2012 – A Review

A lot happened this year.

A lot.

Sachin Tendulkar retired from one day cricket. Ricky Ponting retired. Rahul Dravid retired. Mark Boucher retired. And that list goes on for a bit, but no longer includes, strangely enough, Kevin Pietersen.

Meanwhile, a crop of cricketers spent the year entering the most brilliant periods of their young careers: Michael Clarke, Alastair Cook.

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The West Indies won a one-day World Cup.

India collapsed. In Australia,  and in India.

England collapsed. In the UAE, and in England.

South Africa cemented their status as world number one.

And Pakistan started a bilateral series against India for the first time since 2008.

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Sachin Tendulkar, after what was surely the most agonizing and frustrated period of his career, hit his 100th international century.

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My favorite blog post of the year was “All Ten” from the Old Batsman.

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My favorite blog post that I wrote was probably this one.

My most read blog post was this one.

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I have doubled my monthly page views since January.

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I posted 161 times. A little less than one post every other day. Not the rate I was hoping for at the beginning of the year, but pretty good by my own standards and considering that, up until October, I was going to school and working full time.

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My wife released her second album.

To rave reviews.

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We got a new dog. I got a new job.

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This post contains my 2012 blog related resolutions. Except for number six, I accomplished none of them.

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The best decision I made all year, blog related, was to stop it with the confusing blog titles already.

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I was asked to write a book review by Graywolf Press.

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I started the World Cricket Internet Schedule for U.S. Viewers.

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My favorite moment, cricket wise, and not related to this blog, of 2012, was the very first ball of the Australian summer this past November.

Second was Kevin Pietersen’s century against South Africa at Leeds.

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This was also the year I learned that Kevin Pietersen’s middle name is Peter.

Kevin Peter Pietersen.

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In 2012, there were two Test triple centuries and eight Test double centuries.

There were three Test seven-fers, from the most unlikely sources: Ajmal, Broad, and Southee.

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And that, in so many words, was the year. In cricket, and here on the blog. I am sure I missed the five biggest cricket stories, if not the 10 biggest, and I am also quite that this will be the lamest, and most self serving, year end review you will read all week.

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What I did not mention was that this year, as I have alluded to on several occasions, was a very, very difficult year for me, personally. I am not going to go into detail, because it is really not that exciting, but the worst part of all it is that it is all self induced.

I am in a dark place because of my own mistakes.

And that can be a tough pill to swallow.

The good news is that things are getting better, and better, and despite everything I was able to be an active part of this amazing cricket blogging community. The fact that I was able to write over 150 posts this year despite school, despite everything, goes to show that this place is my refuge, my sanctuary. And while I may write about Hashim Amla, I have found it is just as cathartic as writing about anything else.

The good days are the days I post.

And that is why I am not going to write a list of my 2013 blog related resolutions. Because there is only one:

Keep writing about cricket.

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This weekend I will post my 2012 Awards. Cricketer of the year, match of the year…etc. Keep an eye out. And thanks for reading.