Skysports.com picks out cricket's memorable moments during the last 12 months.
Skysports.com looks back over the last 12 months
It has been another year of highs and lows in the world of cricket with excitement, controversy and talking points aplenty.
Click here for a recap of 2010 in pictures
England continued to flourish under the guidance of Andy Flower, victory at the World T20 and some impressive Test displays raising hopes of a first Ashes success Down Under since 1986/87 as we head into the new year.
Sachin Tendulkar showed age is just a number by setting new standards in a career that had already marked him out as one of the greats.
Tendulkar's runs helped India stay just ahead of the chasing pack in the ICC Test rankings, while the steady decline of Ricky Ponting's once all-powerful Australia continued.
There was no shortage of drama in county cricket as Nottinghamshire waited until the last possible moment to clinch the Championship title and leave Somerset licking their wounds yet again, the Cidermen having also come up short in the final of the Friends Provident t20 and Clydesdale Bank 40.
And on a less positive note, another match-fixing scandal engulfed the game during Pakistan's tour of England.
Check out skysports.com's moments of the year and share your thoughts on 2010 using the feedback box below...
Team of the Year - India
While there was no outstanding candidate, India have moved clear at the top of the International Cricket Council's Test rankings.
They have not lost a Test series in 2010 - winning in Bangladesh and at home to Australia and New Zealand, alongside drawn rubbers with South Africa and in Sri Lanka. And their one-day international form has also improved as the year has progressed, culminating in series wins over Australia and New Zealand on home soil to maintain second position behind Ricky Ponting's men in the ODI rankings.
Curiously, given the IPL experience at their disposal, their one blind spot is in the shortest format, where they failed to reach the knockout stage of the World T20.
Nevertheless it has been a year of consistent progress for India and provides a nice springboard heading into next year when they will host the World Cup on home soil.
South Africa, England and Sri Lanka also have not lost a Test series, an indication of how tightly bunched the leading sides are now Australia have fallen off their perch.
International Player of the Year - Sachin Tendulkar
Tendulkar's performances in 2010 have provided a definitive riposte to those who thought the Little Master was in decline.
Indeed, despite turning 37 in April, Tendulkar has enjoyed his best ever year in the Test arena, scoring 1,543 runs at 85.72, including seven centuries.
And he still has the Boxing Day Test against South Africa to come where he will need to score another 167 to equal Mohammad Yousuf's record for a calendar year.
The haul included a
knock of 214 against Australia in Bangalore as India completed a 2-0 series whitewash and he reached the remarkable milestone of 50 Test centuries by
taking an unbeaten 111 off South Africa at Centurion.
Tendulkar also set a new benchmark in one-day internationals when he became the first batsman to score a double century in the 50-over format,
hitting 200 not out off 147 balls against South Africa at Gwalior in February.
Those incredible feats were all achieved with his usual humility and calm demeanour, traits that have marked him out as not just the best but also the most popular player of his generation.
County Player of the Year - Chris Read
Discarded by England after the miserable Ashes tour of 2006-07, Read has since focused his efforts on his role as Nottinghamshire captain.
His excellence behind the stumps has never been in doubt, except by Duncan Fletcher of course, and he has also been a consistent middle-order contributor with the bat at county level.
Read's 2010 numbers - 916 Championship runs at 45.80, 59 catches and four stumpings - represent another impressive campaign.
But it was his captaincy that really made Read stand out from the crowd. In a tense title race that went down to the final hour of the final match, it was arguably his tactical foresight that was most responsible for
Nottinghamshire walking away with their second title in five years.
In pole position heading into their last match of the season against Lancashire at Old Trafford, rain ruined most of the opening three days and consequently the County Championship looked to be heading to Somerset.
However, the Manchester weather cleared on the final day and Nottinghamshire were left needing to collect six bonus points in order to win the title, which they managed thanks to Read's decision to bat on for all five available batting points and then back his bowlers to take the three wickets required as the clock ticked away - which they achieved comfortably.
Other notable performers in the county game include Yorkshire opener Adam Lyth, the first to reach 1,000 first-class runs and the leading scorer in Division One.
Somerset's James Hildreth, who scored seven centuries as his county finished as bridesmaids - not only in the Championship but also the Friends Provident t20 and Clydesdale Bank 40.
Former New Zealand all-rounder Andre Adams finished with the most wickets in the County Championship, his 68 scalps another key factor in Nottinghamshire's success.
And Mark Ramprakash again defied the march of time to finish as the leading first-class run-scorer in the country, albeit as part of a poor Surrey team in Division Two.
Best innings - Alastair Cook, 235no, Brisbane
Sachin Tendulkar's maiden ODI 200, Chris Gayle's 333 in Galle and AB de Villiers' South Africa record 278 not out all spring readily to mind.
