November 2012: 30 days of celebrating cricket!

It rained records this November in the world of cricket.

Watching some legends stand tall and others fall was sheer delight. And I am sure every cricket fan must have made a mental note of the fabulous events that unfolded in the cricketing world.

On 9th of last month 5 Test centuries were scored by batsmen from three different teams, that included an epic knock of 259 not out from the Australian skipper, Michael Clarke.

Talking about men who stood tall, the Australian Captain will surely top the list. The man who won the respect of his countrymen in a very hard way has also won their hearts by scoring as many as four double hundreds in this calendar year. The weight of runs has also bestowed authority. That often makes one wonder whether it's his new marriage to Kylie Boldy or his contract with Spartan bats that has heralded the transformation. Whatever the reason, Michael Clarke is batting like a dream.

Besides Clarke's doubles, there were as many as 27 centuries hit by 16 batsmen in the month of November. Never before has cricket so blatantly claimed itself to be a batsman's game. Tests replaced the bikini version of cricket as the topic of discussion with India playing England, Australia playing South Africa, Sri Lanka playing New Zealand and Bangladesh taking on West Indies.

And not only were there centuries galore, quite a few attained significance! South Africa's Faff Duplesis stroked his maiden test hundred in Adelaide in dire circumstances and saved a Test while Bangladesh's Abul Hasan entered the history books by becoming only the 2nd No.10 batsman after Australian Reggie Duff to score a century on debut.

And if that wasn't all..sample this...Chris Gayle hit a 6 over long on off the very first ball of the Dhaka Test vs Bangladesh on 13th November, becoming the first batsman to hit a first ball 6 in a Test match. The West Indian subsequently took 18 runs from the first over off Sohag Gazi.

What also made this November memorable was New Zealand's 1st Test win in Sri Lanka in 14 years which helped the Kiwis to square the series.

The Black Caps won the 2nd Test in Colombo by a huge margin of 167 runs...And it wasn't just Ross Taylor's 142 but Ken Williamson's and Tim Southee's 5/62 that contributed to that big win.

And as the month drew to a close, Ricky Ponting decided to call time on an illustrious career, spanning 17 years. In a year that he began with a century and a double against India, his heart said that it was time to go! A sad way to end the month.

But there is no denying that this has been a Sweet November for the cricket fans!