2013 in pictures
Arrests, Ashes and Associate dreams
The year began with the sad news of the passing of Christopher Martin-Jenkins, the cricket commentator, journalist and former MCC president, at the age of 67, a year after he had been diagnosed with cancer. It was just two days after the death of another legendary commentator, and cricketer, Tony Greig. In this photo, taken in 1989, CMJ is flanked by fellow BBC commentators, Fred Trueman and Brian Johnston.
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Australia clean-swept Sri Lanka 3-0 after a five-wicket win in Sydney. It was Michael Hussey's last Test, and he was at the other end when the winning runs were hit.
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West Indies women made it to their first World Cup final after they beat Australia by eight runs in their Super Six match. However, Australia blew them away in the final, bowling them out for 145 in a 114-run win. Veteran allrounder Lisa Sthalekar retired after the tournament.•Getty Images
On March 27, Jesse Ryder suffered a fractured skull and was put in an induced coma after he was attacked outside a bar in Christchurch. He was out of hospital a week later and returned to cricket after serving out a six-month drug ban, which had been
imposed shortly before his assault.
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Meiyappan's arrest led to demands that Srinivasan step down as the board president. He did, temporarily, handing charge to former president and rival Jagmohan Dalmiya. Sreesanth and Chavan were banned for life by the board, Chandila's investigation remains pending.•Hindustan Times
The Champions Trophy win came at the right time for India to distract fans from the mess the sport was in. India were undefeated through the tournament, beating West Indies, Pakistan and Sri Lanka by eight wickets each before defeating England by five runs in a rain-reduced final. Shikhar Dhawan was the Player of the Tournament for his 363 runs, which included two hundreds and a half-century.•International Cricket Council
Australia's start to the Ashes got worse when they sacked their coach, Mickey Arthur, weeks before the start of the series and replaced him with Darren Lehmann. The first Test, at Trent Bridge, had shades of Edgbaston 2005 - in the first innings, debutant
spinner Ashton Agar made the highest score by a Test No. 11 but Australia fell just 14 runs short of their target of 311.
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Jamaica Tallawahs were crowned champions of the inaugural Caribbean Premier League when they beat Guyana Amazon Warriors by seven wickets in the final. Andre Russell was Jamaica's star, ending the tournament with a strike rate of 189.71, 16 sixes, a six-ball 29 in the semis and an 18-ball 33 in the final.•Getty Images
In the Chittagong Test between Bangladesh and New Zealand, 22-year-old Sohag Gazi became the first cricketer to score a hundred and take a hat-trick in the same Test. But the match was drawn, as was the next one in Dhaka.•AFP
Rohit Sharma became the third batsman, and the third Indian, to score a one-day double-hundred, when he reached the milestone against Australia in Bangalore. He also hit a world-record 16 sixes in his innings; there were 38 sixes in all in the game, also a
record. Australia gave spirited chase lower down the order but India won the match by 57 runs and the series 3-2.
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In Perth, Australia regained the Ashes 3-0, after four years. It was the 100th Test each for Michael Clarke and Alastair Cook, but it was Steve Smith, David Warner, Shane Watson and Ben Stokes who scored hundreds.•Getty Images
New Zealand began their year by getting bowled out for 45 in Cape
Town. Vernon Philander starred with 5 for 7, but he missed the second
Test, in Port Elizabeth, due to injury - though South Africa won by an even bigger margin. Things improved for New Zealand when they won the one-day
series ¬ their first series win in any format in South Africa.
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Pakistan became the first team in more than three years to beat India in a bilateral series at home. Opener Nasir Jamshed made centuries in both his team's wins.•BCCI
England and New Zealand drew all three of their Tests, but it wasn't a dull series at all. Hamish Rutherford scored an audacious 171 on Test debut in Dunedin. In the third Test, in Auckland, Peter Fulton scored two centuries, and Tim Southee took a six-for. On the final day Ian Bell and Matt Prior clung on grimly, with New Zealand scenting a win; and in the end Prior and Monty Panesar saw out a tense five overs.•Getty Images
There's nothing Chris Gayle can't do with a bat in a T20: his 175 in 66 balls for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors was the highest T20 score, the fastest century (off 30 balls) in the format, and it included the most sixes by a batsman in a T20 innings (17).•BCCI
In the midst of all the off-field drama, Mumbai Indians beat Chennai Super Kings to win their first IPL title. Mumbai triumphed in the Champions League as well, defeating Rajasthan Royals in the final of that tournament.•BCCI
In June, Afghanistan became the 37th country to be granted Associate status. Later that year they beat Kenya and finished second in the World Cricket League Championship to qualify for the 2015 World Cup. They also qualified for the World Twenty20 in 2014.•ICC/Getty
England's young opener, Joe Root, made 180 in the massive win at Lord's. In the fourth Test, Australia squandered the first-innings advantage, collapsing to Stuart Broad - 6 for 50 - while chasing 299.•AFP
In the first time in 12 years, Zimbabwe beat a major Test-playing nation in a Test match when they defended a target of 264 against Pakistan in Harare. Brian Vitori and Tendai Chatara took five-fors and Brendan Taylor and Hamilton Masakadza made half-centuries to help their side level the two-match series 1-1.•AFP
After 24 years, 200 Tests, 100 international centuries and 34,000 international runs, Sachin Tendulkar retired from the game. In his final Test, at home in Mumbai against West Indies, he scored 74. India won the two-match series 2-0.•BCCI
The fairy-tale story of the year was Nepal qualifying for the 2014 World Twenty20 in Bangladesh. They beat Kenya after needing to score 17 off the last over, but squeezed into the knockouts of the qualifiers only on the basis of a marginally higher net run rate than Scotland's. However, in the quarter-final they beat Hong Kong, scoring 26
off the last two overs. Hong Kong also qualified for the global event, along with UAE, Afghanistan, Ireland and Netherlands.
•AFP
By the end of the first Test between India and South Africa, even the BCCI must have cursed its decision to limit the series to two Tests. Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara scored hundreds in each innings for India to set South Africa a target of 458 in a little over four sessions. •Getty Images
Pakistan's turn to collapse in South Africa. In Johannesburg they succumbed to 49 at the hands of a fiery Dale Steyn. South Africa won the Tests 3-0, though Pakistan showed some fight in the second Test, where Younis Khan and Asad Shafiq scored centuries and Saeed Ajmal took ten wickets.•Getty Images
After losing 4-0 in Australia in 2011-12, India returned the favour with a series sweep in February and March. Highlights included MS Dhoni's double-century, Cheteshwar Pujara and M Vijay's triple-century stand, debutant Shikhar Dhawan's 187, and the spin of R Ashwin and R Jadeja. In between, the Australian team management suspended four players for ignoring team orders.•BCCI
What really made the news in the IPL was the arrest of three Rajasthan Royals bowlers - Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila - for allegedly fulfilling promises made to bookmakers during the tournament. A week after that, Gurunath Meiyappan, the son-in-law of BCCI president N Srinivasan, and a top official at Chennai Super Kings, was arrested on charges of cheating, forgery and fraud.•Associated Press
More fixing news followed, from Bangladesh, when former national captain Mohammad Ashraful admitted to his involvement in match-fixing and spot-fixing in the Bangladesh Premier League.•ESPNcricinfo Ltd
The customary pre-Ashes war of words took a nasty turn when David
Warner punched Joe Root in a bar in Birmingham during the Champions
Trophy. Warner was suspended until the first Ashes Test in July.
•AFP
The final Test had a bit of controversy after Michael Clarke declared to leave England 227 to get in a session. England needed 21 runs from four overs with five wickets in hand when the umpires chose to take the players off due to bad light.•PA Photos
England's women reclaimed the Ashes - spread over three formats - after drawing the only Test, winning the ODIs 2-1 and T20s 3-0. Opener Heather Knight scored her maiden Test hundred, and Sarah Taylor starred with the bat and the gloves in the limited-overs leg.•PA Photos
Pakistan surprised everyone when, after their ignominious defeat to Zimbabwe, they beat South Africa, the No. 1 Test side, in the first Test in the UAE. But true to form, they collapsed spectacularly for 99 in the second Test and lost by an innings. The match was marred by a ball-tampering controversy when Faf du Plessis was caught on camera
rubbing the ball on a zipper on his trousers.
•AFP
When England and Australia met in Brisbane for the start of the return Ashes, Australia hadn't won a Test since January, and an Ashes Test since December 2010. But now Mitchell Johnson was back in form, and he blew England away for 136 and 179 in a huge win. The momentum continued in Adelaide, where he took 7 for 40.•Getty Images
By tea on day five, South Africa needed 127 with six wickets in hand. Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers steered the chase with hundreds, but when du Plessis was run out taking a risky single, South Africa needed 16 runs from 19 balls. They chose to play safe and played out a draw - the most thrilling one in recent history.•Getty Images