But, in the context of series and career, nothing tops
Alastair Cook's unbeaten 235 at Brisbane in the Ashes opener. Having conceded a first-innings deficit of 221, England went in again late on day three knowing nothing less than a marathon rearguard action was needed.
Cook's form earlier in 2010 had been scratchy to say the least - in 10 Test innings during the preceding home summer he had made 30 just once - but in England's hour of need the Essex opener rose to the occasion.
Partnerships of 188 with Andrew Strauss (111) and then an unbroken 329 with Jonathan Trott (135no) ensured England easily claimed a draw and sent out a message to Australia that this side was made of sterner stuff than those to have visited on the previous few tours.
Cook's 10-and-a-half hour epic spanned 428 deliveries and included 26 fours. Well before the end, all Australia's bowlers were scratching their heads.
For good measure he followed up with 148 in his next innings in Adelaide as England recorded an innings win to move 1-0 up in the series.
Best series - World Twenty20
Not exactly a series in the strictest definition of the term but no review of 2010 would be complete without mention of
England's maiden success in a global ICC tournament.
Heartbreak in the World Cup finals of 1979, 1987 and 1992 was the closest England had previously come, but in the Caribbean in April and May they finally put the record straight.
A young, athletic line-up overcame a shaky start to win five matches in a row and clinch the sliverware in particularly pleasing fashion - with a seven-wicket demolition of Australia. It was the third edition of the World T20 and once again the slimmed down approach proved a huge success.
Clearly organisers of its supposed big brother, the 50-over World Cup, could learn a thing or two - although that looks unlikely given the 49-match, 43-day marathon scheduled for next year in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka.
Surprise - Tigers roar in Bristol
Bangladesh had never beaten England in an international match in 20 attempts prior to the second one-day international in Bristol in July.
The Tigers' long wait was over as England, faced with a target of 237, were
bowled out for 231 in the final over of a thrilling match.
Tamim Iqbal made 76 and then five bowlers each picked up two wickets for the tourists to seal the victory, despite 94 from Jonathan Trott.
Low point - Spot-fixing allegations
Revelations in the News of the World on August 29, the Sunday of the Lord's Test between England and Pakistan, brought the issue of corruption in cricket to the forefront.
The last major crisis to rock the world game in the late 1990s had seen, among others, three international captains - India's Mohammad Azharuddin, Salim Malik of Pakistan and South Africa's Hansie Cronje - banned for life.
The ICC responded by setting up its anti-corruption unit in an effort to ensure there would be no repeat in the future.
Those initiatives appear to have been unsuccessful as three of Pakistan's best players - Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif - are currently
suspended pending an ICC hearing into allegations of spot-fixing, claims that relate to the deliberate bowling of no-balls during the Lord's Test.
Year to Remember
Graeme Swann - Swann also earned a mention in this category in 2009 and there is every reason to include him once again. England's joker in the pack has proved that orthodox finger-spin can thrive in the modern international game. Heading into the Boxing Day fixtures, Swann is the leading Test wicket taker in the calendar year with 62 at 25.83 apiece. He has been one of, arguably the, key contributor to England's turnaround under the captain-coach axis of Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower, while his self-confidence and desire to enjoy himself on the field appear to have rubbed off on his team-mates.
Steven Finn - The Middlesex paceman's rise has been rapid and unexpected. Given his chance due to injuries on England's tour of Bangladesh in March, Finn has since been an ever-present member of his country's Test line-up. The 21-year-old has picked up 46 wickets in 11 matches, including three five-fors, and impressed throughout with the pace and bounce generated from a 6ft 7in frame.
AB de Villiers - Most of South Africa's top order have had a year to remember but de Villiers' exploits have been the most impressive. An average of 87.54 in 10 Tests has included his country's record score, 278 not out against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi, and the fastest hundred by a South African, a 75-ball effort against India at Centurion. He will turn 27 in early 2011 and looks to be a batsman at his peak.
Year to forget
Ricky Ponting - Ponting has endured a tough 12 months both as captain and with the bat. The Tasmanian, often cited as the best Australian batsman since Don Bradman, has averaged under 40, well down on a career mark of almost 54. His leadership has also come under increasing criticism, particularly in the Australian media, following a series of disappointing results - including an ODI series loss in England and a 2-0 Test whitewash in India.
Graham Onions - Onions started the year as an integral part of England's Test attack and basking in the glow of another match-saving cameo at number 11 against South Africa in Cape Town. But stress fractures in his back meant he had to return home from that tour and he has not played any cricket since. More worryingly in September news emerged that the Durham seamer needed a "relatively significant" operation that would sideline him for at least another nine months after the failure of non-surgical treatment options.
