Q&A: How England’s Test team fared during an eventful 2024 and what comes next

England were on the wrong end of a massive 423-run defeat in their final Test of the year but still walked away with a 2-1 series win over New Zealand.

Here the PA news agency looks at some of the key issues for the national side as they close out 2024.

England were stretched thin with 17 Tests, more than any other side in the world and a joint record over a calendar year. They emerged marginally in credit with nine wins and eight defeats, taking three series and losing two. Six of their losses came in the spin-friendly conditions of India and Pakistan, while they were victorious in five out of six outings on home turf.

Joe Root was reliably prolific with the bat, scoring more Test runs (1,556) and more hundreds (six) than anyone else in the world while also overtaking Sir Alastair Cook as the country’s record scorer. That he was briefly overtaken by Harry Brook as the number one batter in the ICC rankings says plenty about the heights the 25-year-old also hit. Brook collected four centuries of his own, including 317 in Multan – England’s first triple century since Graham Gooch in 1990. In terms of averages, Root shaded his fellow Yorkshireman 55.57 to 55.00.

One of the most important decisions England took was calling time on James Anderson’s peerless career as Test cricket’s king of swing. He did not want to go but at the age of 41, the selectors made their move. That meant young faces had to take the strain and two stepped up in style. Gus Atkinson debuted in Anderson’s farewell appearance at Lord’s and managed to upstage him with match figures of 12 for 106 and never looked back. He finished with 52 wickets at 22.15, second only to Indian superstar Jasprit Bumrah, and managed to add England’s first hat-trick since 2017 in Wellington. Brydon Carse had an equally eventful time of it, hit with a three-month ban for historic betting offences over the summer before making up for lost time with some formidable performances over the winter.

Zak Crawley fared better than most on a tough tour of India but struggled after breaking a finger in the summer. He averaged a dire 8.66 in New Zealand as Matt Henry tormented him and signed off for the 2024 with no centuries and six single figure scores in his last 11 innings. England appear to have endless faith in his mercurial talent, but he badly needs a score or two for his own peace of mind. Meanwhile, Shoaib Bashir embarked on a steep learning curve as the new number one spinner. Fast-tracked from relative obscurity he ended up sending down more overs than any other Test bowler but 49 wickets at 40.17 confirm two things about the 21-year-old: he is talented but far from the finished product.

With no Test matches until May, the hamstring problem which cut short the captain’s involvement in Hamilton will not cost him any caps. Instead, it raises longer term questions about his readiness to be the full-blooded all-rounder he wants to be. In the last year he has recovered from major knee surgery, badly torn the same hamstring and experienced twinges in his back. Nobody is more important to the ‘Bazball’ project than its inspirational leader but, at the age of 33, he is creaking under the weight of his own expectations. England must find a way to manage his workload or risk losing him more permanently.

For the third edition in a row, England will be watching the World Test Championship final from a distance when it comes to Lord’s in June. Their next assignment is a much lower key clash against Zimbabwe, a rare four-dayer at Trent Bridge that those with IPL commitments could be excused. After that come the two marquee five-match series that could define the Stokes-McCullum era. India arrive over the summer with high hopes of triumphing on English soil for the first since 2007, before a hotly-anticipated Ashes tour that will dominate the 2025/26 winter. Win both and greatness beckons.