One promotion, in the one-dayers, but nowhere near a second. Still, few matched their 20 wins and heads are held higher than last autumn. The bad news came early: signing the injured Shane Bond (who will probably get a second chance, so bare is the overseas cupboard) left the attack a one-man band, with only the occasional parp from the others. When Jon Lewis was captaining, and neither knackered nor peeved by all that 11th-hour motorway-pounding for Queen and country, he was never knowingly underbowled or underbold. Otherwise only Steve Kirby offered anything that could be mistaken for menace, as allowing lowly Glamorgan to pile up 597 underlined. Martyn Ball was typically canny in the abridged version but, when you play on puddings, spin is seldom the sweet option. The batting, by comparison, was a full orchestra. Hamish Marshall entered with a bang; Craig Spearman returned with one after personal problems in 2005; Alex Gidman and Kadeer Ali (who finally hit a first-class hundred at the 82nd try) enjoyed their most fruitful seasons; Phil Weston signed-off ruggedly; and, best of all, Chris Taylor shrugged off losing the captaincy and looked as nifty as any man can reasonably expect to in two-tone blue pyjamas.

Rob Steen The Wisden Cricketer