 The Order of the British Empire is an award traditionally presented to an England captain after he has spent a decent time in the job. Nasser Hussain became the latest among English skippers to receive the honour. The West Indies pulled out of a scheduled tour of Pakistan to become the third international team to refuse to tour there since the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington. Australian captain Steve Waugh believes his side proved beyond any doubt they are the best Test team in world cricket with their 3-0 series clean sweep over South Africa. Muttiah Muralitharan set a new world record by becoming the first bowler in Test history to take 9 wickets in an innings twice. He also became the seventh bowler to take 400 Test wickets.
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South Africa's most successful fast bowler ever, Allan Donald, announced his retirement from Test cricket. Ricky Ponting was appointed captain of Australia in the limited overs series against South Africa in place of Steve Waugh, who was dumped from the side in a shock move by the selectors. Adam Gilchrist signed a bat sponsorship deal, which made him the first Australian cricketer to earn US $1million a year. The Australian wicket-keeper also scored the fastest double century in Test history, reaching 200 with 19 fours and eight sixes in 212 balls eclipsing the previous mark of 220 balls achieved by England's Ian Botham against India at The Oval in 1982.
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 World Cup champions Australia dropped veteran batsman Mark Waugh from their one-day side on Monday when they named a 15-man squad for the two forthcoming series against South Africa and Zimbabwe. A breathtaking 56 off 24 balls by Douglas Marillier, who was famous in his country for the unorthodox scoop shot named the 'Marillier' - a shot one plays by moving across the stumps and scooping a full-length ball from a fast bowler to the fine-leg boundary --, coasted Zimbabwe to the improbable win in the first one-day international against India, in the five-match series. Railways became the 14th team in Ranji Trophy history to win the title since it was first played in 1934-35. The ICC announced their eight-man umpires panel. Nathan Astle smashed the fastest double century in Test cricket off just 153 balls in 217 minutes. Curiously enough, his second hundred (from 101 to 200) came off just 39 balls in 69 minutes, which is also a world record. In terms of minutes (217 minutes), however, it ranks second to Don Bradman's 214 minutes double ton against England at Leeds in 1930, when he had scored 334 off 446 balls in 378 minutes with the help of 46 fours. England cricketer Ben Hollioake was been killed in a car crash in Perth,Australia.
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Adam Parore bowed out of Test cricket with no regrets after helping New Zealand beat England by 78 runs and square the series in the third Test in Auckland. Indian batsman V V S Laxman was named among the top five cricketers of the year in the 139th edition of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2002. Wasim Akram passed 450 wickets in one-day cricket. It was announced that the 2003 World Cup will offer teams and players $5 million in prize money, five times as much as at the 1999 tournament in England. Shoaib Akhtar's 100 miles an hour delivery, the first ever recorded, will remain unofficial, said the ICC. After 26 long years, India finally broke the jinx of not having won a single Test in the West Indies with a 37-run victory in the second Test at the Queen's Park Oval in Port-of-Spain. Sachin Tendulkar equalled Sir Don Bradman's record of 29 Test centuries.
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Sri Lanka's off-spin wizard Muralitharan became the first cricketer to bag the Ceat International Cricketer of the year award for two successive years. Leg-spinner Anil Kumble, who had been ruled out of the West Indies tour after his jaw was fractured by a rising delivery from paceman Mervyn Dillon, bowled 14 overs despite being heavily bandaged. Former Indian skipper Mohammad Azharuddin, serving a life-ban over match-fixing, was nominated for an Indian cricketer of the century award launched by the Wisden Cricketers Almanac. West Indies won the five-Test series against India 2-1. Adam Gilchrist said Muralitharan's bowling action is illegal. Subhash Gupte (72), one of the finest exponents of leg spin bowling, died in Trinidad, West Indies.
