ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year
2023 proved to be a remarkable year for Australian captain Pat Cummins. Everything the speedster touched, turned to gold. It is unsurprising then, that on the back of his tremendous success across all formats of the game, Pat Cummins was announced as the winner of the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy as ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year 2023.
Cummins had an incredible year with the ball as well as the bat. He led Australia to victory at the expense of India in the ICC World Test Championship Final before retaining the Ashes against England away from home. His Australian outfit then shocked the world by defeating hosts and favourites India in the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
“There’s nothing more satisfying than watching a stadium full of 100,000 people go silent,” Cummins had said before the final and that is exactly what he went on to achieve with the wickets of Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer. It was also the record-extending sixth World Cup win for Australia.
Cummins played 11 Test matches in 2023 and picked up 42 wickets at an average of 27.50. It included three fifers as well as a 10-wicket haul. In ODIs, he claimed 17 wickets in 13 games at an economy rate of 5.74. Moreover, he also added 168 runs with the bat at an average of 42 and played crucial roles with the bat during the World Cup.
ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year
India’s Virat Kohli also had a spectacular year full of runs and he was announced as the ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year. For Kohli, his spectacular scoring streak at the World Cup was obviously the highlight of 2023 that saw him winning the Player of the Tournament Award. He was the top-scorer of the tournament with an unprecedented 765 runs in 11 games at an average of 95.62.
Kohli slammed three centuries in the competition, and it was his ton in the semi-final against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai which saw him go past Sachin Tendulkar’s record with 50 hundreds in this format. Throughout the year, he scored 1377 runs from 27 ODIs at an average of 71.47 and even slammed six centuries.
ODI Team of the Year: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Travis Head, Virat Kohli, Daryl Mitchell, Heinrich Klaasen (WK), Marco Jansen, Adam Zampa, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami
ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year
Australian batter Usman Khawaja was named as the ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year 2023. Khawaja edged out competition from teammate Travis Head, Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin, and former England captain Joe Root to take home the top prize. Khawaja finished as the top-scorer of The Ashes with 496 runs in five matches. He also led Australia to win the World Test Championship Final. Khawaja finished 2023 with 1210 runs in 13 Tests.
Test Team of the Year: Usman Khawaja, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kane Williamson, Joe Root, Travis Head, Ravindra Jadeja, Alex Carey (WK), Pat Cummins (c), R Ashwin, Mitchell Starc, Stuart Broad
ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year
India’s T20I beast Suryakumar Yadav won the ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year for the second year in a row. Ever since he made his debut in this format, he has not only become the most important asset for the Men in Blue, but is easily one of the best in the world. Last year, SKY scored 733 runs in 18 matches at an average of 48.86. He also had an incredible strike rate of over 155 and brought up two centuries.
T20I Team of the Year: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Phil Salt, Nicholas Pooran (WK), Suryakumar Yadav (c), Mark Chapman, Sikandar Raza, Alpesh Ramjani, Mark Adair, Ravi Bishnoi, Richard Ngarava
ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year
England all-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt won the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award for ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year 2023 and took the top prize home for the second consecutive year. It was yet another remarkable year for her as she masterminded some top knocks during the home Ashes series against Australia.
She scored 137 runs in two Tests and also picked up a wicket. In ODIs, she scored 393 runs at an average of 131 and even picked up three wickets. Having played 10 T20Is, she amassed 364 runs at an average of 45.50 and scalped five wickets.
ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year
Chamari Athapaththu was elected as the ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year 2023. The Sri Lanka top-order batter made significant contributions with the bat and as captain, notably leading the side to a first bilateral series win over New Zealand. She slammed 415 runs in eight matches at an incredible average of 69.16. She made two centuries in this format. Athapaththu also has the unique distinction of leading the ICC Women’s T20I and ODI sides of the year.
Women’s ODI Team of the Year: Phoebe Litchfield, Chamari Athapaththu (c), Ellyse Perry, Amelia Kerr, Beth Mooney (WK, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Ash Gardner, Annabel Sutherland, Nadine de Klerk, Lea Tahuhu, Nahida Akter
ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year
Hayley Matthews is the second player from the West Indies to win the ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year. Former Caribbean skipper and Matthews’ teammate Stafanie Taylor was the previous to win this award in 2015. She added to her incredible legacy with some impressive innings against Australia. She scored 700 runs in 14 matches at a wonderful average of 63.63 and even scored a century in this format. Matthews also picked up 19 wickets at an average of 16.21.
