2013 in Review: Cricket!

2013 will forever be remembered as the year a true cricketing great retired.

Indeed, the departure of the little maestro after 200 tests, 664 internationals, 34,357 runs and 100 tons was greeted with celebration and sadness in equal measure in Sachin Tendulkar's home country and home city of Mumbai that India's series against the West Indies was named in his honour.

No other player has ever worn that honour although in these media-savvy times, the next great in cricket might very well win that honour.

Tendulkar's retirement marked the end of an era - an era which most of us of the 80s-90s generation will fondly remember growing up with the likes of Sir Richard Hadlee, Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting and Shane Warne.

One wonders who will be the next great although if this year has been anything to go by, it looks like the player once known as Pup could be it.

Most controversial moment of the year?

He may have had his critics in his past, but Australia's long term faith in Michael Clarke has finally been vindicated. Indeed, as skipper, Michael Clarke appears to be playing on another level, not dissimilar to Tendulkar in his prime.

Clarke is not just scoring tons, he's scoring massive tons, and I wouldn't be surprised if we see him come close to breaking the world record in the near future - such is his ability to hang around and play the fast and slow ball.

His captaincy may have been in question in England as Australia capitulated 3-0 in the series, but after Cricket Australia's selectors finally came on board along with more support for coach, Darren Lehmann, Clarke has been able to get the best out of what has always been a talented side and regain the Ashes for the first time since 2007.

Is this the start of a revival for Australian cricket? It has to be said that this English side is in a bit of transition with the likes of James Anderson, Jonathan Trott and Alistair Cook in a bit of a decline. There is talent in English cricket and the likes of Joe Root, Michael Carberry, Ben Stokes, etc. can win back the Ashes in the near future - hopefully Andy Flower will stay around as he is a pretty good coach.

And perhaps that's the reason why you don't really play back to back Ashes. Mind you, much as we like to see Australia lose, it is good to see the Ashes move around so it is nice to see Australia win it after so long, to keep the competitive spirit of the series alive.

South Africa remain numero uno in the test game, especially in the test series although they have had a pretty quiet year.

New Zealand cricket continues to remain constant although before this article goes to press, they are on the verge of their first test series win in 8 years - it just shows you what a tough last couple of years it has been for Sonny Shaw and other Blackcaps fans. Ross Taylor continues to press claims that he is one of our best batsman and probably one of the most consistent batsmen in the world.

New Zealand cricket fans have plenty to look forward to in 2014 with a series against India and hopefully more improvement for a still very young side but now with a lot of tests under the belt -the fast bowling lineup of Trent Boult, Neil Wagner and Tim Southee with Doug Bracewell also waiting in the wings could be one of the best in the world.

So here's to a great 2014 with plenty to look forward to!

Here are my teams of the year!

Test XI of the Season
Graeme Smith, South Africa
David Warner, Australia
Michael Clarke, Australia
Hashim Amla, South Africa
Ross Taylor, New Zealand
AB de Villiers, South Africa (wk)
Sajeed Ajmal, Pakistan
Rangana Herath, Sri Lanka
Ryan Harris, Australia
Vernon Phillander, South Africa
Dale Steyn, South Africa

ODI XI of the Season
Hashim Amla, South Africa
AB de Villiers, South Africa
Virat Kohli, India

Kumar Sangakarra, Sri Lanka
George Bailey, Australia
Mahendra Dhoni, India (wk)

Shakib al Hasan, Bangladesh
Sajeed Ajmal, Pakistan
Dale Steyn, South Africa
Steve Finn, England
James Anderson, England

Twenty20 XI of the Season
David Warner, Australia
Alex Hales, England
Brendon McCullum, New Zealand

Kumar Sangakarra, Sri Lanka (wk)

Yuvraj Singh, India
Virat Kohli, India
Shane Watson, Australia

Mohammed Hafeez, Pakistan

Saeed Ajmal, Pakistan
Sunil Narine, West Indies
Steve Finn, England