Talent Fulfilled, West Indies and South Africa Rise to Top

LONDON — Historically, West Indies and South Africa are cricketing opposites — opponents only since 1992, each one’s best years coming in the absence, or the decline, of the other. But in 2012, they shared the game’s honors.

South Africa was the best all-round team, seizing leadership of the world rankings in five-day tests in a manner suggesting it will last longer than its two immediate predecessors, India and England. West Indies took the global trophy, beating the host, Sri Lanka, in the final of the World Twenty20.

full article at New York Times