Stokes and Sciver among ICC Cricketer of the Year winners

ENGLAND Test captain Ben Stokes and England all-rounder Nat Sciver are among the winners in the International Cricket Council’s annual awards.

All-rounder Stokes has been named Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year while Sciver won the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy for ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year.

Sciver, 30, is also named Women’s one-day international (ODI) Cricketer of the Year.

The ICC said Stokes “defined the year of Test cricket more than any other”.

The 31-year-old took over the Test captaincy from Joe Root in April 2022 and has won nine of his 10 Tests in charge.

Before his appointment, England had won just one Test in 17 matches.

Alongside new coach Brendon McCullum, Stokes transformed England’s Test fortunes with an attacking approach and mindset.

It is the first time Stokes has won the men’s Test award and he is the third England player to do after his two predecessors as captainAlastair Cook in 2011 and Root in 2021.

Stokes previously won the overall Men’s Cricketer of the Year award in 2019.

He was also named in the Men’s Test Team of the Year for 2022 alongside team-mates Jonny Bairstow and James Anderson.

Stokes scored 870 runs at an average of 36.25 and took 26 wickets at an average of 31.19 during the year but it is his leadership that had the biggest influence on England’s performances.

With his positive style and commitment to entertaining, Stokes led England to series wins over New Zealand and South Africa at home, victory over India in a one-off postponed Test before finishing the year with a phenomenal 3-0 clean sweep in Pakistan - the first visiting side to ever win three Tests in the country.

Pakistan captain Babar Azam won the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year for the first time, as well as the men’s ODI award for the second year in a row.

SCIVER NAMED WOMEN’S OVERALL AND ODI PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Sciver’s two awards come after she scored 1,346 runs and took 22 wickets from her 33 international matches in 2022.

She scored five half-centuries and two centuries, including her maiden Test hundred against South Africa in June.

She also scored a stunning unbeaten 148 in the World Cup final defeat by Australia in March as England fell short of their target of 356.