The English revolution in baseball is taking center stage at this year’s Wisden, with inspirational captain Ben Stokes being named best cricketer for the third time in five years.
A photo of Stokes, who also won the award in 2019 and 2020, and England manager Brandon McCallum are featured on the cover of The Cricket Bible 2023 edition.
The pair took a significant turn in the team’s fortunes, including 10 wins in 12 Tests after coming together at the beginning of the summer.
Wisden editor Lawrence Booth says: “It’s hard to imagine another cricketer who could change the fortunes of his team as suddenly as Ben Stokes.
By the time he took over as test captain, England had won one of their previous 17 games.
“When they became the first away team to win 3-0 in Pakistan, they won nine out of ten and played with unprecedented style and scope.
“Later that year, he led England to the T20 World Cup with decisive innings of the final against Pakistan in Melbourne – the icing on the cake for the cricketer who changed the way the game was played.”
Speaking of baseball, Booth adds: “From Manchester to Multan, from Kennington to Karachi, English test cricketers have rewritten the rules and changed the imagination. The contrast with what had gone before nurtured a sense of wonder.”
Two England players – Ben Fawkes and Matthew Potts – were also among the five cricketers of the year who were recognized only once in their careers for outstanding performances during the previous English summer.
New Zealand duo Tom Blundell and Daryl Mitchell were honored, as was Indian lady captain Harmanpreet Kaur.
Australian Beth Mooney was named the best cricketer in the world, while another baseball player – Johnny Bairstow – won the new Wisden Trophy for outstanding test performance of the year in his two centuries of England’s lead in a record 378 chases against India at Edgbaston. .
Booth also states in his editor’s notes that he hopes Bazball Test can revive cricket, but warns that the ubiquity of global T20 competition threatens the future of international cricket.
“The national councils handed over the keys to a few interested parties and lost control of the players they valued,” he says.
“Indian franchises have been allowed to take over the house knee by knee T20. Private money determines productivity. It was an amazing act of self-harm.
“The men’s 100, which will certainly be sold to investors if the price is right, is treated by the ECB like a member of the royal family. It helped women’s football a lot, but screwed up the men’s schedule. The T20 Blast, like the Ashes, suffered year-round by the end of July before summer cleared its throat.
“Meanwhile in South Africa, the new T20 tournament has turned the proud country of cricket into a vassal state where all six teams have been bought by IPL owners. In the Gulf region, the IPL-funded International T20 League was nothing more than a soulless game played in empty stadiums by cricketers stolen from overseas.
“A new league of corruption allegations has broken out in Nepal; In Bangladesh, players are grateful for being paid on time. Major League Cricket begins in July in the US, with implications for county play. Every nook and cranny is crammed with schemes that make entrepreneurs and players better but diminish the breadth and depth of cricket.
There is also a tribute to the late great Shane Warne, who passed away unexpectedly last year at the age of 52. “He was a one-man theatre, a walking cashier,” says Booth of The Australian.
Source: I News
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