Jan

04

From shambolic to superstars

Whitewashed in India, badly beaten in England and then lo and behold - a transformation and the return of the urn. Australia won't forget 2013 for a long time Brydon Coverdale January 4, 2014 Steven Smith and Mitchell Johnson redeemed Australia in 2013 © Getty Images For Australia, 2013 started with Mickey Arthur the coach, Shane Watson the vice-captain, Michael Clarke a selector,...

Sri Lanka fans have reasons to smile

If Sri Lanka's young cricketers can build on Friday's gains, perhaps in years to come fans will look upon this match not simply as Angelo Mathews' coming of age, but as the turn of an eraIt hasn't been an easy few years for fans of Sri Lanka's cricket. Major finals losses have left four deep gashes on the nation's psyche. Mention the last World Cup or World T20 in Colombo or Kandy, and you begin to...

England in disarray after top order collapses

England 5 for 61 (Stokes 23*, Ballance 17*) trail Australia 326 by 265 runsLive scorecard and ball-by-ball details The list of disastrous sessions for England throughout this series is growing longer by the day. At 5 for 23, it looked like the first session on day two in Sydney might be the worst of the bunch. Ben Stokes and Gary Ballance restored some vague level of steadiness in the lead-up...

Solid New Zealand finish on 285

50 overs New Zealand 285 for 6 (Guptill 81) v West IndiesLive scorecard and ball-by-ball details Worries over the weather spoiling the first ever ODI in Nelson were eased when the sell-out crowd was greeted by blue skies and bright sunshine on Saturday morning. The news wasn't as good for West Indies, as an already injury-hit squad was depleted further thanks to a broken finger to the experienced...

Jan

03

No. 1 on the field, not quite off it

South Africa had a satisfactory year, but the financial shortfall of an abbreviated India series and a light schedule for 2014 could spell trouble Firdose Moonda January 3, 2014 South Africa's challenge in 2014 will be to find a worthy replacement for Jacques Kallis in the Test side © Getty Images As in life, the best part often comes right at the end. That was South Africa's year...

Three home games in Ranji quarters

There has been plenty of talk of playing the Ranji Trophy knockouts at neutral venues but that came to an end on Thursday with the BCCI confirming that three of the quarterfinalists will get home games. While announcing the draw for knockout stage, the BCCI declared that the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, Eden Gardens in Kolkata and Moti Bagh ground in Vadodara will...

England take four before lunch

Lunch Australia 4 for 94 (Smith 8*) v EnglandLive scorecard and ball-by-ball details Alastair Cook finally had a victory of sorts when he won his first toss of the series and by lunch his fast bowlers had backed his decision to send Australia in, collecting four wickets on a grassy pitch. Not for the first time in the series Australia went to lunch on day one under pressure and the loss of Shane...

A fine year for home teams and left-arm pace

Home teams lost only two Tests in 2013, while fast bowlers had their best year in Tests since 2000 Trent Boult took 46 Test wickets in 2013 and was largely instrumental in left-arm fast bowlers taking 200-plus wickets in a calendar year for the first time © Associated Press All Test stats exclude numbers from the Pakistan-Sri Lanka Test, which started in Abu Dhabi on December 31. The...

Jan

01

AB, Ajmal and Co

The Test, ODI and T20I XIs of 2013, as picked by ESPNcricinfo's staff AB de Villiers shone bright in both Tests and ODIs in 2013 © Getty Images TEST David Warner909 runs at 39.52It was a year of two halves for Warner, either side of a cantankerous phase in May-June when he vented against a couple of journalists on Twitter and punched Joe Root at a Birmingham bar. He had a forgettable...

Matthews working hard to justify captaincy

Without a mandate to rule, Angelo Matthews is having to work extremely hard to prove his worth as captain. He played an important innings to save his side from disaster on day one in Abu DhabiSri Lanka's leadership is in a strange state. This XI features the country's best-ever tactical captain and a cricketer who is perhaps the most respected current player in the world. While either Mahela Jayawardene...

Zakir ton powers Dolphins to title

Karachi Dolphins 319 for 6 (Zakir 170) beat Peshawar Panthers 289 (Adil Amin 60, Shahzaib 2-46) by 30 runsScorecard A second successive hundred from Asif Zakir, who scored an unbeaten 170, set up Karachi Dolphins' 30-run win over Peshawar Panthers in the One Day Cup final in Karachi. Put in to bat, the Dolphins top order struck partnerships, with the most substantial one being the 110-run stand...

Where's the human touch?

There was something about England's cricket team, even when winning, that did not entirely connect with the public mood David Hopps January 1, 2014 By the end of the year Alastair Cook had turned into an increasingly hollow-eyed captain © Getty Images This was the year that the English public fell out of love with its cricket team. It was not the case for everybody and there was...

Dec

30

Alex Doolan added to Sydney Test squad

Tasmania batsman Alex Doolan could make his Test debut in Sydney after being added to Australia's squad. Injury concerns surrounding the No.3 Shane Watson and fast bowler Ryan Harris may lead to a significant shake-up of the side, with allrounder James Faulkner also in contention and fast bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile a chance to debut having been named in a 14-man squad for the Test. Doug Bollinger,...

Flower set for England talks

England team director Andy Flower will meet with the incoming managing director of England cricket, Paul Downton, in Sydney over the New Year to plot a way forward for the team after their disastrous tour of Australia, which reached a new nadir in Melbourne as they threw away a position of strength with two days of awful cricket to lose by eight wickets. However, Flower reiterated that he has the...

Big fish in a small pond

Ireland are undoubtedly masters among the minnows but they continued to be disappointed at not getting chances against the big boys Ger Siggins December 30, 2013 Ireland's domination of the Associate level is complete. Now they yearn for Test status © ICC/Saleem Sanghati It may just have been Irish cricket's greatest year ever. Qualification was secured for the 2014 World Twenty20...

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