Ace all-rounder Ben Stokes on Wednesday (April 8) became the first England cricketer since 2005 to be named Wisden's leading cricketer in the world.
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Stokes was integral to England's maiden 50-over World Cup victory last year and also helped his team draw the home Ashes series with an iconic knock of 135 not out at Headingley.
Andrew Flintoff was the last Englishman to receive this prestigious award while India skipper Virat Kohli has won it for the past three years.
The Wisden Almanack named England speedster Jofra Archer as one of five leading cricketers of the year 2019. He made his international debut in May 2019 and two months later bowled the super over against New Zealand at Lord’s that ensured England's World Cup triumph. Later, Archer finished the Ashes with 22 wickets from four Tests at an average of 20.27.
The list also features three Australians in Pat Cummins, Marnus Labuschagne and Ellyse Perry, as well as Essex off-spinner Simon Harmer.
Perry, who is the first non-England women's player to appear as one of the five, has also been named the Wisden’s leading women's cricketer. She was the leading run-scorer (378 runs) and wicket-taker (15 scalps) as Australia successfully defended their Women's Ashes title in 2019.
Cummins and Labuschagne and Perry were instrumental in helping their teams to retain the men’s Ashes on English soil after 18 years.
While Cummins was the leading wicket-taker in that series from either side with 29 scalps, Labuschagne scored four successive half-centuries before taking the Australian summer by storm, amassing 896 runs at an incredible average of 112 across five Tests against Pakistan and New Zealand.
Coming to Simon Harmer, he was part of the Essex side that won the County Championship and T20 Blast in 2019. The off-spinner picked up 83 wickets and 10 five-wicket hauls in the Championship.
(Inputs from BBC)
