Australia's blip, and World Cup shocks

2 The ICC names David Morgan, the chairman of the ECB, and Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, as the two nominees to succeed Percy Sonn as president of the organisation.

5 Australia drub England 5-0 in the Ashes with a win in the final Test in Sydney, also the last Test appearance for Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne and Justin Langer.

Langer's opening partner Matthew Hayden is handed a limited-overs lifeline after being named in Australia's 13-man squad for the CB Series. Hayden goes on to become the leading run-getter in ODIs for 2007.

6 South Africa complete a fabulous come-from-behind series win in the Cape Town Test against India.

Waqar Younis resigns as Pakistan's bowling coach.

9 Rain ruins the deciding ODI between New Zealand and Sri Lanka. The series finishes 2-2. The Test series was drawn 1-1.

Ken Cranston, who captained England once in 1947-48, dies at the age of 89.

15 Herschelle Gibbs is banned for two Tests for making abusive comments about a section of the crowd during the first Test against Pakistan. Later, his appeal against the ban is rejected by Richie Benaud, the ICC's code of conduct commissioner. However, the punishment is changed to one Test, one Twenty20 and one ODI, as the ban has to apply to the next matches the player is scheduled to play.

16 Ken Schofield, the former executive director of golf's European Tour and a TV commentator, is selected to chair the review committee charged with analysing England's tour of Australia, along with Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton among others.

17 Michael Bevan, at one point the best one-day batsman in the world, retires from the game after being dogged by a series of fitness problems.

20 Makhaya Ntini becomes the third South African to take 300 Test wickets, during the second Test against Pakistan in Port Elizabeth.

An ODI between Kenya and Canada is called off in Mombasa after Canada forfeit the game; illnesses leave them unable to field an XI.

22 Greg Chappell, the Indian coach, is slapped at Bhubaneshwar airport by a man belonging to a group protesting the lack of players from the state of Orissa in the national side. Later in the year Chappell claims in a documentary it was a racist attack, before then going on to downplay the remarks.

25 Shoaib Akhtar is fined by Pakistan's team management in South Africa for his role in a spat with Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach, that makes its way onto television.

26 Nathan Astle retires from international cricket, citing a lack of motivation, just six weeks before what would be his fourth World Cup.

31 India seal a 3-1 win in the ODI series against West Indies.

1 The Indian cabinet approves an ordinance that makes it mandatory for private broadcasters to share the live feed of all "sporting events of national importance" with the government-run Doordarshan and All India Radio. The ordinance comes in the wake of refusals by broadcasters such as Nimbus to share their feeds.

5 Tim Nielsen is confirmed as John Buchanan's successor as coach of Australia.

Capping a stunning season, Mumbai beat Bengal in the final pf the Ranji Trophy.

Ricky Ponting becomes the first player to win the Allan Border Medal, and also the Australian awards for Test Player of the Year and One-Day Player of the Year.

7 Darrell Hair announces he has applied to the London Central Employment Tribunal alleging racial discrimination by the ICC and the Pakistan Cricket Board. He later decides to drop the charges against the PCB.

Indian police reveal that West Indies allrounder Marlon Samuels passed on team information on the eve of the Nagpur ODI against India on January 21 to Mukesh Kochchar, an alleged bookie. Following the news, the ICC sends a team to Nagpur to investigate. The ICC later asks the West Indian board to investigate the matter after receiving a report from its anti-corruption and security unit.

David Obuya stars as Kenya capture the World Cricket League title in Nairobi, beating Scotland in the final.

Barbados win the 2007 Carib Beer Cup, the West Indian domestic first-class competition, beating Guyana in the final.

10 Bangladesh wrap up a 3-1 series victory over Zimbabwe at Harare Sports Club.

Shahid Afridi is set to miss Pakistan's first two World Cup matches after being handed a four-match ODI ban for brandishing his bat at a spectator during the first ODI against South Africa in Centurion.

11 An inspired England shock Australia in the CB Series, handing them their first home finals defeat in 14 years.

13 Chris Gayle is named 2006 West Indies International Cricketer of the Year.

14 South Africa brush aside a dispirited Pakistan by nine wickets to take the ODI series 3-1.

Rahul Dravid becomes the sixth player to get to 10,000 runs in ODIs.

17 India complete a 2-1 series win over Sri Lanka - who are sans Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas - in Visakhapatnam.

18 South Africa displace Australia at the head of the ICC ODI rankings following Australia's five-wicket loss to New Zealand in Auckland. It is the first time Australia have slipped from the top spot since the rankings were launched in October 2002.

20 Craig McMillan and Brendon McCullum lead another massive run-chase to complete a 3-0 whitewash of Australia in Hamilton.

22 Karachi Urban become Quaid-e-Azam Trophy champions, defeating Sialkot by eight wickets in Multan.

Ashwell Prince is elected president of the South African Cricketers' Association.