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 English county team Surrey's total of 438-5 in 50 overs against Glamorgan in the fourth round match for the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy was the highest ever made in a limited-over match anywhere in the world. The match run aggregate of 867 runs for 15 wickets in 99.5 overs in the above match was also a world record. During the match, Surrey's Alistair Brown also set a new record for the maximum runs scored by an individual batsman in a limited overs game. His 268 was, by far, the highest, bettering the previous best of 222 (unbeaten) by former South African left-hander Graeme Pollock for Eastern Province way back in 1974-75. Western Province coach Eric Simons was appointed South Africa's new coach. He replaces Graham Ford, who was sacked following the defeat against Australia. Former South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje, 32, was killed in a plane which crashed in the country's Western Cape province. India's pace spearhead, Javagal Srinath announced his retirement from Test cricket only to revoke the decision at a later date.
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 Australian Test player Colin Miller announced his retirement from first-class cricket after a career spanning 17 years. Pakistan's Ehsan Mani was appointed vice-president of the International Cricket Council and will take over as president in 12 months' time. Adam Gilchrist picked up the FICA International Cricketer of the Year award. India pulled off a most unlikely victory, by two wickets, chasing a record 326 against England in the final of the Natwest Trophy, the second highest run chase in one-day cricket. Former skipper Kapil Dev was chosen as the Wisden Indian Cricketer of the Century. Muralitharan equalled Richard Hadlee's world mark of 36 five-wicket hauls.
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Former international batsman Murray Goodwin turned down an offer to play for Zimbabwe, the country of his birth, at next year's World Cup. At 17 years and 158 days, Parthiv Patel became the third youngest to play for India when he made his debut against England at Trent Bridge. Australia cancelled their October Test tour of Pakistan and proposed that it be shifted to a neutral country because of security fears. The Indian players defy ICC and refuse to sign the player contracts ahead of the Champions trophy. Indian vice-captain Mithali Raj, 214, scored the highest score in women's Test cricket against England at Taunton.
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The ICC Champions trophy finally kicked off. India and Sri Lanka are declared joint winners, after rain forced the final to be abandoned. Srinath makes his Test comeback, after announcing his retirement from the five-day version of the game, in the home series against West Indies. Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak was taken to hospital with a shoulder injury suffered in a road accident.
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 The International Cricket Council has refused to recognise the Federation of International Cricketers Association. Sri Lankan legend Aravinda De Silva retired from Test cricket. Australia's Shane Warne turned his back on the working-class image of an icy cold beer after a hard day of cricket and launched his own collection of wines. The Sahara India group announced it will return as sponsors of the Indian cricket team following an assurance from the Board of Control for Cricket in India that the logo issue would be resolved before the next year's World Cup. Pakistan were dismissed for 59 and 53 in their Test against Australia and their match total of 112 was the fourth worst in Test history. Jacques Kallis, 27 and playing in his 61st Test, became the fifth player and the first South African to achieve the double of 4,000 runs and 100 wickets in Tests. Mark Waugh announced his retirement from international cricket within hours of being dropped from Australia's team for the first Ashes Test against England. Dravid became only the fourth batsman in Test history to hit centuries in four consecutive innings.
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India won their Test series against West Indies at home 2-0. The ICC announced that there would be no reserve days for rain-affected matches in the preliminary round of the 2003 World Cup and television technology will not be used as an umpire aid during the event. Indian leg-spinner Kumble became only the third bowler in history to claim 300 wickets in both Tests and one-day internationals. Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has been found guilty of ball tampering in the first Test against Zimbabwe. C S Nayudu, former Indian cricketer and younger brother of the legendary C K Nayudu, died in Indore following a protracted illness. West Indies surprise India 4-3 in the seven match ODI series.
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 Australia retained the Ashes when they crushed England by an innings and 48 runs to win the third Test. Australian Prime Minister John Howard made a public appeal for England to hand the Ashes urn over to Australia. Wisden rated Don Bradman and Muthiah Muralitharan as the best batsman and bowler in Test cricket. Viv Richards and Wasim Akram were rated as the best in the ODIs. India had a dismal Test tour of New Zealand, with it's famed batting line-up failing to get past 200 even once. The Kiwis won the Test series 2-0. Vaughan became the highest run-scorer for the 2002 calendar year. His 1,481 runs from 14 Tests puts him behind only former West Indies captain Viv Richards who amassed 1,710 runs in 11 Tests in 1976.
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TEST OF THE YEAR
