And with 2025 done and dusted....let's start revealing the names of the 2026 participants of The Cricket List starting with the retained players.
Retained
Saim Ayub - Had his year disrupted by that severe injury on January 1st last year. Managed to drag himself up to 13th but fully fit and firing on all cylinders he could be in for a big year in 2026.
Harry Brook - Back for his fourth consecutive year on The Cricket List despite having a less than impressive 2025. For the man who is the poster boy for the future of English cricket 2026 will be a big year.
Jos Buttler - The Cricketer of the Year from 2024 back for his 6th year overall. Is he able to finish in the Top 5 for the third year in the row?
Sam Curran - Our Cricketer of the Year for 2025 was a gimme to return in 2026. Can he be the first Cricketer to do it back to back since Simon Harmer?
Liam Dawson - A bit of a surprise package in 2025.....mainly because he played so much cricket that I wouldn't have been overly surprised if he was playing in my garden one given evening.
Travis Head - Not the best of year's for Head who finished 17th in 2025 - a far cry from his third place finish in 2024. Which version of him will be served up in 2026?
Ravindra Jadeja - Won't play as much as some of the others on our List but when he does he will score big. Can he finish in the Top 5 in successive years?
Pathum Nissanka - Got knocked out of the Top Ten on the very last day of the year but is a huge huge talent that may only get huger as he has managed to pick himself an IPL deal for 2026.
Nicholas Pooran - Finished just outside the Top 5 this year and plays in every T20 franchise going. Can he breach the Top 5 this year?
Phil Salt - Back for his third consecutive year in The Cricket List. Finished in the Top Ten both years but without ever really threatening anything bigger. Maybe this year?
Nat Sciver-Brunt - A good year domestically for NSB where she was instrumental in both the WIPL and WBBL....less impressive internationally but some development to come.
Returning
Quinton De Kock - Last seen in these parts in 2022 where he finished 8th. T20 gun for hire and now back in the Proteas green too so should be scoring big.
Shubman Gill - Finished 2024 in 16th place....you feel if he was selected this year he would have finished rather higher than that.
Simon Harmer - The All Time highest Cricketer of the Week winner returns. Not only is he a County Championship stalwart but now a genuine Test spinning threat.
Marco Jansen - Was on our List in 2023 but lacked consistency. Is he now a finished enough product to mount an assault on the Top 5?
Rachin Ravindra - Had quite a poor season in his inaugural season in 2024. Can he force his agenda a little more in 2026?
New Selections
Michael Bracewell - Always need a Kiwi in our List and this year's offering is well thought of Michael Bracewell. Question marks will arise around the amount of cricket he will fit in but he is undoubtably a quality player.
Sophie Ecclestone - Our fourth female Cricketer of all time and joining her international teammate on The List for 2026. Put aside some question marks over her fitness to one side and looks set to be a key feature in 2026.
Aiden Markram - Has long been on the longlist for these Lists but has never quite made it to the final 22...until this year. With his national team in the ascendancy it would be churlish to not include him.
Mehidy Hassan Miraz - Had a quietly very competent year this week. We have had two previous Bangladesh players; the hugely successful Shakib Al Hasan and the very unsuccessful Abdur Razzak. Which will MHM emulate?
Vaibhav Suryavanshi - Probably the most enigmatic pick of our 9 years doing this. There is A LOT of pressure on this 14 year old but it seems that he shrugs that off with aplomb. Will be fascinating to see where he ends up
Paul Walter - Simon Harmer's Essex team mate is coming in this year as a James Vince-alike. Unlikely to finish top like Vince did might push his county brethren hard.
Discarded
The most notable rejected player this year is Babar Azam who has featured in every version of these lists for the last 8 years and won it in 2020. Chamari Athapaththu is also let go after a very successful 2024. She was the first female player in our game. Annabel Sutherland is also let go - the highest ranked player to be unselected for 2026 after having finished 8th this year.
The other players who we are letting go this year include relative veteran Kane Williamson who is being kicked out for the third time. Two other players to have failed at their second time of asking are Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant who finished in the bottom 3 whilst Jaisal ends his two year spell. Other one hit wonders from this year are: Wanindu Hasaranga, Heinrich Klassen, Liam Livingstone, Jamie Smith, Suryakumar Yadav and Adam Zampa.