23 Bruce Aanensen, a former manager of Trinidad and Tobago's Soca Warriors football team, is appointed CEO of the West Indies Cricket Board.

Stuart Clark replaces Brett Lee in Australia's World Cup squad after Lee is ruled out with an ankle injury

25 Trinidad and Tobago beat Barbados by 49 runs in the final to clinch the Carib Beer Challenge, contested between the top two teams in the Carib Beer Cup.

27 Steve Waugh is named captain of Australia's greatest ODI team. Ricky Ponting is vice-captain, while Michael Bevan gets the nod for the finisher's position ahead of Michael Hussey. There is no place for Allan Border, who led Australia to their first World Cup in 1987.

Abdul Razzaq, the Pakistan allrounder, is ruled out of the World Cup with a knee injury.

28 South Africa are presented with the ICC one-day championship plate - the first time it has been held by any team other than Australia since the ranking system was introduced in 2002.

1 After much speculation, Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif are finally ruled out of Pakistan's World Cup squad, minutes before the team's departure for the Caribbean. Asif is down with an elbow injury while Shoaib has a knee problem. Shoaib and Asif had been banned by the Pakistan board in 2006 following a positive dope test ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy.

3 The ICC suspends the membership of the United States of America Cricket Association.

5 Australia's women's team completes a six-wicket win over New Zealand to clinch the Quadrangular tournament in Chennai.

12 Peshawar Panthers defeat Sialkot Stallions by eight wickets in the ABN-AMRO Cup Gold League final in Karachi to claim the title.

13 The World Cup gets underway, with hosts West Indies completing a 54-run win over Pakistan in Kingston, Jamaica.

16 Herschelle Gibbs makes history by becoming the first batsman to hit six sixes in an ODI, in South Africa's World Cup match against the Netherlands.

Manjural Islam, who played six Tests and 25 ODIs for Bangladesh between 2003-04 and 2005-06, dies in a road accident, aged 22.

17 Ireland send Pakistan crashing out of the World Cup on St Patrick's Day. It is one of two major upsets: India suffer a shock loss to Bangladesh. With the win, Ireland close in on a place in the Super Eights, having tied their game with Zimbabwe.

18 Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach, is pronounced dead in a Kingston hospital after being found unconscious in his hotel room hours after Pakistan were eliminated from the World Cup following the shock defeat to Ireland. Woolmer was 58.

A shattered Inzamam-ul-Haq announces his retirement from one-day cricket and resigns as Pakistan's Test captain, and says the match against Zimbabwe will be his last.

Several of England's players are fined for a "breach of team discipline" following the six-wicket defeat to New Zealand the previous day. Later, Andrew Flintoff is dropped for the team's next match, and is sacked from the vice-captaincy. Flintoff allegedly drunkenly capsized a pedalo at 4am the morning after the loss.

20 An autopsy on the body of Bob Woolmer has inconclusive results.

Sunil Gavaskar apologises for the remark he made about David Hookes' death when criticising Australia's on-field behavior, saying the comment was "uncalled for and inappropriate".

22 The Jamaican police confirm that Bob Woolmer was murdered. Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf honours Woolmer with the Sitara-i-Imtiaz, a civilian award, posthumously.

23 India exit the World Cup in the first stage after losing to Sri Lanka, in what is their worst campaign since 1979.

Tasmania beat New South Wales to win the Pura Cup.

24 The Jamaican authorities order an inquest be held in the Bob Woolmer case.

25 National Bank of Pakistan beat defending champions Habib Bank Limited to win the ABN-AMRO Patron's Cup final.

26 The England and Pakistan cricket boards settle the ECB's compensation claims relating to the forfeited Oval Test in August 2006.

In New Zealand, Alun Evans and Hamish Marshall win Northern Districts the State Championship title after batting Canterbury out of the game.

Matthew Hayden is granted honorary citizenship of St Kitts after his hundred against South Africa, the fastest in World Cup matches.

27 Cathryn Fitzpatrick, the Australian widely regarded as the fastest female bowler, retires after a 16-year international career.

28 Lasith Malinga takes four wickets in four balls - the first-time ever in an ODI - but Sri Lanka lose by one wicket to South Africa in the Super Eights stage of the World Cup.

Mumbai complete a double in the Indian domestic season, adding the Ranji one-day title to the first-class triumph by beating Rajasthan in the final in Jaipur.

Muttiah Muralitharan is picked by Wisden as the Leading Cricketer of the Year ahead of Ricky Ponting, Shane Warne and Mohammad Yousuf. Yousuf is one of the Five Cricketers of the Year, alongside Monty Panesar, Paul Collingwood, Mark Ramprakash and Mahela Jayawardene.

30 Anil Kumble announces his retirement from ODIs but says he will be available for Test matches.

Rebecca Rolls, one of New Zealand's longest-serving players, retires from all forms of women's cricket.

31 In the course of his 3 for 16 against Bangladesh, Glenn McGrath goes past Wasim Akram to become the leading wicket-taker in World Cups.