2019: ASHES RETAINED

Smith and Warner made their mark in another huge year for cricket, writes SCOTT SAWYER

10. Women in charge

THE Australian women’s team cemented their dominance in the Old Dart with a commanding, multi-format Ashes series victory.

Ellyse Perry reinforced her billing as one of the game’s brightest stars, carving out a crucial century in the first innings of the only Test of the series.

She backed it up with 76 in the second innings as the Australian juggernaut steamrolled the English.

Perry finished as the highest run-scorer of the series, while Meg Lanning and Alyssa Healy were more than capable foils in plundering 359 and 266 runs respectively.

Lanning stole headlines with an unbeaten 133-run masterclass at Chelmsford, blasting the then-highest score in a women’s T20 international off just 63 balls, which helped seal the Ashes win.

9. King Kohli reigns

VIRAT, well, he just kept being Virat.

Arguably the world’s best batsman, and a man destined to go down as one of the greatest to have played the game, King Kohli did nothing to harm his reputation in 2019.

He cracked more than 600 Test runs at an average of more than 68, including an unbeaten 254, and also tallied more than 1200 one-day international runs at a clip over 61 and a strike rate of more than 95.

It was enough to have him finish the year on top of the ICC’s Test and ODI batting rankings.

The 31-year-old star also snuck into the top 10 of the ICC T20 batting rankings, after smashing 466 runs at more than 77 in 10 internationals.

8. Healy goes big

NOT satisfied with winning fans through her humour and brilliance with the roving microphone on the field, Alyssa Healy put on a one-woman firework show to cement her status as one of the modern game’s true entertainers.

The quick-witted opener carried her bat during a T20 international against Sri Lanka in October to eclipse teammate Meg Lanning’s former record score.

The innings was brutal, as Healy blasted 148 off just 61 balls at North Sydney Oval to lift the Aussies to a huge 2-226 – equalling the highest score by the women’s team.

Healy reached the world record with a six, taking her past the former mark of 133 set by Lanning just two months earlier during the Ashes.

7. Spotlight on health

AS THE stigma surrounding mental health issues diminishes, their prevalence continues to be thrust further into the spotlight.

That was never more evident than in 2019, when three stars of Australian cricket – Glenn Maxwell, Will Pucovski and Nic Maddinson – stepped away from the game in order to focus on their mental health.

All three took time away from the sport in November to deal with ongoing issues, prompting an outcry of support from the public.

Former Test captain Mark Taylor said he believed mental health would become a growing issue for not just cricket, but all elite sport in future, and it was vital that players could find time away from the game, and back in their community, to maintain their mental health.

Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association rolled out “Gameplan”, a wellbeing and education program, in June in a bid to tackling issues related to mental health.

6. Test cricket returns

IT WAS a regulation wicket that fell.

Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratene, trapped leg before wicket by Shaheen Shah Afridi for 59.

However, it was anything but a regular occurrence.

It was the first Test wicket to fall on Pakistan soil for more than a decade.

Ten years and nine months after the Lahore terror attack on the Sri Lankan team’s bus and convoy killed six policemen and two members of the public, and left a reserve umpire and seven Sri Lankan players wounded, Test cricket had returned to the much-maligned nation.

The Sri Lankans played two one-dayers and three T20s in Pakistan prior to the Test in December, but with muchweakened sides after 10 players stayed home for fear of their safety.

5. Smith stars

SEAMING English decks, a dismal World Cup result, a ruthless Barmy Army honing in on wounds still healing from the sandpaper scandal, coupled with a rampaging Jimmy Anderson, a fierce Jofra Archer, and Stuart Broad terrorising

the lefties – the Aussies were meant to be no chance.

But when Jimmy went down four overs into the first Test, suddenly the dream for Australia was not so distant.

Steve Smith was on another planet at Edgbaston, and all the Test venues, after recovering from being felled by Archer at Lord’s to plunder 774 runs for the series.

Pat Cummins was superb, and given excellent support by Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazle