Country Reviews 2014

In 2014, South Africa knocked over a fortress but also said goodbye to two colossus players

Australia experienced extremes on and off the field, but the biggest takeaway was their strength of character in the aftermath of Phillip Hughes' death

The fallout of the withdrawal from the India tour, captaincy changes, and lack of clarity on the future of some senior players made it a bleak year for West Indies

A young Test side showed some steel and engineered a famous win but missed several opportunities to establish dominance

Scarcely believable Test wins, a world title, and a captain who turned into an assured leader - Sri Lanka's 2014 was seriously good

Away Test wins, rescue acts, ODI series victories against top teams and a captain leading by example: New Zealand have reasons to feel bullish

Even as the ICC claimed to envision a bigger, more global game, the decisions it took in 2014 further stifled even the overachievers among the Associates

With cricket boards awarding annual contracts, women's cricket is becoming increasingly lucrative. On the field, it was a year of notable upsets

Pakistan's year oscillated between superb and dreadful, with their ODI form particularly worrying ahead of the World Cup

Save for the rout of Zimbabwe and a few individual gains, 2014 was a year of resignations, bans, suspensions and demoralising defeats for Bangladesh

Player strikes, defeats against fellow minnows, and mountains of debt for the board marked another grim year

Embarrassing defeats, a beleaguered captain, a bitter former star, alienating administrators - England's year was gloomy to say the least