Richard Isaacs brings you the best stats of 2018, and the statistical milestones to look out for in 2019.
TEST CRICKET
Forty-eight Test matches were played in 2018 - the most for 13 years and the fifth-most in a calendar year in Test history - but the 2018 Test runs per wicket was just 27.58, which is the lowest since 1959.
Only one player averaged over 60 (who had batted 10 or more times) and that was New Zealander Henry Nicholls with an average of 73.11 across 12 innings. The last time that just a single player averaged over 60 in a Test year was 1988 when Pakistan's Javed Miandad hit four centuries in 10 innings for an average of 69.40.
India captain Virat Kohli ends the year ranked number one in the world having scored the most runs - he was one of just two batsmen to record 1,000 Test runs in 2018, alongside Kusal Mendis of Sri Lanka.
Kohli's record is more remarkable in that 11 of his 13 Tests in 2018 were away from home with 1,138 runs scored. That is the fourth-highest amount in a calendar year in away Tests after Graeme Smith hit 1,212 in 2008, Azhar Ali struck 1,198 in 2016 and Sir Viv Richards notched 1,154 in 1976.
The world number one bowler is also the leading wicket-taker in Tests in 2018 as well - that is South Africa paceman Kagiso Rabada.
However, there should be a special mention for Jasprit Bumrah, whose 48 wickets in nine matches in his debut season is the most since Curtly Ambrose 49 in 1988, but Bumrah trailed the all-time record of 54 taken by Terry Alderman in 1981.
ONE-DAY INTERNATIONALS
For the third successive year, England scored their runs at over six runs per over and were the only team to do so in 2018, as they were in 2016.
Kohli's 2018 ODI batting average of 133.55 and strike-rate of 102.55, including six centuries, is the second-highest yearly average of all time, behind Michael Hussey's 146.75 in 2005.
Mystery spin is said to be key and the 2018 statistics back that up. Afghanistan's Rashid Khan was the leading wicket-taker with 48 followed by Kuldeep Yadav with 45, Adil Rashid 42 and Mujeeb Zadran with 37. The first paceman, Zimbabwe's Tendai Chatara, is in fifth place with 30 scalps.
Such has been the change in England's batting that there have only been two scores of over 400 in an ODI in the last three years - including the world record 481-6 against Australia at Trent Bridge this year - and both have been by Trevor Bayliss' men.
England cracked 135 sixes in ODIs in 2018 but they also hit more singles (2079), twos (332), threes (40) and fours (580) than any other team as well as the most maximums.
TWENTY20 INTERNATIONALS
Pakistan's record of 17 wins from 19 matches is the most of any team in a calendar year and leaves them in a fully-deserved No1 spot in the rankings.
One of the key factors in Pakistan's successful run was that they hit 938 singles and played out just 820 dot balls, a record matched by New Zealand and India in having more singles than scoreless balls.
There were 82 T20 internationals in 2018 and the runs were scored at 8.34 runs per over - which is the highest of all time in this format of the game in a year.
Joe Denly made his return to the England T20 international side after an absence of eight years and 249 days - and claimed England's best bowling analysis of 4-19 against Sri Lanka in Colombo.
WOMEN'S INTERNATIONALS
The first ever stand-alone Women's World T20 tournament, staged in the West Indies, was a huge success with Australia regaining the crown for a fourth time.
In the 23 matches played in the tournament, there were more sixes hit (75) than any other tournament of which Harmanpreet Kaur struck a sensational eight in her century against New Zealand.
There was a huge expansion of the Women's T20 international status to include Associate nations and one of those, Botswana's Botsogo Mpedi took Amy Satterthwaite's 11-year record for the best bowling analysis when she took 6-8 against Lesotho in August.
STATS TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN 2019
England are 7,074 runs short of being the first team in Test history to score 500,000 runs. In Test matches, another 120 no-balls will complete 40,000.
With this being a World Cup year, the race is on to become the first team to play in 1,000 ODIs - India lead the way at 953, Australia 919 and Pakistan 900 as it stands.
Chris Gayle (9727) is closing in on 10,000 ODI runs.
AND WATCH OUT FOR ….
A big innovation will be the extension of official T20 international status to include the 93 ICC Associate member nations from January 1.
This has already been implemented in the women's game but will now be seen across the men's game so you can fully expect to see matches between France and Norway, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone and Seychelles among many others and, of course, much closer to home, Jersey and Guernsey.
So, 8,930 international matches played by men and women since the very first in 1877. With the influx of T20 teams, both men and women coming into the mainstream, could we pass 10,000 in 2019?
Watch the ICC Cricket World Cup, the Ashes and the Women's Ashes live on Sky Sports Cricket in 2019!
Before then watch every ball of England's Test and ODI series against Windies, starting with the first Test on Wednesday, January 23.