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Few can deny that 2014 (aka the Year of the Screaming Kohli in the Chinese zodiac) was another memorable year for the game, but not without its many ups and downs. Because cricket is but an extension of life itself and no less immune to the caprices of fate, and that's a pretty deep thing to say. Here's a recap of some of the news that made the headlines this year.

Irfan donates vertebrae to shorter team-mates
Mohammad Irfan was out missing in action for a few months earlier in the year upon becoming the first bowler in history to donate a vertebra from his back to each of his ten fellow players on the field. The bowler (and the rest of the team) underwent the complex surgery after a directive from the Pakistan Cricket Board to help prevent injury to players attempting to jump impossibly high to high-five the bowler after the fall of a wicket and injuring themselves upon impact after the fall back to earth. Remarkably, the fast bowler still stands a good foot and a half taller than his team-mates, even after the operation.

Introduction of "Moctober"
Why should guys have all the fun? Or bask hairily in the glow that comes with doing something in the name of charity?

23 Opening combinations still to be tried by England in the forthcoming World Cup.

865 Positives to be taken by England shortly after the forthcoming World Cup.

4 Number of years it will take England to really put in a serious challenge (number may change) (in four years' time).

Despite falling 0-2 down in their Test series with Australia, India have competed rather better than most observers predicted they might. Admittedly, many of those observers gave them less chance of beating their hosts than Ishant Sharma has of ever winning the captivating battle he has long been waging against his fringe, but nevertheless expectations have been exceeded. Excitingly, we could genuinely even be on the verge of seeing India demolish their reputation as the most incompetent tourists since the England football team last attended a major tournament.

Here are four minor strategic tweaks to help them:

1. All practice pitches to be imported from Colombo
The BCCI made an official complaint to Cricket Australia that the nets pitches provided in Brisbane were of such inferior quality, they resulted in injuries to Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan. As the latter then came in lower down the order and made his highest Test score for ten months, the cynically minded concluded these dastardly nets may have been significantly less damaging to both health and form than facing Mitchell Johnson with the new ball. However, in general, we can all probably agree that players being injured pre-match isn't optimum preparation. To limit this risk in all future away Tests, India shall from now on practise only on drop-in pitches imported from the SSC in Colombo, a surface so docile its soil is crumbled into babies' milk bottles to help them get to sleep at night. It may not be ideal preparation for the WACA in the eyes of some nitpickers, but at least Duncan Fletcher's men will go into both innings with a full quota of batsmen.

"Who is Ferozshah Kotla?"

"What happened to pehla?"

"Why so many Pollocks?"

Speaking from the team's one-day international headquarters (a Premier Inn outside Nantwich) an England cricket spokesman delivered the following address about the latest debacle to befall the 50-over outfit.

"People inside cricket, thank you for coming. I will make a short statement about Alastair and then take some questions, which I will then ignore.

"Alastair wanted to stress that leading the England 50-over side was one of the most prestigious jobs in social work, not to mention sport, and he feels very privileged to have been a part of something quite special.

Moores: Hi guys. Hope you all like my positivi-tree? Let's get this party going. So, team, in a regenerative sense, what does Christmas mean to you? And remember, you can only speak if you're holding my positivity bauble. Alex, perhaps you'd like to go first?