Graeme Smith speaks to the press

The bridesmaid awaits her turn

Paul Collingwood holds aloft the ICC World Twenty20 trophy

Annus mirabilis

A dejected Ricky Ponting reflects after a tough series

Falling to earth

VVS Laxman shows a straight bat

A year of comebacks

Salman Butt on the eve of his first Test as Pakistan captain

Small mercies

Afghanistan's supporters cheer their team on

A backward step for Associates

Darren Bravo plays pan on arrival in St Lucia

No step backwards

Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara prepare on the eve of the second Test

All eyes on the big one

Shakib Al Hasan poses with the series trophy

Drama and delight

Deandra Dottin celebrates her hurricane hundred

The year of reckoning

Brendan Taylor hammered 145 in Zimbabwe's chase

Emerging into the light

Brendon McCullum scored the second Twenty20 international century

The lowest ebb