THE CRICKETER'S MOMENTS OF 2018: The weekend England and Australia imploded

OWEN RILEY: Overnight shifts covering England’s tour of New Zealand merged into an endless cycle of waiting for the latest word out of Australia and Cape Town

At the end of a hectic 2018, The Cricketer's writers reflect on the moments which stood out most for them from a personal perspective over the past 12 months. Here's social media editor Owen Riley's take...

I was hesitant to pick this sorry episode ahead of some special moments that would have celebrated cricket for the right reasons - Alastair Cook's farewell hundred at The Oval and watching Jos Buttler alongside debutant Dom Bess play with an infectious positivity, sharing a century stand against Pakistan under the St John's Wood sunshine, to name a brace.

However, from a working perspective, the entire show, from the moment Cameron Bancroft’s paws not-so-subtly concealed some ‘yellow tape’ down his pantaloon, to the public outcry and headline domination for the weeks following, resulted in an endlessly-absorbing stint of words, reaction, disbelief and a general dissolution of a human sleeping pattern.

Overnight shifts covering England’s tour of New Zealand merged into an endless cycle of waiting for the latest word out of Australia and Cape Town.

While England were being spanked in the day/nighter at Auckland (Craig Overton’s unbeaten 33 in the first innings rescuing them from a cataclysmic 23 for 8, and lifting them to an marginally-less-abysmal 58 all out) the fractious South Africa-Australia series had cracked at the seams.

^{Joe Root shows a pained expression during England's implosion in Auckland. Above, Cameron Bancroft is spoken to by the umpires at Newlands}

Cricket was catapulted into the limelight. By the time Australia’s PM had had his say on the matter, the sport was front and back-page news.

Alas, it was for the wrong reasons, but the around-the-clock nature of the fallout made for an enthralling time to cover the game.

It was a sad affair. Sad that the game we love had been muddied in front of a global audience.

Sad that a young and promising cricketer was caught up in an ugly parade at the outset of his Test career.

Sad that two more experienced professionals made massive errors and ultimately threw away a prime year of their careers.

Throughout, former Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland said that cricket would be better for the events at Newlands. Let's hope he's right.