After another memorable summer, ecb.co.uk’s Callum Dent has picked out his best moments of the season he witnessed first hand in both international and domestic cricket.
Fifth Royal London one-day international v India – Headingley
England international Joe Root enhanced his growing reputation as one of the best young batsmen in the world with a number of fine innings this summer.
But after excelling during the Investec Tests, the Yorkshireman’s stunning century on home soil in the final match of the Royal London One-Day Series against India stood out as one of his best.
With dominant India already holding an unassailable 3-0 lead in the rubber, England needed someone to step up and take responsibility.
Root was the man to deliver as he helped England end on a high with a brilliant 108-ball 113, becoming the first Yorkshire player to make a Test and one-day international ton at Headingley.
Arriving at the crease with England struggling on 39 for two in the seventh over, the 23-year-old was unfazed by the situation and advanced through the gears superbly.
The right-hander showed his fluency during a 52-run partnership with skipper Alastair Cook before breaking the shackles alongside Jos Buttler.
The youthful pair gave a glimpse into the hosts’ future with a swashbuckling stand of 108 in just 13.3 overs, including taking 55 from the five-over batting powerplay.
Widely regarded as a touch player, Root displayed his ODI qualities by hitting 10 fours and a trio of maximums.
In terms of the situation, this innings showed how important Root is to England's middle order in all formats.
LV= County Championship: Nottinghamshire v Yorkshire, Trent Bridge
First-team coach Jason Gillespie often describes his Yorkshire squad as a ‘strong unit’ on Twitter.
And that togetherness was evident on the final day of the LV= County Championship clash at Trent Bridge, where the White Rose hammered Nottinghamshire by an innings and 152 runs to claim their first four-day title since 2001 and only piece of silverware since the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy triumph the following year.
Showing enormous character to bounce back from the disappointment of finishing runners-up to Durham in 2013, Yorkshire completed the job in style.
Needing just five wickets on the final day in Nottingham, Ryan Sidebottom - the only player within the Tykes’ youthful squad to have tasted success with the county before - stole the show against his former employers.
The evergreen left-arm seamer, still a class act at 36 years of age, took 4-6 in a devastating spell that completed figures of 6-30 and helped dismiss the hosts for just 177 second time around.
Former England international Sidebottom removed Gary Keedy, Chris Read and Luke Fletcher before Adil Rashid trapped Jake Ball lbw.
It was then left to Sidebottom to finish the job and secure his second championship medal for Yorkshire and fourth in total.
When he had an advancing James Taylor caught at point by substitute Richard Pyrah, on the field for hand-injury victim Gary Ballance, his team-mates immediately formed a jubilant huddle in the middle of the wicket to reinforce the team spirit Gillespie refers to.
To make the success even sweeter, 10 of the XI deployed at Trent Bridge played in the club’s academy and are all good friends.
Seeing Jack Brooks, who joined Yorkshire from Northamptonshire in search of silverware, in tears as well as president Dickie Bird and chairman Colin Graves beaming from ear to ear displayed just how much the success meant to a county the size of Yorkshire.