Wednesday January 01, 2014
Kaieteur News
Page 61
2013 In Review
Test Match Cricket Twenty20 Cricket
Dubai, United Arab Emirates - With 43 matches having taken place, 2013 was a reasonably busy year as far as Test cricket is concerned. There were continued talks of the format’s future being in jeopardy, and various ideas aimed at ensuring it continues to flourish were mooted, including trials with pink balls and day/night Test matches. However, the past year gave fans enough reasons to feel secure about the future of cricket’s oldest format. There were historic occasions galore, from India’s 4-0 sweep of Australia at home at the start of the year, to the amazing turnaround the Australians experienced while regaining the coveted Ashes urn at the end of the year. The Wanderers Test between India and South Africa was a match for the ages, containing every element needed to classify it as an all-time classic. Thanks in part to the back-to-back Ashes series, Australia and England played more than two-thirds of the Test matches in the year, with 14 each. Its loss against India and the 0-3 defeat in the Ashes in England, however, meant that Australia suffered the most defeats in the year, losing seven matches. South Africa, who is on top of the ICC rankings for Test teams since August 2012, had a very successful year. It won seven matches, the most by any team. In
Dale Steyn
Shane Watson
Sunil Narine second place on the rankings table and most victories in the year was India, who won six matches. In total, 44,338 runs were scored from 84695 balls for 1389 wickets lost. The extras column was filled with 605 byes, 908 leg-byes, 268 wides and 244 no-balls. There were also 5051 fours and 330 sixes hit, an average of more than 117 fours and 7 sixes per Test match. On the individual front,
ODI Cricket Dubai, United Arab Emirates - A young brigade leading India to glory in the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 and Pakistan’s series victory on South African soil were just a few of the highlights in One-Day Internationals in 2013. And though the crowds didn’t mind playing conditions becoming overtly batsmen-friendly, as demonstrated by the runfeast during the IndiaAustralia series in OctoberNovember 2013, a few bowlers might have been left scarred. India and Pakistan were the busiest, playing 34 matches each out of the 136 ODIs in the year. India validated its position atop the ODI rankings table, with 22 victories to its name in 32 completed matches, followed by Pakistan who won 16 but also lost as many, the most
by any team. There were 59,437 runs scored in 69,684 balls for the loss of 1,939 wickets, at an average of almost 256 runs in a 50-over innings. The extras column contained 267 byes, 1,119 leg-byes, 1,991 wides and 147 no-balls. A total of 5,232 fours and 958 sixes were hit, at an average of more than 38 fours and seven sixes per game. On the individual front, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli were the men who topped the batting charts. The ICC ODI Allrounder Rankings were topped by Mohammad Hafeez, while Saeed Ajmal topped the bowlers rankings. A total of 77 centuries, 279 fifties and 223 ducks were registered. 2013 was also a busy year for women’s cricket. A total of 56 Women’s ODIs were played. West Indies Women
Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers and Michael Clarke were the men who led the ICC Test Batting Rankings. The bowling chart was headed by Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander, while Jacques Kallis, who retired at the end of the year, Shakib Al Hasan and R Ashwin topped the ICC Test All-Rounder Rankings. A total of 89 centuries, 193 fifties and 172 ducks were scored. (ESPNcricinfo) played 21 matches, the most by any team. However, it was also the least successful team, losing nine of those matches. England Women was the most successful team, registering 11 wins. A total of 19,160 runs were scored off 28,518 balls for the loss of 835 wickets. The extras column contained 104 byes, 286 leg-byes, 977 wides and 75 no-balls. The fours tally was 1910, while the number of sixes stood at 104. West Indies’ Stafanie Taylor displayed her dominance in the women’s circuit by topping the batting, bowling and allrounder charts. Mithali Raj (India), Sarah Taylor (England), Suzie Bates (New Zealand) and Charlotte Edwards (England) were the other women who topped the batting rankings, while England’s Katherine Brunt topped the bowler’s table. A total of 17 centuries, 71 fifties and 110 ducks were scored. (ESPNcricinfo)
Dubai, United Arab Emirates - Twenty20 cricket may be a purist’s nightmare, but despite everything, the format’s thriving and getting bigger and bigger internationally. In all, 53 T20 Internationals were played in 2013. Pakistan and Kenya were the most involved, playing 12 matches each. However, Pakistan won eight of those to end 2013 as the most successful team in the format, while Kenya’s six Stafanie Taylor
losses made it the least successful. A total of 15,437 runs were scored in 11,958 balls for the loss of 650 wickets, at an average of almost 155 runs per innings. The extras were made up of 73 byes, 297 leg byes, 454 wides and 48 no-balls. The fours tally stood at 1283, while the sixes added up to 474, an average of more than 24 boundaries and almost nine sixes per match. Shane Watson, Brendon McCullum and Alex Hales topped the ICC T20 batting rankings. Saeed Ajmal and Sunil Narine topped the bowlers’ charts, while Watson sat atop the allrounder’s rankings all year. Aaron Finch’s
spectacular 156 off 63 balls against England at Southampton in August was the only century, while 61 fifties and 76 ducks were scored. On the women’s front, 37 matches took place, with West Indies playing the most – 21. It also won the most number of matches, with nine victories. Sri Lanka’s six defeats were the highest for any team. A total of 8015 runs were scored off 8417 balls for the loss of 428 wickets. The extras contained 59 byes, 112 leg byes, 294 wides and 19 noballs. The tally of fours and sixes stood at 626 and 63 respectively. Seventeen fifties and 59 ducks were registered. (ESPNcricinfo)
Junaid, Bhatti make it Pakistan’s day ESPNcricinfo - The Pakistan seamers shredded Sri Lanka’s batting in unthreatening conditions to wrest control after a manic second session in Abu Dhabi. Junaid Khan maintained his stranglehold over the Sri Lanka batsmen, picking up his fourth five-wicket haul against them, but central to the collapse was debutant Bilawal Bhatti’s post-lunch spell during which he picked up three wickets - two of them in one over. The twitter feed was abound with the
question: “What did they eat for lunch?” The pitch in its green guise didn’t offer much to the bowlers, but it was a mix of tight bowling and loose batting from Sri Lanka that resulted in their innings slipping off the precipice. From a comfortable 66 for 1 at lunch, Sri Lanka lost seven wickets for 58 runs and only a rearguard action from their captain, Angelo Mathews, who scored a counterattacking 91, (Continued on page 60)