Year in pictures
2017 in pictures
The new year started with an almighty rush. David Warner became the fifth batsman to score a Test century before lunch on the first day. In Sydney against Pakistan, he made 113 and 55, and Australia won by 220 runs to seal their fourth whitewash of Pakistan at home since 1999-00. For Pakistan, the series marked Younis Khan's maiden Test hundred in Australia, with which he became the first man to make hundreds in all 11 countries to host Test cricket.•AFP
Afghanistan gave their former captain Nawroz Mangal a memorable send-off in his final international match, winning the inaugural Desert Challenge T20, bulldozing Ireland by ten wickets in Dubai. •Peter Della Penna
A windfall for England players, who were usually overlooked in IPL auctions. Ben Stokes became the most expensive overseas player ever, going for INR 14.5 crore (US$2.16 million approx) to Rising Pune Supergiants. Fast bowler Tymal Mills also set a new record price for a specialist bowler, bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for INR 12 crore ($1.8 million approx). •BCCI
Despite giving away an 87-run lead (and an eight-for to Nathan Lyon), India won the low-scoring Bengaluru Test against Australia, their spinners, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, taking six-fors in either innings. In contrast, the third Test, in Ranchi, was a high-scoring draw in which Cheteshwar Pujara faced 525 balls - the most by an Indian in a Test innings - for his 202. India won the series with an eight-wicket win in the final Test, in Dharamsala.•AFP
Afghanistan dominated their bilateral series against Ireland in Greater Noida, winning the T20Is 3-0, the ODIs 3-2, and the first-class Intercontinental Cup game by an innings. Rashid Khan continued to dominate the wicket charts, though it was offspinner Mohammad Nabi who made headlines in the first-class game, taking 6 for 40 and becoming his side's all-time leading wicket-taker in the Intercontinental Cup.•Associated Press
A sweet goodbye for Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan when Pakistan won the final Test in Dominica with an over to spare. Tailender Shannon Gabriel had to see out one ball and let Roston Chase, on 101, face the final over and save the Test. Instead, he swung wildly and inside-edged onto his stumps to spark celebrations for Pakistan's first ever series win in the Caribbean. •Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images
Two days after losing the Champions Trophy final to Pakistan, India lost their coach, Anil Kumble, who had taken them to No. 1 in the Test rankings, when he stepped down, stating that his partnership with Virat Kohli "was untenable". Shortly before the tournament, it had emerged that Kohli had told BCCI officials that some players were uncomfortable with the "intimidating" style of Kumble's man management. Ravi Shastri was later appointed the new coach.•AFP
After losing the Colombo Test to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka slipped further with a 3-2 ODI series defeat to Zimbabwe at home. Offspinning allrounder Sikandar Raza took 3 for 21 in the final ODI, which Zimbabwe won by three wickets. Raza also scored a hundred in the one-off Test, in which Sri Lanka staged a narrow four-wicket escape.•AFP
No respite for Sri Lanka, who were whitewashed at home in all three formats by an unstoppable India. Shikhar Dhawan defined India's dominance by making a century in a session, in the Galle Test, and the Indian batsmen made a total of seven Test hundreds in the four innings they batted in, and three of their bowlers - R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami - took 40 wickets between them.•AFP
A World XI squad that included Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis, Darren Sammy and Tamim Iqbal visited Pakistan for three T20Is in Lahore, where about 60,000 spectators turned up for the games. Pakistan won the series 2-1. •AFP
Ellyse Perry became the fourth Australian woman to score a Test double-century - 213 not out, the country's highest and overall the third highest individual score - in the women's Ashes Test in Sydney. The day-night Test was drawn but Australia won the multi-format series after winning two ODIs and a T20I. •Getty Images
A third one-day double-hundred for Rohit Sharma - and his second against Sri Lanka, who were also on the receiving end of his world-record 264. He took 115 balls for his first 100 runs and 36 for his second. Nine days later he made the joint-fastest T20I century - off 35 balls - against the same team.•BCCI
Despite Shakib Al Hasan making Bangladesh's highest Test score - 217 - and helping his side gain a crucial first-innings lead, they lost the first Test against New Zealand in Wellington by seven wickets. •AFP
Marcus Stoinis became the first Australian to score a hundred (from No. 7, at that) and take three wickets in an ODI, in the first Chappell-Hadlee match. However, his feats came in a six-run defeat to New Zealand. Trent Boult took 6 for 33 in the third game to give New Zealand their eighth successive bilateral ODI series win at home since 2015.•Getty Images
Rashid Khan took ten wickets at 10.6 in Afghanistan's 3-2 ODI series win in Zimbabwe. In the deciding final ODI, Zimbabwe were bowled out for 54, Rashid taking two in two overs.•Peter Della Penna
Bangladesh celebrated their 100th Test with a memorable victory - their first against Sri Lanka, and in Colombo at that. Shakib Al Hasan made a hundred and Mushfiqur Rahim and debutant Mossadek Hossain chipped in with fifties. Sri Lanka had won the first Test, in Galle - in which Rangana Herath became the leading wicket-taker among left-arm spinners - so the series was drawn 1-1.•Associated Press
