Part three of our 2016 Cricket Review looks at logic-defying feats...
Friday 30 December 2016 07:54, UK
In part three of our review of 2016 we concentrate on some of the other major cricket events that helped dominate the headlines.
You can say what you like about 2016 - but most people will agree that it was a year that had a seemingly endless capacity to surprise, frustrate and leave pollsters scratching their heads. Brexit, Donald Trump's surge to the White House and Leicester City being crowned Premier League champions are just three examples that typify a year where everyone learned to expect the unexpected.
While the cricketing world wasn't quite turned upside down, there were still numerous performances that defied logic and will forever be synonymous with 2016...
McCullum's 54-ball hundred
New Zealand might have lost the second Test to Australia in Christchurch back in February, but it's likely that only Australians will remember that. For everyone else, it was a match defined by Brendon McCullum's record-breaking farewell to international cricket.
The former Black Caps skipper signed off from Test cricket by smashing the fastest hundred in history, from just 54 balls - two quicker than the previous record held by Sir Vivian Richards and Misbah-ul-Haq. McCullum's innings of 145 from 79 deliveries included 21 fours and six sixes as the Australian bowlers were carted to all corners of a ram-packed Hagley Oval.
After losing the toss and being asked to bat first, McCullum had come to the crease with his side struggling on 32-3. His brutal counter-attack helped his side reach 370 in just 65.4 overs and seal his reputation as one of the most destructive players of his generation.
Maxwell's stunning T20 ton
Glenn Maxwell endured an up and down 2016. He ended the year dropped from Australia's ODI side and out of pocket after being fined for comments about having to bat below Victoria team-mate and wicket-keeper, Matthew Wade.
But earlier in the year Maxwell, also known more colloquially as 'The Big Show', delivered one of the most sensational performances in T20 history. Opening the batting against Sri Lanka in the first T20I at Pallekele in September, Maxwell smoked his way to a staggering 145 not out from 65 balls.
His contribution helped Australia reach 263-3 from their 20 overs - the joint-highest total in T20 history and the highest team score in T20 internationals. Maxwell took just 49 balls to reach three figures and had hit 14 boundaries and nine sixes by the time he walked off. This was a performance worthy of his nickname and a reminder to the Australia selectors of his frightening talent.
Bangladesh's first Test win over England
On paper, England's two Tests in Bangladesh in October looked like the ideal preparation for the subsequent tour to India; an opportunity to acclimatise to sub-continental conditions, and a chance to blood new players and tinker with selection.
But from the moment the-then 18-year-old Mehedi Hasan - on debut - extracted turn and bounce in the second over of the first Test in Chittagong, it became clear that a tough assignment lay ahead and that Bangladesh had improved immeasurably since England's last visit in 2010. Alastair Cook's side had to dig deep to win a tense opening Test; the victory margin just 22 runs on the final morning.
But Bangladesh responded in thrilling style in Dhaka to register their first Test match win over England. Tamim Iqbal's century on day one laid the platform for victory, but the real star was Hasan, who took an astonishing 12 wickets in his second Test. Hasan's spell of 6-77 was pivotal to England's second innings collapse - they lost all 10 wickets in the final session of day three as the hosts levelled the series, leading to joyous celebrations in the middle and across the country.
Australia's end of year implosion
England have endured a winter of discontent; that uninspiring drawn Test series with Bangladesh was followed by a 4-0 pasting in India. With the Ashes looming in under a year's time, England fans are right to be concerned, but they can take solace from Australia's alarming dip in form in the latter half of 2016.
Ranked the number one Test side in the ICC rankings as recently as August, Steve Smith's side were handed a 3-0 thrashing in Sri Lanka, though they recovered to take the one-dayers. Things took a dramatic turn for the worse in South Africa when they were whitewashed in a five-match ODI series for the first time in their history.
Then, back on home soil for a three-test series, South Africa handed them a heavy defeat in the first Test in Perth (by 177 runs) before bowling Australia out for just 85 and 161 in the second Test in Hobart to win the match by an innings and 80 runs; ultimately taking the series 2-1. In Australia's first 10 Tests this year, they've used 23 players, making it hard to predict who will line up against England in Brisbane next November.
County Championship hat-trick finale
There cannot have been many more dramatic finales to the County Championship than the climax to the 2016 season. Going into the final round of fixtures Middlesex, Yorkshire and Somerset all stood a chance of winning Division One.
Somerset thrashed Nottinghamshire easily, meaning that they needed a draw from the game between the other two contenders at Lord's. After a curious and controversial passage of play on the final day that saw Yorkshire's bowlers lob up some gentle off-spin to help Middlesex's batsmen score quick runs and hasten a declaration, the end equation was this - Yorkshire needed 240 from 40 overs to win the title while Middlesex needed to bowl Yorkshire out.
While many thought the declaration was generous, the reality was that with no fielding restrictions and a wearing fourth day pitch meant the task for Yorkshire was considerable, and so it proved. At 153-4 with just over 10 overs left and Tim Bresnan unbeaten on 55, they were in with a chance to mount a late push for glory. But Toby Roland-Jones (6-54) pinned Bresnan in front and cleaned up Andrew Gale (22) soon after to leave the visitors struggling on 160-6.
What followed shortly after was the stuff of fantasy as Roland-Jones dismissed Azeem Rafiq (4), Andrew Hodd (17) and Ryan Sidebottom (0) in successive balls to complete a stunning hat-trick - Yorkshire bowled out for 178 and Middlesex securing their first title since 1993.
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