Herschelle Gibbs - Gibbs last played for South Africa in May and any lingering hopes he may have harboured of a recall at the age of 36 ended with the publication of his autobiography,
To The Point. No subject appeared off-limits for the cavalier batsman, who regaled the reader with tales of dressing room power struggles, match-fixing, drinking, dope smoking and various other extra-curricular activities on tour. Needless to say this did not go down well with many of his former team-mates and Cricket South Africa soon came to a "mutual agreement" to cancel his central contract.
Thanks for the memories
Andrew Flintoff -The leading English all-rounder of his generation was finally forced to admit defeat in his battle to recover from his latest bout of knee surgery and officially announced his retirement on the final day of the County Championship season in September. Flintoff finished with an average of 31.77 with the bat and 32.78 with the ball in 79 Tests - figures that fail to do justice to his impact on the team, particularly in the years from 2003 onwards. It will be for his contributions in three Ashes series that he will likely be best remembered. In 2005 he was the talisman with both bat and ball as England beat their oldest enemy for the first time in 17 years. Two years later and Flintoff found himself in charge of a rapidly sinking ship, Australia inflicting a 5-0 whitewash on the hapless tourists but back on home soil in 2009 and the Lancastrian was again in the thick of the action, defying his injured knee to help England to a 2-1 series win. The Ashes-clinching victory at the Oval turned out to be Flintoff's final appearance as a professional cricketer.
Muttiah Muralitharan - The leading wicket taker in the history of international cricket bid farewell from the Test arena in July. Batsmen around the world breathed a sigh of relief at the news that Muralitharan - having taken 800 wickets in 133 Tests - had decided to call it a day. He finished in fairytale fashion, his final delivery bringing his 800th wicket as Sri Lanka completed a 10-wicket victory over India in Galle. Muralitharan has, however, continued to play in the 50 and 20-over formats and is likely to sign off from the international stage at next year's World Cup on home soil.
Makhaya Ntini - The trailblazing South African fast bowler bowed out of international cricket after spearheading his country's attack for more than a decade. Fast-tracked into the team in 1998 as one of the first black players to emerge in the post-apartheid era Ntini developed into one of the most consistent seamers in the world over the next few years, despite an unorthodox angle of attack that saw him jump wide of the crease in his delivery stride - a legacy of the concrete pitches of his youth. No paceman took more Test wickets during the 'noughties' and Ntini's haul of 13-132 against the West Indies in Trinidad in 2005 remains the best match analysis by a South African, while he also owns his country's best one-day international figures - 6-23 against Australia at Newlands in 2006. He is the only South African to take 10 wickets in a Test at Lord's, where he bowled the Proteas to an innings victory in 2003.
Ryan Sidebottom - For much of his career Sidebottom looked set to suffer the same fate as his father, Arnie, and go down as a one-Test wonder. His solitary appearance against Pakistan at Lord's in 2001, where he went wicketless, was followed by a six-year spell in the wilderness. A switch of counties from Yorkshire to Nottinghamshire and a bucketload of wickets eventually earned him a second chance from the England selectors in the summer of 2007. And he took it in style, claiming 79 Test wickets in 21 appearances over the course of the next two-and-a-half years, including a hat-trick against New Zealand in Hamilton. The international treadmill eventually took its toll on his body and his swansong turned out to be the World T20 in the Caribbean last May, not a bad way to sign off.
Shaun Udal - The off-spinner brought the curtain down on a first-class career spanning 22 seasons. Udal played four Tests and 11 one-day internationals for England and his finest hour came in India in March 2006 when he took 4-14, including the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar, as England claimed a series-levelling victory in Mumbai. He had initially called it quits at the end of the 2007 season, his 19th with Hampshire, but was lured out of retirement by Middlesex and continued for three more years at Lord's, a period that encompassed the Twenty20 Cup victory of 2008 and a spell as captain. In 301 first-class appearances, Udal took 822 wickets at an average of 32.47 and also scored 7,931 runs at 22.59, including a solitary century.
Gone but not forgotten
Sir Alec Bedser - A fixture for Surrey and England in the post-war era, Bedser picked up 236 wickets in 51 Tests with his medium-fast bowling. Coming off a short run, his stock inswinger was supplemented by a fizzing leg-cutter. He was instrumental in England's 1953 Ashes triumph with 39 wickets in the series and, alongside twin brother Eric, was part of the Surrey team that won eight County Championships between 1950 and 1958. After his retirement, he served as an England selector for 23 years, including as chairman from 1969 and 1981, and was knighted in 1996. He died in April at the age of 91.
