The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday revealed the winner of its Test Cricketer of the Year Award. The honour has been bestowed upon England allrounder and captain Ben Stokes.
Interestingly, while explaining why Stokes has pipped others in the competition, the ICC has said his contribution goes far beyond mere numbers during 2023.
Stokes scored 870 runs at 36.25 and took 26 wickets at 31.19 during the year.
Also Read: Babar Azam Named ICC ODI Player of the Year
For the record, Babar Azam topped the batting charts with 1184 runs from 17 innings while Kagiso Rabada and Nathan Lyon were the joint-leading wicket-takers with 47 scalps each in Test cricket last year.
Although Rabada took four innings less than the Australian offspinner.
England were widely praised for their attacking brand of cricket in Tests which saw a stunning turnaround in their fortunes. Once Stokes took over from Joe Root as their captain, they smashed records beating India, New Zealand, South Africa and Pakistan during the year.
England had lost their last four completed Test series having won just one of their previous 17 Tests following which Root stepped down and Stokes was appointed as the skipper with New Zealand great Brendon McCullum taking over as the head coach.
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“While his overall numbers with the ball for 2022 don’t jump out as exceptional (26 wickets at 31.19), Stokes deployed himself in a number of different tactical roles throughout the year, prioritising impact and team balance over his individual statistics,” the ICC wrote on their website.
England scored at a stunning 4.13 during the 15 Tests of 2022 and struck at 4.77 per over. They also smashed the record for the most runs scored on the opening day of Test by plundering 506/4 against Pakistan – in just 75 overs before bad light brought an early end to the day’s play.
Stokes was also named captain of the ICC World Test Team of The Year For 2022 as well.
ICC Test Team: Usman Khawaja, Kraigg Brathwaite, Marnus Labuschagne, Babar Azam, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Pat Cummins, Kagiso Rabada, Nathan Lyon, James Anderson
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