Cricket 2023: Ben Stokes, Pat Cummins, ICC Teams of the Year, Test Captains
He leads the world’s number one Test team, but it wasn’t enough to earn Pat Cummins the year’s best captaincy, an honor bestowed on his Ashes rivals.
Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Cummins and Nathan Lyon have all been named to the World XI, with Australia being the most represented team, reflecting their dominance as No 1 in Test cricket.
It wasn’t enough for Cummins to become Team of the Year captain, however, with a panel of media representatives supporting England skipper and ‘Bazball’ spearhead Stokes.
It’s set to be an enthralling Ashes battle this year, with two outstanding captains battling it out for the ultimate cricket prize in June and July.
England believe Stokes changed Test cricket forever with his easygoing captaincy.
But Cummins has refused to be intimidated into following England’s lead, claiming Australia’s smothering style has proven effective and will stand up when it counts.
Three Englishmen at Stokes, Jonny Bairstow and 40-year-old James Anderson, made it Team of the Year, with England’s resurgence in 2022 making them the second most represented team.
India (Rishabh Pant), West Indies (Kraigg Brathwaite), Pakistan (Babar Azam) and South Africa (Kagiso Rabada) each featured one player.
Four players in the Test Team of the Year is Australia’s highest representation for some time.
Khawaja and Labuschagne dominated the run-scoring lists, while Spinner Lyon was the joint equal wicket-taker in Test cricket for 2022, alongside Rabada.
Cummins excelled with the ball and also led Australia to a historic Test victory over Pakistan in Pakistan – a feat repeated by Stokes later in the year.
Australia had Travis Head and Adam Zampa as their only representatives in the ODI Team of the Year, while there was no Australian in sight in the Men’s T20 Team of the Year after Aaron Finch’s team’s lackluster performance at the World Championships home.
Somehow only two Australians were voted into the Women’s ODI Team of the Year despite Australia winning the World Cup last year.
Beth Mooney and Alyssa Healy were selected, but inexplicably, the world’s most dominant sports team couldn’t get another player into the XI.
Mooney is now seriously claiming to be No. 1 in women’s cricket, having also been named to the women’s T20 team of the year alongside Ash Gardner and Tahlia McGrath.
Originally published as Cricket 2023: Pat Cummins overlooked as ICC Test Team Captain of the Year for Ben Stokes
https://www.codesports.com.au/cricket/cricket-2023-pat-cummins-overlooked-as-captain-of-icc-test-team-of-the-year-for-ben-stokes/news-story/72986c276b9317d666efce4d9276a7f8?nk=b4aba9df17f43bc5a0a3f3a6eb12e5eb-1674589567 Cricket 2023: Ben Stokes, Pat Cummins, ICC Teams of the Year, Test Captains
