The Test cricket program's a dud, let's face it. The Test series against New Zealand and the West Indies, sadly, do not make for an action-packed summer, especially when the Windies team is basically a bunch of nobodies.

However, sports fans, the lull our national pastime delivers this sunny season need not mean all is lost.

There is plenty of top-notch sporting adventure to be had. Here's a selection of the Best XI to put into your calendar.

GOLF – There will be no Jason Day, as the Australian whiz takes time out to be with his new-born daughter Lucy, but world No.1 Jordan Spieth and former No.1 Adam Scott head a classy field at The Australian Open at The Australian Golf Club, Sydney, from November 26-29. www.ausopengolf.com/ticketing

MOTORSPORT – The season-ending V8 Supercars Championship event, the Sydney 500, looks set to be a belter when the likes of Jamie Whincup, Craig Lowndes, Garth Tander and Mark Winterbottom and Chaz Mostert fly around Sydney's Olympic Park in a noisy battle for supremacy from December 4-6. www.v8supercars.com.au/events/new-south-wales/coates-hire-sydney-500

SAILING – The afterglow of Australia's triple gold medal sailing performance at the 2012 London Games continues to burn when Olympic class sailing comes to Melbourne for the first round of the Sailing World Cup, from December 7-13, on Port Phillip Bay. Australia finished just behind Great Britain in the 2014-15 series and will be out to regain supremacy. www.sailingworldcupmelbourne.com/

YACHTING – The gruelling Sydney to Hobart race has attracted 111 entries this year, the third-most since the turn of the century, suggesting a resurgence of the Boxing Day sprint down the coast. Last year's line honours winner Wild Oats XI and handicap winner Wild Rose will be among those charging out of the harbour shortly after lunch the day after Christmas. www.rolexsydneyhobart.com/

FOOTBALL – The A-League bounces along over the summer and the derby clash between Western Sydney Wanderers and Sydney FC is often where you will find the most drama in the nation's premier football competition. 7.30pm, January 16, Pirtek Stadium, Parramatta. www.a-league.com.au/tickets/214/2015/0/15

CRICKET – Cricket purists' worst nightmare is on track to come true this year with Twenty20 shenanigans getting more interest from fans than the Test series. Our pick of the clashes, however, does not involve Kevin Pietersen, Glenn Maxwell or Chris Gayle. We are most looking forward to the first women's BBL, and the big game between the Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder at the SCG on January 16. www.cricket.com.au/series/wbbl/wca2TFXmjUCln_jFxTbCDg

CYCLING – A trip to Adelaide is on the cards for the opening race of the world tour, the Tour Down Under, between January 16-24. The TDU is now recognised as one of the world's great cycle races. With Cadel Evans, Marcel Kittel, Andy Schleck and Andre Greipel among those to have competed, this year's line-up promises to be elite. www.tourdownunder.com.au/en

TENNIS – There are so many plots and sub-plots each year in the Australian Open but there is little doubt about who has been dominant in recent years. Serbia's Novak Djokovic will be gunning for a record sixth title, while the greatest female player Serena Williams will be chasing her seventh, at Melbourne Park, from January 18-31. www.ausopen.com/tickets

SWIMMING – Last year the Aquatic Super Series event in Perth pitted Australia's best swimmers against some of the finest from the US, China and Japan. The start list is yet to be confirmed for this year's event, from January 30 to February 1, but in an Olympic year we imagine the competitors will certainly mean business. www.aquaticsuperseries.com.au/

SURFING – Surfing gained international attention in July when Aussie three-time world champion Mick Fanning escaped a terrifying encounter with a shark in South Africa. Hopefully it will be slightly less dramatic at the start of this year's world surfing tour, which kicks off at Fanning's local, Snapper Rocks on the Gold Coast. The date is yet to be confirmed, but will be late February. www.worldsurfleague.com/

MOTORSPORT – Lewis Hamilton stood on top of the podium after this year's formula one Australian Grand Prix, starting off a great season, which has him poised to claim his fourth World Championship. The Briton will be out to repeat the treat at next year's first event, in Melbourne between March 31 and April 3. www.grandprix.com.au/tickets/general-admission