Records tumble in a year of upsets and thrilling finishes
Steve Smith and David Warner led the way for Australian cricket during 2016, writes Phil Dillon
Carlos ‘stoked’
GOING into the last over of the final of the World Twenty20 at Eden Gardens, England was the big favourite to win the title after turning things around against the West Indies.
The Windies needed 19 to win off the final over from Ben Stokes but with Marlon Samuels on 85 at the non-striker’s end, it appeared as though England would get the win.
No one expected what happened next. Carlos Brathwaite, a big fast bowler, hit Stokes for three sixes off the first three balls to stun the English and the huge crowd.
Needing a single to win, Brathwaite decided he wanted more and heaved another big stroke beyond the boundary.
Ian Bishop’s call of the winning run will go down in history. “Carlos Brathwaite, remember the name,” Bishop said as the celebrations – led by Samuels and, of course, Chris Gayle – began in earnest.
Wonderful Warner
DAVID Warner did not have his most successful year at Test level but in the one-day game he was the king in 2016.
Warner smashed seven centuries in 23 one-day international innings for Australia – a record for a calendar year by an Aussie batsman, beating the previous record of five set by Ricky Ponting (twice in 2003 and 2007) and Matthew Hayden (2007).
Only two players have as many centuries in a year as Warner – Sachin Tendulkar (nine in 1998) and Sourav Ganguly (seven in 2000). In 2016, no other batsman has scored more than three ODI tons.
The left-hander chalked up 1388 runs in ODIs this year and that came on the back of leading Sunrisers Hyderabad to the Indian Premier League title. He scored 69 to help his team win the final against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
His total of 848 IPL runs was enough to beat the previous record jointly held by Chris Gayle and Mike Hussey, who scored 733 runs in 2012 and 2013 respectively, but Warner’s efforts were eclipsed by India’s own Virat Kohli, who smashed 963 runs.
Smith in the runs
STEVE Smith had a year to remember, even though Australia’s Test record wasn’t the best in 2016.
The Australian captain became just the fourth player to ever reach 4500 runs in his first 48 Tests.
The only other three men to do it were Don Bradman, Sunil Gavaskar and Len Hutton.
Smith moved past West Indian great Everton Weekes to fourth on the list with 63 against Pakistan in the first Test at the Gabba. That came after scoring his 16th Test match hundred in the same game.
His total number of runs after 48 Tests is 4504 at an average of 58.49. Smith also sits equal third on the list for most centuries at the 48-Test mark, tied with Matthew Hayden, Herbert Sutcliffe and Neil Harvey on 16.
Bradman tops the charts with 28, with Gavaskar second on 19.
In ODIs, Smith also had an outstanding year. He scored 1154 runs, the second highest in one-dayers this year, behind only compatriot David Warner.
Kohli comes of age
VIRAT Kohli joined some of the greats by posting three Test double centuries this year, becoming just the fifth man to score three Test scores of 200 or more in a calendar year.
Only Sir Donald Bradman (1930), Ricky Ponting (2003), Michael Clarke (2012) and Brendon McCullum (2014) have achieved the feat.
Having never scored more than 169 at Test level before this year, Kohli struck 200 against the West Indies in Antigua, 211 against New Zealand in Indore and 235 against England in Mumbai.
He is also the first man to score a double century in three consecutive series in the same year. Kohli has also now scored more than 2500 runs this year across all formats, only the 11th player to do so.
He is also the only player in the world to average more than 50 in all formats of the game at international level.
Bairstow brings it
ENGLAND wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow had a year to remember. He began 2016 with a score of 150 not out against South Africa in Cape Town in January and never looked back.
He hit two more tons – 140 against Sri Lanka at Leeds in May, followed by an unbeaten 167 against the same team in June.
He hit eight more fifties in Tests this year and broke Zimbabwean Andy Flower’s record of 1045 runs in a calendar year for a keeper. Bairstow went on to crack 1470 runs in 29 innings.
But it wasn’t just with the bat that Bairstow excelled for his country.
He also broke the world record of dismissals previously held by Australia’s Ian Healy and South Africa’s Mark Boucher. Bairstow went past that mark of 67 and finished the year on 71 catches and stumpings.
Lanning a true Star
MEG Lanning is the world’s best batter in the women’s game and she proved it and then some in 2016.
