By Tom Decent
Story of the year
Australia winning the ICC Cricket World Cup. Just like our netballers, Australia narrowly lost to New Zealand in the group stages, but showcased their best cricket in the latter stages of the tournament, winning comfortably in front of a packed house at the MCG.
A few months later, however, filled with hope of breaking a 14-year drought in England, Australia failed to retain the Ashes in arguably one of the worst series in terms of one-sided affairs.
The retirements of Michael Clarke, Mitchell Johnson, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin, Ryan Harris and Chris Rogers this year has well and truly put Australia in a rebuilding phase.
Issue of the year
Cricket was jam-packed with many memorable moments in 2015.Credit: Getty Images
The potential death of Test cricket. There has been a considerable decline in the playing standard of second tier Test playing nations. Crowds are poor and in some of these countries, cricket is not as commercially viable. As a result, administrators are looking for ways to make the game more enticing - idea such as giving the toss to the away team and four-day Tests.
An honourable mention has to go to the pink ball debate which dominated conversation leading into the first ever day night Test in Adelaide, which, after plenty of trepidation, passed its first examination. It will be interesting to see whether players become more optimistic about the concept in the years to come.
Star of the year
Mitchell Starc's numbers this year have been incredible. In 11 Tests, Starc snared 46 wickets at an average of 25.07 and in one-dayers he was equally impressive, taking 41 wickets at 16.27. He was man of the series at the World Cup and will be best remembered for the yorker he bowled to remove Black Caps skipper Brendon McCullum in the first over of the match.
Also, his 26 scalps at the miserly average of 8.11 and strike rate of 12.2 in the Matador Cup showed why Starc will be the backbone of Australia's attack for years to come.
Clean bowled: Mitchell Starc celebrates taking the wicket of Brendon McCullum during the World Cup final.Credit: Mark Kolbe
Controversy of the year
There was no shortage of drama this year. The punting of Brad Haddin during the Ashes series after he took a Test off to look after his sick daughter divided the nation and the playing group. Some people said selectors lacked heart by opting to keep Peter Nevill behind the stumps.
The Nathan Lyon DRS shocker against New Zealand in Adelaide could have been the difference between the tourists winning and losing the series. It was a bitter pill to swallow for the Kiwis.
Steve Smith telling Ben Stokes he was out obstructing the field during the one-day series in England was another moment that divided opinion. Smith thought Starc's throw was hitting the stumps, while Stokes argued he was instinctively protecting himself from the ball. Again, a sour taste in the mouth for both parties involved.
An honourable mention goes to former New Zealand captain Chris Cairns who was cleared of a perjury charge, and both he and his co-accused, Andrew Fitch-Holland, were found not guilty of perverting the course of justice.
Quote of the year
Kevin Pietersen after missing out on selection following his triple century for for Surrey - "I was thinking about it while batting and, given the pressure I was under this morning, that is one of my best innings I have ever played, purely because I knew that tomorrow there is a press conference and there were things happening this evening. I needed to answer any questions with runs on the deck. Goodness 326 is a pretty good argument."
And just because Pietersen produces so much headline-worthy content, here's his spray after Ian Bell was dropped for the South Africa series.
"'I'm really p***** off. I'm actually sitting here very, very, very annoyed. How can you take somebody who has played over 100 Test matches and you have got the biggest Test series of the year coming up against the No 1 side in the world, and you can drop him, leave him out of the tour?"
Social media storm of the year
Australian coach Darren Lehmann caused a stir on Twitter when he asked if anyone had tickets to an English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Stoke City.
The problem for Lehmann was that it came less than 12 hours after Australia lost the Ashes series to England, which had some people unhappy about the timing of the tweet.
Shot of the year
Pakistani 41-year old batsman Misbah-ul-Haq pulled off a ridiculous shot that bamboozled England's Jos Buttler and James Anderson. Leg-spinner Adil Rashid landed a pretty good delivery, to which Misbah gave off the impression he was going to play a lap shot around the corner, to which wicketkeeper Buttler and Anderson at first slip ran to leg side.
As they did this, Misbah changed his shot and opted to work with the spin and play the ball late through a vacant first slip region. Pure class.
Match of the year
The Big Bash League final. Perth needed eight runs off Brett Lee's final ever over in his career to win their second T20 title. Seven runs were scored off the first three balls, leaving just one for victory.
Nathan Coulter-Nile and Sam Whiteman were then bowled off consecutive balls, leaving Yasir Arafat to face up to Lee's hat-trick ball.
He managed scamper through for the winning run after Moises Henriques dropped a throw in - albeit a difficult one - from Michael Lumb.
"I would've preferred it on the full, to be honest," Henriques said. "But Lumby made a judgment call and I back Lumby for that call. I should have taken it - but I didn't."
Narrow escape: Yasir Arafat celebrates as Brett Lee is distraught.Credit: Getty Images
Flop of the year
By the end of March, England losing to Bangladesh in the group stages and being bundled out of World Cup would have been the short-priced favourite for flop of the year, but Australia being dismissed for 60 at Trent Bridge takes the cake.
It was one of the darkest days of Australian cricket and essentially gifted England the fourth Test and Ashes series on a silver platter.
A prediction for next year
Australia will make the World Cup T20 final in India in April but will face their stiffest competition at home for years against South Africa, losing that series 2-1 including a loss at the Gabba for the first time in decades.