Ben Stokes is the Wisden’s Leading Cricketer in the World for the third time in four years.
For the third time in four years, England captain Ben Stokes is named Wisden’s top cricketer in the world.
Stokes has transformed the Test team’s fortunes and was instrumental in the T20 World Cup final victory over Pakistan in November.
Ben Foakes and Matthew Potts of England are in the list of top five Cricketers of the Year.
Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell of New Zealand are in the list. India women’s captain Harmanpreet Kaur, is also in the same list as award nominee.
England lost its previous 17 Test matches. All-arounder Ben Stokes just became captain in April of last year.
They have since won ten of their last twelve matches by playing daring swashbuckling cricket.
Ben Stokes has won the prestigious Wisden award for the third time in four years
Stokes was previously named the best cricketer in the world in 2020 and 2021.
“It’s difficult to think of another cricketer who could have turned around his team’s fortunes as quickly as Ben Stokes,” Wisden editor Lawrence Booth said.
“He was a force with both bat and ball, scoring a series-turning century in Manchester against South Africa.”
“Later in the year, he led England to the T20 World Cup with the defining innings of the final against Pakistan in Melbourne – the icing on the cake for a cricketer who has transformed the game.”
Batter Beth Mooney was named the world’s top women’s cricketer for the second time in three years. He helped Australia win World Cups in 50-over and 20-over formats, as well as gold at the Commonwealth Games.
The Wisden editor selects the five Cricketers of the Year, a tradition that dates back to 1889. Performances during the English summer are very important, and no player can win the award more than once.
Potts took 20 wickets in his first summer of Test cricket for England. Foakes backed up his outstanding work behind the stumps with some crucial innings with the bat.
Despite New Zealand’s 3-0 Test series defeat in England in June, wicketkeeper Blundell, 32, and Black Caps teammate Mitchell, 31, were both prolific with the bat.
Harmanpreet, 34, led her team to a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games before inspiring England to its first one-day series win since 1999 in September.
Jonny Bairstow of England was awarded the new Wisden Trophy for the year’s outstanding individual Test performance – his twin hundreds in the record-breaking win over India at Edgbaston in July.
Meanwhile, India’s Suryakumar Yadav has been named the world’s best Twenty20 cricketer.