Countdown to the 2016 Sportskeeda cricketer of the year: Part 2

Veteran spinner and rookie wicket-keeper with batting mojo

Bairstow broke record after record

#11 Rangana Herath

Sri Lanka’s veteran spinner and one of the few survivors amongst the 20^th century debutants, Herath had the second most number of Test wickets this year, 57 at 18.92 apiece. That is the lowest average for anyone with more than 20 wickets this year.

Herath picked up 5 five-wicket hauls and twice managed to pick up 10 wickets in a Test. His consistency has made him the lynchpin of the Sri Lankan bowling attack, especially at home.

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#10 Jonny Bairstow

Jonny Bairstow had one hell of a year which saw him make it to the ICC Test Team of the Year as a wicket-keeper. Bairstow broke the record for most runs by a wicket-keeper in a calendar year in Tests, by a country mile and was the second highest run-getter of the year, just 7 short of countryman Joe Root’s tally of 1477 runs – thanks to a revamped batting style.

The second highest number of runs for a wicket-keeper this year, behind Bairstow’s 1470 is Quinton de Kock’s 695, demonstrating the gap. Bairstow also pouched a whopping 66 catches behind the wicket, a world record, breaking Mark Boucher’s mark of 65, a record that stood for 18 years.