saqib Mahmood has also had to reckon with ahead of England’s upcoming white-ball tour of India. While little blame can be placed at England’s door for that, they were faced with a similar dilemma at the other end of last year.

When an unfortunate finger injury to Jordan Cox made way for Robinson to join the squad out in New Zealand, he was unable to take up a place in the side for the first Test as his passport was out of date.

5. Bethell’s Brilliance

More whacky than Jacob Bethell’s actual selection is the fact that he made such a success of it. For the first time since Mike Gatting, England selected a Test debutant without a first-class century for their Test series in New Zealand. More than that, Bethell had never even batted at No.3 in a first-class game.

But as the 21-year-old said himself, every time he competes at a higher level, he exceeds expectations. This alluring confidence is perhaps what makes Bethell so brilliant. Debuting in all formats across 2024, whilst securing an IPL deal worth £250,000, Bethell’s selection to England’s Test match side has got to be considered totally and utterly bonkers. Just as bonkers is that he now likely goes into England’s home Test summer as their first-choice No.3.

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