Chris Gayle became the first to make 10,000 runs in T20s during an IPL game for Royal Challengers Bangalore in Rajkot. It took him 290 matches. Brendon McCullum, the next best in terms of aggregate, was at that time nearly 2500 runs behind Gayle.•BCCI
Mumbai Indians won their third IPL title with a last-ball finish against Rising Pune Supergiant in Hyderabad. Krunal Pandya helped lift Mumbai from 79 for 7 to 129 but Supergiant found themselves stifled by Lasith Malinga and Jasprit Bumrah, and finally Mitchell Johnson, who managed to defend 11 off the final over - and four off the final ball.•BCCI
Chamari Atapattu made the third-highest score in women's ODIs - an unbeaten 178 - but her solo effort wasn't enough to beat Australia, for whom captain Meg Lanning responded with an unbeaten 152 in the World Cup match in Bristol.•Getty Images/ICC
An innings that will be emblazoned in the memory of everyone who saw it: Harmanpreet Kaur's 115-ball 171 (including 22 runs off an over) came in the World Cup semi-final against Australia. Coming in to bat at 35 for 2, she hit 20 fours and seven sixes in her match-winning innings despite a strained shoulder.•Getty Images
West Indies chased 322 in just over a day at Headingley on the back of a thrilling century stand between Kraigg Brathwaite and Shai Hope, who also made a hundred in the first innings. It was West Indies' first Test win in England since 2000. But England took the series 2-1 after winning at Lord's, where James Anderson became the sixth bowler to reach 500 Test wickets.•Getty Images
Ben Stokes was arrested following a brawl outside a bar in Bristol. The ECB suspended him and Alex Hales, who was with him at the time, from selection for England squads, and Stokes subsequently missed being picked for the Ashes.•Getty Images
Although England lost the Women's Ashes, they ended the tour with a bang, courtesy Danni Wyatt, who scored their first T20I hundred (off 56 balls) in chasing down 179 in Canberra. •Getty Images
Ben Stokes' absence was always going to hit England hard, but still few expected them to concede the Ashes in less than a month. By Perth the scoreline was 3-0; Steven Smith had scored a hundred in Brisbane and a double in Perth; Mitchell Marsh made 181 in Perth and his brother Shaun 126 not out in Adelaide. And Australia's strike bowler Mitchell Starc had already taken 19 wickets before injury forced him out of the fourth Test.•Getty Images
Sixteen years after getting Test status, Bangladesh received their invitation to play in India. But they couldn't stop the hosts from thundering to a big win - their 19th consecutive Test undefeated - with Virat Kohli making his fourth double-hundred in as many series.•Associated Press
India's unbeaten record in Tests at home since 2012 was upended on a dry pitch in Pune by Australian left-arm spinner Steve O'Keefe, who took 12 wickets to dismiss them for 105 and 107.•Associated Press
England clinched their first ODI series whitewash in the Caribbean after routing West Indies by 186 runs - their biggest defeat (in terms of runs) at home - in Bridgetown. Joe Root survived two dropped catches to add 192 with Alex Hales for the second wicket. •AFP
Younis Khan became the first Pakistan batsman to make more than 10,000 Test runs (and the oldest player to do so), during the Kingston Test, which Pakistan went on to win by seven wickets.•AFP
Opener Fakhar Zaman and fast bowler Hasan Ali had already shown what they could do, in the Champions Trophy semi-final. Now, against India in the final, they upped their games; Zaman made 114 and Hasan, subsequently the Player of the Tournament, took 3 for 19 in an emphatic 180-run win.•Getty Images
Joe Root kicked off his captaincy with a masterful 190 in a huge win over South Africa at Lord's. But the man of the hour was Moeen Ali, who became the first England player to take a ten-for and make a half-century since Ian Botham did so in 1980. He also took a hat-trick at The Oval and a five-for at Old Trafford, sealing England's first series win at home against South Africa since 1998.•Getty Images
England won their fourth Women's World Cup title, prevailing by nine runs in a thrilling final against India at Lord's. Anya Shrubsole took the best figures ever in a World Cup final - 6 for 46.•Getty Images
Bangladesh won their maiden Test against Australia after Shakib Al Hasan took a ten-for in Mirpur. Australia had looked close to prevailing during David Warner and Steven Smith's 130-run stand in the fourth innings, but once Shakib dismissed both, the chase derailed and they fell 21 short of the target of 265. Australia drew the series after winning the second Test by seven wickets.•Raton Gomes
Given how Sri Lanka's year had gone, no one expected them to be the first to breach Pakistan's fortress in the UAE. But they did, sweeping the series 2-0. In the first Test, Pakistan collapsed to Rangana Herath, who took 6 for 43 while defending a target of 136. In the second, after bowling out Sri Lanka for 96 and needing 119 on the final day, Pakistan succumbed to offspinner Dilruwan Perera. •Francois Nel/Getty Images
After battling hard to draw the first Test, at Eden Gardens, Sri Lanka succumbed to their biggest defeat in the format in the second match, in Nagpur, losing by an innings and 239 runs. Virat Kohli made a double-hundred and three other Indian batsmen centuries. Sri Lanka showed some fight to draw the final Test in Delhi, where pollution interrupted play. •BCCI