Ben Stokes becomes first English player since 2005 to be named Wisden's Leading Cricketer

All-rounder Ben Stokes on Wednesday became the first English cricketer since 2005 to be named as Wisden's Leading Cricketer in the World.

In 2005, Andrew Flintoff was named as Wisden's Leading Cricketer of the Year.

Australia's Ellyse Perry has also been named as the Leading Female Cricketer in the World. She had also attained this prize in 2016.

With this award, Stokes surpassed India skipper Virat Kohli, who had taken the prize on the last three occasions.

2019 proved as an instrumental year for Stokes as he played a key role in England's first 50-over World Cup win and then he went on to play a memorable inning against Australia during the third Ashes at Headingley.

 

Apart from Leading Cricketers, Wisden also named Jofra Archer, Pat Cummins, Simon Harmer, Marnus Labuschagne and Ellyse Perry as the Five Cricketers of the Year.

Cummins finished with the most wickets in Test matches in 2019 while Archer enjoyed a good debut season for England.

Labuschagne also went on to score heaps of runs in 2019 and cemented his place as one of the upcoming leading batsmen in the world.

All-rounder Andre Russell has been named as the Leading T20 Cricketer in the World.

Russell had a stellar Indian Premier League and Caribbean Premier League as he went on display good all-round skills.