England had two major goals for 2017. Firstly, to win the Champions Trophy on home soil at the start of the summer and secondly to retain the Ashes in Australia this winter. They achieved neither and despite some notable high points including a good Test series win against South Africa and some fine limited-overs play, their overall report card is one of failure.
2017 - YEAR IN REVIEW
Failure at big stages, controversies highlight England's B- year
After a promising start to his Test captaincy, Joe Root experienced the agony of an Ashes loss © Getty
Adding to those missed targets is the Ben Stokes affair following his involvement in an incident outside a Bristol nightclub in September. After three years of rebuilding the relationship between the national team and its supporters, one which had broken down significantly during the Ashes whitewash of 2013/14 and the subsequent fallout, the team's reputation has once again taken a battering.
If results on the pitch had been better, the Stokes incident and those involving Jonny Bairstow (the 'headbutt' greeting) and Ben Duckett (pint of beer over the head) on the Ashes tour may have passed without much notice. But England lost two of seven Tests during their home summer and lost the Ashes before Christmas. Their Test cricket has gone nowhere and the limited-overs team, while improving, failed when it mattered. England are probably in a worse place at the end of the year than they were at the beginning.
Timeline