She led the Southern Stars to the top of the world rankings and qualification for the World Cup with a string of top scores.
In the 50-over game,
❝batter Meg Lanning is the world’s best in the women’s game and she proved it and then some in 2016.
Lanning scored 761 runs in 15 innings including scores of 114 not out, 127 and 134.
She wasn’t bad in T20 internationals either, amassing 339 runs as the Aussies dominated in series against Sri Lanka and South Africa.
Lanning continued that form into the domestic game where she surpassed her own record for the highest individual score in Australian cricket by smashing 190 off 153 balls during Victoria’s 157-run win against Tasmania in the Women’s National Cricket League in Hobart.
Lanning bettered the 175 she scored against ACT in 2012.
She also set another record during that match – her second-wicket partnership of 288 with Jess Cameron, who made 108, was the highest for any wicket in the tournament.
Thunder buddies
PERENNIAL strugglers Sydney Thunder had been the whipping boys since the Big Bash League’s inception in 2011.
But in the fifth season of the competition they defeated the Melbourne Stars in the final.
The Stars had beaten the Perth Scorchers – winners of the past two tournaments – in the semi-final.
Usman Khawaja was the man to do the damage for the Thunder, hitting an unbeaten 104 in the semi as his team thrashed the Adelaide Strikers by eight wickets after easily chasing down 159.
In the final Khawaja starred again with 70 off 40 balls as the Thunder won by three wickets with three balls to spare after chasing down the Stars’ 9-176 with 7-181.
The women’s team completed the double for the Thunder in the inaugural tournament. The Thunder was not the favourite but defeated the Sydney Sixers in the final.
Aussies in a spin
AUSTRALIA went into a three-match Test series in Sri Lanka with some confidence.
But it came home shot to pieces after the home team completed a first-ever whitewash over the Aussies, who battled against the home team’s spin attack, in particular veteran left-arm tweaker Rangana Herath, who ended up with a record 28 wickets in the series.
He had the wood over Aussie skipper Steve Smith, who he dismissed five times in six innings in the series.
The only positive on the Test part of the tour was the bowling of Mitchell Starc, who picked up 24 wickets in the series.
The Aussies did improve in the one-day games and T20 matches to follow. They won the ODI series 4-1 and both T20 matches at a canter. But by that time Smith was already home, resting up for the home games to follow.
Quick runs
IT WAS quite fitting that in his 101st and final Test, New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum scored the fastest Test century, against the old rival Australia. The 34-year-old needed just 54 balls to reach his 12th century in a majestic display on the first day of the second Test in Christchurch in February. It beat the mark of 56 balls set by West Indies great Sir Viv Richards against England in 1986 and Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq in 2014, also against Australia.
In a remarkable display of power hitting, Ben Stokes hit the fastest double century for England, and the second fastest in history, on day two of the second Test against South Africa in Cape Town in January. Stokes, in his 21st Test, resumed on 74 and raced to 200 in 163 balls to beat Ian Botham’s 220-ball record.
Only New Zealand’s Nathan Astle reached a Test double hundred more quickly than Stokes, off 153 balls against England in 2002.
Faf sucks it up
SOUTH Africa skipper Faf du Plessis was seen sucking a lolly before polishing the ball in the second Test in Hobart.
He was subsequently found guilty of ball tampering by the International Cricket Council for using mints to alter the condition of the ball, but was cleared to play in the pink-ball Test in Adelaide.
Du Plessis pleaded not guilty to the charge but was fined 100% of his match fee after he was found guilty of a breach of the ICC’s Code of Conduct. Du Plessis appealed but was unsuccessful.
He did, however, have the last laugh, hitting a century in Adelaide and leading his team to a 2-1 series success after easy wins in Perth and Hobart.
Saying farewell
IT WAS a sad year as the cricket world paid tribute to stalwarts of the game Max Walker, Tony Cozier and Martin Crowe.
Crowe, arguably New Zealand’s best batsman, died in March aged 53, while West Indian commentator Cozier, who graced the airwaves around the world and was said to have had an encyclopaedic knowledge of the game, passed away in May, aged 75.
Walker, the loveable larrikin who proved to be as good a writer and TV presenter as he was a cricketer, left us in September aged 68. All three lost their battles with cancer and tributes came in from some of the greats of the game.