Country Reviews 2016

From the top of the world, Pakistan came crashing down

Several boards improved the contracts structure for their female players, and the new franchise tournaments brought more money into the game

Five consecutive Test defeats derailed a good start to 2016, but Australia finished strongly to inspire hope for the year ahead

It was an up-and-down year for New Zealand, marked by a change of captaincy, the death of a legend, and a couple of impressive debuts

The most-read pieces of content on the site in 2016

Bangladesh did not have a packed 2016, but they made the most of it for the most part

England's bid for the No. 1 Test ranking failed after the second half of their year was spent sliding to defeat in challenging conditions

Just about everything came up roses for India in 2016

South Africa's year started badly and got worse, before taking a decisive turn for the better

Sri Lanka provided laughs with their slapstick incompetence in the first half of the year, then came storming back with a whitewashing of Australia

West Indies' year began brightly with a trio of world titles, but then predictable bad blood between players and administrators affected results

Their results showed that there is still talent within Zimbabwe's ranks, but how can cricket flourish while the country grapples with larger problems?

Afghanistan and Ireland received support and some success, but the rest were left to fight over meagre scraps this year