As the curtains fall on another year, Rediff.com brings you all the action from the sports field that defined 2019.
England declared on 373 for nine wickets in their second innings on the third day of the fifth Ashes Test against Australia at the Oval on Saturday.
Australia will target England's vulnerable middle order in an effort to force the victory which will give them a 2-1 Ashes series victory in the fifth Test starting at the Oval on Thursday.
England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff expressed full confidence Tuesday that he would be fit for the final Test of his career in the deciding Ashes match against Australia at the Oval this week.
Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson feared being axed and struggled to cope with the pressure of playing at the Ashes before vice-captain Michael Clarke's advice and a bit of sledging turned things around for him.
England's faltering Ashes campaign recieved a fillip after talismanic all-rounder Andrew Flintoff was declared fit for his Test farewell in the series-deciding fifth and final match against Australia starting August 20 at The Oval.
England received a welcome boost on Monday with the news that talismanic all-rounder Andrew Flintoff is expected to be fit to face Australia in the deciding Ashes Test at the Oval next week. Flintoff, 31, was forced to miss England's emphatic fourth Test innings and 80-run defeat at Headingley last week, which left the series tied at 1-1, because of an injured right knee.
Australia captain Ricky Ponting is looking forward to a new career highlight after his team set up an Ashes decider by humbling England in the fourth Test on Sunday.
Australia, replying to England's first innings of 102, ended Day 1 in the fourth Ashes Test on 196 for 4, a lead of 94 runs.
Brett Lee has declared himself "100 percent" fit for the fourth Ashes Test but his Australian teammate Shane Watson is not sure if the pacer is ready for a comeback.
'His batting skills are unbelievable. He is a guy you cannot leave out in any era. If a guy is averaging 50 plus in all versions of the game, then that is something which is unheard of'
Rajneesh Gupta presents glimpses of India-England Test history.
Jasprit Bumrah in full flow is always a joy to watch, six or seven stuttering steps, a skip and a shuffle, followed by undiluted fire and fury.
Statistical highlights of the fifth and final one-dayer between India and England in Leeds on Friday.
Some strong performances with the bat will help Joe Root to surge to the top and then potentially strengthen his position in the four-Test series against Pakistan, which begins on 14 July.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni went through a rigorous net session at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, far from public gaze, ahead of the upcoming England tour.
Fast bowler Steve Harmison was recalled to the England squad on Saturday for the third Test against South Africa which starts at Edgbaston on Wednesday. Harmison, 29, who made the last of his 57 Test appearances in March, is included in the 13-man squad along with Paul Collingwood and a fit-again Ryan Sidebottom.
'The cynic in me wonders whether the Speaker's defiance wasn't assisted by the knowledge that he cannot possibly be re-elected from Bolpur.'
Australia fast bowler Brett Lee has a good chance of being fit for the fourth Ashes Test, captain Ricky Ponting said on Monday.
AB de Villiers' sixth Test century put South Africa on the verge of winning the second Test at Headingley after England ended the third day 269 runs behind the visitors on Sunday.
India are a flexible side with enough ammunition in their arsenal going into the World Cup, says head coach Ravi Shastri, making it clear that combinations would depend on conditions.
When Match Referee and former India wicket-keeper Farokh Engineer hands down his judgment on Monday on the Harbhajan Singh/S Sreesanth IPL fracas which unfolded in Mohali on Friday, he can go back 33 years to draw on personal experience.
South Africa begin their three-month tour of England with a one-day international against the hosts at Leeds on Wednesday and team manager Mohammed Moosajee admitted the players are concerned.
Kevin Pietersen scored 90 not out and then claimed two wickets to inspire his England team to a 20-run victory over South Africa in their opening one-day international at Headingley on Friday. The tourists, replying to England's 275 for four, could only manage 255 to give Pietersen another win after he was appointed captain this month.
India captain Virat Kohli would benefit from a stint in the county championship before this year's Test series against England, former skipper Kapil Dev said.
Test match cricket faces a bleak future with the sport's administrators failing to control the 'runaway weed' of the hugely popular Twenty20 format, former West Indies pace bowler Michael Holding said.
Graeme Smith plundered a fighting 154 not out to lead his South Africa team to a five-wicket victory over England that clinched the Test series at Edgbaston on Saturday.
Ashwell Prince's second century in consecutive Tests took South Africa past England's modest total as they closed day two of the second Test on 322 for four at Headingley on Saturday. The tourists, replying to England's 203 all out, led by 119 runs and were beginning to take control of the match when bad light halted play. Prince, on nine overnight, was 134 not out from 249 balls.
Pace bowlers Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn claimed four wickets apiece to help dismiss England for 203 on the first day of the second Test at Headingley on Friday. Morkel took four for 52 and Steyn four for 76 before the home team hit back in the final session to reduce the Proteas to 101 for three at the close.
'If there were ever a PR exercise to fix the seemingly irreparable image of Australian cricket in the aftermath of the most notorious on-field scandal in recent memory, then this is it,' observes Dhruv Munjal.
Andrew Flintoff, set to play his first Test in 18 months on Friday when England face South Africa in the second Test at Headingley, is relishing a new beginning and believes his best years are still ahead of him. Flintoff, 30, last played a Test in January 2007 when he was captain of England as they lost the Ashes 5-0.
Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly believe India can win the last two ODIs to fashion a series victory.
Morne Morkel makes a return to the limited-overs format after nearly 10 months, adding experience to the pace bowling group featuring Kagiso Rabada, Wayne Parnell, Chris Morris, Dwaine Pretorius and Andile Phehlukwayo.
The 35-year-old has been bamboozling batsmen for 15 years now on the international scene and yet still somehow retains the element of surprise.
Australian swashbuckling all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has slammed the amended rule that deemed his spectacular catch during the fourth ODI against England as legal at Headingley.
Former England captain Andrew Strauss has said the skewed distribution of power among the India-led big three in ICC can lead to a situation in future when the "rich will only get richer and the poor poorer".
It is learnt that Test team vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane has been kept on standby for the limited overs series against England in case Rohit Sharma fails to clear the 16.1 qualifying mark.
India's 38-run victory keeps their hopes alive in the seven-match ODI series against England.
Two 70+ knocks have ensured that he's over 100 points ahead of Sachin Tendulkar.
The Indian captain said his team has the resilience to come back from 1-3 series deficit.
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