10) Mohammad Amir allowed back into cricket
After being caught in a sting for spot fixing by taking money to bowl no-balls, youngster Mohammad Amir was welcomed back into cricket by the Pakistan Cricket Board. International player Mohammad Hafiz has said he won’t play in a team with him in it, highlighting the division that his crimes have created. A planned return to ODI cricket in february in New Zealand may be stalled due to him being unable to obtain an entry visa. Does cricket need to offer convicted cheats a second chance?
9) Riaz v Watson – World Cup Quarter Final
In a match that was quickly slipping away from Pakistan, Wahab Riaz took it upon himself to singlehandly lift his team. His spell against Shane Watson was possibly the most fiery seen in an ODI. The romance is that it didn’t claim Watson’s wicket nor ultimately end up in a win for Pakistan. However, his brutal deliveries lifted the crowd, his team an put Wahab clearly on the map as a man who wears his heart on his sleave.
8) AB de Villiers makes 149 in 44 balls v West Indies
What an amazing match.
Under normal circumstances, an opening batting partnership of 247 would usually be a talking point. No South African opening pair had ever achieved more. Under normal circumstances, Rilee Rossouw making a century would be a headline event. Under normal circumstances, Hashim Amla posting his highest ever ODI score would also be headline news. 153 (142)*
But neither matched the 149 (44) that ABdV delivered. These were not normal circumstances.
It was carnage. He lobbed a grenade into the West Indian team huddle. It was unfair. They had no warning. They didn’t see it coming. They didn’t even know they were at war.
7) Gayle becomes the 2nd man to make 300 ina Test,200 in an ODI & 100 in a T20I
When the shutters close on Chris Gayle’s career, the records will show that he was one of the most flexible batsman of all time.
Only Virender Sehwag had managed to manage this amazing triple, double, single feat.
Now he has been joined by the so called “World Boss”.
6) Sangakkara makes 4 World Cup hundreds in a row
Making a century in a World Cup match is a sensational feat in itself. Making four in a row is God-like.
Bangladesh, England, Australia and Scotland all fell victim to one of the greats of the modern era.
5) South African Racial Quotas Impact World Cup Semi Final Selection
South Africa have a dark history with racial inequality. For their World Cup semi final against New Zealand, that came back to bite them firmly on the arse when in-form Kyle Abbott was dropped for the horribly out of form Vernon Philander due to ensuring the correct amount of black players were in the team. South Africa lost a tight match, but there was bigger damage. AB de Villiers had threatened to boycott the match when he heard the selection news, bowling coach Allan Donald quit, as did high performance coach Mike Horn.
4) Pink Test
It finally happened. After years of testing and discussion,a day/night Test was played in Adelaide between Australia and New Zealand. The crowd lapped it up and although the pitch needed a little doctoring to ensure it wouldn’t destroy the ball, the match was deemed a success. Will it be the saviour of Test cricket? Who knows. One thing is for sure, next year’s day/night Test in Adelaide will be another sell out.
3) England Win The Ashes
It wasn’t meant to end this way. Australia were red hot favourites to hold onto the Ashes against an English side that couldn’t even beat the West Indies only a few month prior. However, Australia lost the opening Test in Cardiff and could never recover. Battles raged everywhere. Smith v Root. Starc v Anderson. Lyon v Moeen. Ryan Harris v his knee. Lyth v everyone. Even Cook rebounded from a form slump. Not the greatest cricket ever played, but definitely a series that kept us on the edge of our seats.
2) Australia win the World Cup
They only come around every four years. There hadn’t been one in Australia since 1992, when Imran Khan led Pakistan to a win.
Australia and New Zealand met in the final at the MCG. The only thing separating them through the tournament was a 1 wicket win to the Kiwis over the Aussies.
Unfortunately, the match was effectively over after 4 balls when Mitchell Starc uprooted McCullum’s stumps. That one event sucked the jam from the Kiwi donut.
Overall, it was an amazing performance by Australia and cemented their place in history as the team with the most World Cup wins in history.
1) Richie Dies
Cricket has its heroes. It is usually current players. Smith. Root. Williamson. Kohli.
However, Richie transcended all of this. He was the “voice of cricket”.
No one seems to notice, or even care that Richie didn’t sound like your quintessential Australian.
He has his own voice. His own mellifluous way.
Richie is the ‘Voice of Cricket’.
Richie Benaud didn’t speak.
He paused.
“Put your brain into gear and if you can add to what’s on the screen then do it, otherwise shut up.”
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