For the third time in four years, Ben Stokes is crowned Wisden’s Best Cricketer in the World

The 2023 Wisden Cricketer’s Almanac, which was released on Tuesday, named Ben Stokes the top male cricketer in the world.

Stokes, who received recognition for his bat-and-ball skills in 2020 and 2021, has led his team to three victories in the last four years. The 31-year-old has overseen a dramatic change in the team’s fortunes since being named Test captain at the beginning of last summer, leading them to 10 victories in 12.

Stokes joined an elite group after victories over New Zealand, India, and South Africa, followed by triumphs on England’s tours of Pakistan (when they became the first team to defeat them 3-0), and New Zealand. 

He not only won 10 games more quickly than any previous England captain (Michael Vaughan was the first with 16 games), but he also tied Lindsay Hassett of Australia, who had previously held the record with 10 from 12.

Before Stokes’ selection, England had a record of 17 Tests with just one victory, thus a revitalization was desperately needed. 

The all-rounder led England to the T20 World Cup in October by once again carrying the team to victory in the championship game. That summer, he averaged 40 with the bat and 25.66 with the ball.

“It’s hard to think of any other cricketer who could have transformed his team’s fortunes so suddenly as Ben Stokes,” Lawrence Booth, Wisden’s editor, said. “When he took over the Test captaincy, England had won one game in their previous 17. By the time they had become the first visiting side to win 3-0 in Pakistan, they had won nine out of ten, and were playing with unprecedented style and verve.

“And he was forceful with both bat and ball, scoring a series-turning century against South Africa in Manchester. Later in the year, he steered 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 way the game is played.”

Booth also acknowledges Brendon McCullum‘s contribution, notably the idea that “pursuit of fun really did trump fear of failure” that was instilled by Rob Key, the new men’s director of cricket. Beyond the outcomes, the change was evident. 

They left 2022 having hit 89 sixes, the most of any team in a single year (65 under Stokes). Given the nature of the 2023–27 Future Tours Programme, Booth thinks that “Bazball” will revitalize more than a team.

“More enterprise is needed to maintain interest in Test cricket, after the international fixture list confirmed a hopeless imbalance: between this summer and the end of the 2026-27 winter, England will play 20 of their 43 Tests against Australia or India; and only those three teams will regularly contest meaningful series.”

With 681 runs last summer, Jonny Bairstow, largely seen as the driving force behind the Bazball movement, is named the first winner of the new Wisden Trophy for outstanding individual Test performance by a man or woman. 

Bairstow won the award for his performance against India at Edgbaston, where he scored hundreds in each of his two innings, the second of which allowed England to chase down a 378-run record-breaking mark. 

From 1963 until the Richards-Botham trophy was introduced in 2020, the silver trophy was awarded to the England-West Indies Test series victors.

Ben Foakes, a wicketkeeper for Surrey, and Matthew Potts, a seamer for Durham, are two players from that squad who were recognized among Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year. 

A player can only receive this honor once in their career, and it is determined by how well they performed throughout the English domestic season.

With two crucial stops for England, Foakes’ poise in front of the stumps mirrored his high standards behind them. 

The first, a 120-run stand with Joe Root that was unbroken, helped them win the match against New Zealand at Lord’s. The second, a 113-run stand with Ben Stokes against South Africa, gave them control of the Old Trafford Test.

While playing the first five Tests of the summer, Potts had a successful start to his international career, taking 20 wickets at a strike rate of 28.00. 

In the only India Test, he demonstrated his skill as an incisive seamer by dismissing Kane Williamson three times and subsequently Virat Kohli. He was equally tenacious at home, taking 58 County Championship wickets at an average of 17.87.

Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell of New Zealand are also listed among the five as the two batsmen who were a continuous thorn in England’s side during the three-match series, scoring 538 and 383 runs, respectively. 

The other foreigner among the five is India’s women’s skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who guided her nation to their first ODI series victory in England since 2009 with 221 runs, including an undefeated 143. Additionally, she helped India win a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games.

Australia beat India to the gold medal, adding to their World Cup victory from earlier in the year. Beth Mooney, who was their top scorer in both contests, went on to win the title of Women’s Leading Cricketer in the World for the second time in three years. She not only contributed to Australia retaining the women’s Ashes last year, but she also averaged 100 throughout ODIs.

Suryakumar Yadav’s outstanding 2022 performance as the best Twenty20 cricketer in the world is also acknowledged. 

He eventually finished with 1,164 runs at a strike rate of 187, becoming the second international T20 batter to surpass a thousand runs in a year after centuries against England and New Zealand, which came off 48 and 49 balls, respectively.

Beyond the playing field, the Almanack celebrates Shane Warne’s life and career. The interesting cricketer and figure from Australia, who passed away in March 2022, is remembered in a lengthy obituary and other prose.

“His contribution to leg-spin, cricket’s toughest skill, hardly needs restarting,”

writes Booth in his Editor’s Notes.

“Just as immense was the blow he struck for all the bowlers. Three of the Cricketers of the Century – Don Bradman, Jack Hobbs, Viv Richards – were batters, and the all-rounder, Garry Sobers, averaged 57. But Warne drew the gaze to the other end of the pitch. He was a one-man theater, a walking box office.”

The expansion of T20 franchise events throughout the previous year is under review. The landscape beneath cricket’s feet has changed significantly as a result of the SA20, ILT20, Major League Cricket, and the ever-expanding IPL. 

Both claims it is imperative to address the growing cannibalization of the game by franchise events and international boards.

“The question of what cricket wants to be is familiar enough – though has never been more urgent… Now, three power blocs are in a relationship that is part-symbiotic, part-parasitic: the T20 franchises, in it for themselves; the ICC, nominally in charge; and the national boards, keen to placate broadcasters and generate their own revenue.

“The battle for time and space is not sustainable, causing chaos on the one hand, ennui on the other. Four days after lifting the T20 World Cup, Jos Buttler led England in an ODI series in Australia. They lost 3-0, but few could tell you much about it: no one watched, and nobody – not even Buttler – greatly cared.”