'The award goes to...' - England Test team's year in gongs

England are about to play their 17th Test of 2024

England are about to play their 17th and final match in a marathon year of Test cricket.

The chance to secure a 3-0 series win against New Zealand in Hamilton on Saturday (22:00 GMT Friday) comes after home triumphs over West Indies and Sri Lanka were sandwiched by Asian defeats in India and Pakistan.

Decided in an entirely scientific manner, here are the year's winners and losers. Don't get cross, it's just for fun. Add your awards in the comments below.

Best win

No contest on this one. The opening Test in Pakistan might have come as a result of some staggering run-scoring, the series win in New Zealand was something of a surprise and captain Ben Stokes rates the defeat of West Indies at Trent Bridge as his favourite, but they all pale in comparison to England's opening match of the year.

The first-Test win against India was one of England's greatest overseas victories of all time. Given the strength of the opponents, the conditions, absence of Harry Brook, injury to Jack Leach and inexperience of the attack, it was as sensational as it was unexpected.

England were a whopping 190 runs behind on first innings, and 163-5 in the second. Then came Ollie Pope and Tom Hartley. Victory was completed in the extra half hour in dying light on the fourth day. England fell apart across the rest of the series, hastening an overhaul in personnel, but we'll always have the Heist of Hyderabad.

Best innings

Pope can feel aggrieved to miss out on this one, but not all of the gongs can go to Hyderabad (see below). Gus Atkinson's maiden hundred at Lord's, Ben Duckett's masterclasses of playing spin in Rajkot and Multan, and any time Joe Root walked out to bat all get a mention.

There may be a recency bias here, but Brook's blistering counter-attack in the second Test against New Zealand at Wellington gets the nod. Given the conditions, match situation and quality of the bowling, this was a staggering knock, full of audacious strokes that very few would attempt, let alone execute.

Brook's career to date has him among the very best to have played the game and he is ranked as the best in the world. The upcoming series against India and Australia are the opportunity to build a legacy.

Best spell

Tom Hartley took 22 wickets in five Tests in India

This was the year that England rebuilt their bowling, almost from scratch. Relatively recently, the first-choice attack was James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Ollie Robinson and Leach. They are all either retired, discarded or a reserve.

Atkinson on debut at Lord's, Shoaib Bashir against West Indies at Trent Bridge and Mark Wood blasting out the same opponents at Edgbaston were memorable, but nothing tops Hartley spinning England to victory in Hyderabad.

A left-field pick, not long from working in the family garden centre and belted for six from his first ball in Test cricket, Hartley was chosen specifically for India - and he beat India. His 7-62 are the best figures by an England spinner on debut for 76 years. Who knows if he will ever add to his five Test caps.

Best catch

Ben Stokes has taken 111 catches in 109 Tests for England - this was one of his best

This one came with a dollop of mustard on it. Skipper Stokes was feeling his way back from knee surgery on the tour of India, gradually teasing a return to bowling.

An early sign of progress was an astounding catch at mid-off in the second Test at Visakhapatnam. Hartley the bowler, Shreyas Iyer with the miscue, Stokes grinded the gears of his refurbed knee and ran back 20 metres, throwing himself at the ball to cling on to a screamer as it dropped over his shoulder.

Stokes was bowling by the end of the tour, but this was the first real indication that everything was going to be OK.

Garden Apparatus Award for most bizarre moment

England survey the pitch - and the hardware - before their third Test in Pakistan

England's win the first Test in Pakistan, built on a silly total of 823-7 declared, demanded a response from the hosts. What followed was unprecedented.

Reusing the same Multan pitch for the second Test was rooted in cricketing logic. Pakistan wanted the ball to turn. It did and they won. But they didn't have the option of a used pitch for the third Test in Rawalpindi, so got funky.

Giant fans had already been employed in Multan. In 'Pindi, they were joined by windbreaks and patio heaters in an attempt to dry the surface. It was as if a local hardware store had been raided. Pakistan outclassed England again to take the series, but coach Jason Gillespie has since resigned.

Most versatile

Pope might have missed out on one award, yet there is no denying him this one. Whenever England needed a job doing, it was Pope who stepped up.

At various stages in the year, Pope has been opener, number three, number six, captain, vice-captain and wicketkeeper. It would be fun to see him thrown the new ball in Hamilton, just to complete the set.

Often maligned for a lack of consistency, Pope has shown why England rate his contribution as a team man so highly. He may be the player most under threat from the emergence of Jacob Bethell, so England should not forget the grenades Pope has leapt on in 2024.

Best moment

James Anderson walks off for the final time in his last appearance as an England Test cricketer

What began as a tap on the shoulder in a Manchester hotel turned into the emotional farewell on the grandest stage.

James Anderson's moment of the year might have been his 700th wicket in Dharamsala, only for a tear-jerking goodbye to come in his very next Test at Lord's.

Anderson is one of England's Mount Rushmore cricketers, with more wickets than anyone else and a career so long some 30-year-olds would struggle to remember a time before him. The first Test against West Indies was a glorified Jimmy testimonial, almost with the perfect ending, but the fairytale went unwritten thanks to a dropped caught-and-bowled off Gudakesh Motie.

He at least sank a pint of Guinness on the dressing-room balcony.

Forgotten man

Given the regeneration of the England team in 2024, there are a few candidates. Jonny Bairstow was 100 Tests and no more, Ben Foakes had the gloves whipped away, Leach was relegated to second spinner and Anderson ushered into retirement.

But the fall from grace of Robinson has been swift, with no clear route to redemption. Once the heir-apparent to Anderson and Broad, the injury he suffered in the fourth Test against India in Ranchi was one too many.

He has not played since and lost his central contract. While Brendon McCullum is in charge of the England team, it is hard to see Robinson returning.

Best player

Has anyone ever had a better first year in Test cricket than Atkinson? Taking over from Anderson – the debutant literally replaced him in the England attack for his first spell in Test cricket – Atkinson has taken 10 matches to notch a 10-wicket haul, century, five-wicket haul and a hat-trick.

The Surrey man wasn't even in the England XI at the start of the year and now is arguably the first bowler on the teamsheet.

Jimmy who?