2022 in Review: December
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By Aiden McLaughlin
Kane Williamson steps down as Black Caps Test captain and is replaced by Tim Southee. Williamson will continue as captain in ODI’s and T20I’s.
The White Ferns defeat Bangladesh 3-0 in their T20I series; the three match ODI series is severely rain affected, with New Zealand comfortably winning the only completed game at the Basin Reserve.
In their first Test tour to Pakistan in 17 years, England beat the home side 3-0, Pakistan’s first ever 3-0 loss on home soil. England have now won nine of their last 10 Tests. Their next Test match assignment? A two-Test series in New Zealand in February.
Tyson Fury successfully defends his WBC world heavyweight title, stopping Derek Chisora in the 10th round of their fight at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Australia beat Canada 5-1 to win the men’s Softball World Cup in Auckland.
Warren Gatland replaces another New Zealander, Wayne Pivac, as the Wales Rugby coach, returning to the country that he previously took charge of for 12 years.
It’s announced that Marcus Armstrong will be the third Kiwi to line up in Indycar in 2023, alongside Scott Dixon and Scott McLaughlin.
The New Zealand Black Spoke men’s professional cycling team, containing the likes of Aaron Gate and Regan Gough, announce they have received a UCI ProTeam licence for 2023, meaning entry into many of the biggest races in world cycling.
At the New Zealand Rugby Awards, Ruahei Demant is named the Kelvin R Tremain Memorial Player of the Year, with the Black Ferns named the team of the year and Wayne Smith the coach of the year.
Eddie Jones is sacked as England rugby’s men’s head coach after seven years in charge; his former forwards coach at both Japan and England, and former England captain, Steve Borthwick, is named as his replacement, signing a five-year contract.
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott is awarded the Lonsdale Cup, the New Zealand Olympic Committee’s top award for achievements in 2022. She is the first ever winter sport athlete to win the award.
After a strong start to the season, the New Zealand Breakers suffer back-to-back defeats to the Perth Wildcats and the Sydney Kings, before a Covid outbreak, along with injuries, cause the postponement of further games against the Wildcats and the Brisbane Bullets.
Australia beat South Africa in less than two days in the first Test at the Gabba. The Gabba pitch is subsequently rated as below average by the ICC with match referee Richie Richardson saying the contest “was not an even contest between bat and ball.” The Gabba is awarded one demerit point, with more than five demerit points in a five-year period meaning a one-year suspension from hosting international cricket,
Argentina win the men’s FIFA World Cup on penalties after the scores are level at 3-3 after extra-time. Inspirational captain Lionel Messi is name player of the match and player of the tournament, with Kylian Mbappe winning the Golden Boot as top scorer.
Ben Murdoch-Masila is released from the third and final year of his contract with the New Zealand Warriors.
Mark Chapman is awarded his first New Zealand Cricket central contract, effectively filling the vacancy left by Martin Guptill’s departure in November.
Spark Sport confirm that they will be closing in mid-2023. It’s announced that TVNZ will take over the last three years of their broadcast arrangement with New Zealand Cricket, meaning that all home Blackcaps and White Ferns internationals, along with the Super Smash competition, will be shown free-to-air from the 2023-24 season until the end of the 2025-26 season. It is expected that TVNZ will show much of the other Spark Sport offerings post July 2023.
The 2022/23 Super Smash competition gets underway with the Canterbury Magicians and Kings scoring away wins against the Northern Brave on the opening day.
Kane Williamson is picked up by the Gujarat Titans and Kyle Jamieson by the Chennai Super Kings at the IPL 2023 auction.
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