Cricket-England’s Stokes named Wisden’s ‘Leading Cricketer’

April 18 (Reuters) – England captain Ben Stokes has been named ‘Leading Cricketer in the World’ in the latest edition of the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, the publication said on Monday.

The 31-year-old all-rounder guided England to nine wins in 10 Tests and played a vital role in their T20 World Cup final win against Pakistan in November.

England had only one win in their previous 17 Tests before Stokes was appointed captain last April.

He has been named leading cricketer for the third time, having also received the honour in 2019 and 2020, with countryman Joe Root taking the award in 2021.

Australia batter Beth Mooney was named the world’s top women’s cricketer for the second time in three years, having led her country to World Cup triumphs in the 50-over and 20-over tournaments and winning gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Harmanpreet Kaur became the first India Women’s player to be named among the five Cricketers of the Year, chosen by the Wisden editor in a tradition dating back to 1889.

The others are New Zealand’s Tom Blundell and Daryl Mitchell plus England’s Ben Foakes and Matthew Potts.

England batter Jonny Bairstow received the new Wisden Trophy for outstanding individual Test performance of the year after twin hundreds in a record-breaking win over India in July.

(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk; Editing by Ken Ferris)

((TommyAlexander.Lund@thomsonreuters.com;))

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