Wisden Archives

Jasprit Bumrah named leading men’s cricketer by Wisden

India paceman Jasprit Bumrah has been named as the Leading Men’s Cricketer in the World in the 2025 edition of the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, with compatriot Smriti Mandhana picking up the women’s award.

Bumrah was given the honour by the sport’s “bible” after a stunning 2024 in which he excelled in red-ball and white-ball cricket.

The 31-year-old picked up 71 Test wickets at an average of less than 15 and was named player of the tournament as India won the T20 World Cup in the West Indies.

Wisden editor Lawrence Booth described Bumrah as “quite simply the star of the year”.

Reflecting on Bumrah’s astonishing efforts during India’s Test series in Australia, Booth wrote: “He was so lethal, so uniquely challenging — a staccato of limbs somehow forming a symphony — that runs scored off him should have counted double.

“And while taking 32 Australian wickets at 13 each, he laid a claim to be considered the greatest of all time, becoming the first with 200 Test wickets at an average below 20.”

Despite the heroics of Jasprit Bumrah, Australia won the five-Test series, which finished in early January, 3-1.

Mandhana, 28, made it an Indian double by being named as the Leading Women’s Cricketer in the World. The batter scored 1,659 runs across all formats in 2024 — the most by a woman in a calendar year of international cricket.

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West Indies batter Nicholas Pooran was named as the game’s leading T20 cricketer.

In the almanack, which is published on Thursday, Booth is scathing about Jay Shah’s smooth transition from the most powerful figure in Indian cricket to chairman of the International Cricket Council.

“(It is) a sorry truth: 2024 was the year cricket gave up any claim to being properly administered, with checks, balances, and governance for the many, not the few,” Booth writes.

He adds: “Cricket has handed over the only key not already in India’s possession. All hail the Big One.”

The Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack has been published continually on an annual basis since its first edition in 1864.

Wisden also names five Cricketers of the Year — an award that can only be won once in a career — and is generally based on performances in the previous English season.

England trio Gus Atkinson, Jamie Smith and Sophie Ecclestone have been named among the five in the 2025 edition.

Hampshire spinner Liam Dawson, who has also played for England, and Surrey paceman Dan Worrall complete the line-up.

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Pat Cummins, Nat Sciver-Brunt named as Wisden’s Leading Cricketers in the World

Australian captain Pat Cummins has been named the leading men’s cricketer in the world by Wisden Almanack, while England’s Nat Sciver-Brunt was named the leading women’s cricketer on Tuesday.

Cummins was recognised by Wisden for a stellar 2023 in which the fast bowler led Australia to a World Test Championship (WTC) final win over India.

His side retained the Ashes before he captained them to their record sixth ODI World Cup title, defeating undefeated India in the final in Ahmedabad.

The 30-year-old paceman was the first Australian to win this award since Michael Clarke in 2012.

“After captaining Australia to success in the World Test Championship, Pat Cummins retained the Ashes – thanks in no small part to his late-order runs in the first Test at Edgbaston – then led Australia to victory in the World Cup final in India,” said Wisden editor Lawrence Booth.

“In 2023, no other seamer in world cricket took more than his 42 Test wickets.”

Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack has been published continually on an annual basis since its first edition in 1864.

Meanwhile, Nat Sciver-Brunt was named the leading women’s cricketer in the world after three ODI hundreds in five Ashes innings.

Wisden also names five Cricketers of the Year, an award that can only be won once in a career and is generally based on performances in the previous English season.

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Three of the latest recipients – Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Starc and Ashleigh Gardner, are all Australia internationals and played in the men’s and women’s Ashes last year.

Opening batsman Khawaja was honoured for topping the run-scoring charts in the Ashes with 496 runs at 49.60.

Fast bowler Starc claimed 23 wickets at an average of 27.08 during the Ashes, followed by 16 wickets during the ODI World Cup in India, resulting in him earning the honours.

Moreover, Gardner was recognised for taking 12 wickets in holders Australia’s victory in the one-off Women’s Ashes Test at Trent Bridge.

She became the tenth female recipient of the honour, and the first Australian woman since 2020. All-rounder Ellyse Perry was the last Australian to be named the Cricketer of the Year by Wisden.

The other two Cricketers of the Year were the England duo of Harry Brook and Mark Wood.

“Wood turned the Ashes on its head,” Booth said. “He topped 96mph, took five for 34, and pushed Australia on the back foot, literally and figuratively.”

“In all, he claimed 14 wickets at just 20 apiece as England came from 2-0 down to square the series.”

There was more Australian success when it came to the Wisden Trophy for Test performance of the year, with Travis Head recognised for his decisive 163 in the WTC final against India at The Oval.

West Indies’ Hayley Matthews became the first woman to be named the leading T20 cricketer of the year, owing to her brilliant performances.

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Ben Stokes named Wisden’s 2022 Cricketer of the Year

LONDON: England star Ben Stokes was named the Wisden Almanack’s leading men’s cricketer in the world for the third time in four years on Monday.

Stokes was selected for his dynamic captaincy of England’s Test team in 2022, as well as his match-winning performance in the T20 World Cup final.

The all-rounder, who appears on the cover of the 160th edition of Wisden alongside England Test head coach Brendon McCullum, previously won the award in 2019 and 2020.

Stokes has masterminded 10 wins in 12 matches since taking over as England skipper, with his attacking and imaginative approach revitalising a previously moribund team.

Stokes also made waves in the white-ball game, helping to deliver the silverware for England’s T20 side as his half-century settled the final against Pakistan in November.

“It’s hard to think of any other cricketer who could have transformed his team’s fortunes so suddenly as Ben Stokes,” Wisden editor Lawrence Booth said.

“When he took over the Test captaincy, England had won one game in their previous 17. By the time they had become the first visiting side to win 3-0 in Pakistan, they had won nine out of 10, and were playing with unprecedented style and verve.”

Stokes’ England team-mate Jonny Bairstow was the inaugural recipient of the new Wisden Trophy, awarded for the outstanding individual Test performance, after his twin centuries against India at Edgbaston.

Australia’s Beth Mooney was named the leading women’s cricketer in the world for the second time.

India’s big-hitting Suryakumar Yadav was handed the award for the top Twenty20 cricketer in the world.

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Wisden names Mohammad Rizwan as the ‘Leading T20 Cricketer in 2021’

LONDON: Pakistan’s wicket-keeper batter Mohammad Rizwan has been named as the Leading T20 Cricketer in the World in 2021 by Wisden Almanack, here on Thursday.

Rizwan, who enjoyed an exceptional run in the T20Is in 2021, has been named the Leading T20 Cricketer in the World in 2021 by one of the most prolific cricketing magazines – Wisden.

The right-handed batter scored a mammoth 1,326 runs at an average of 73.66 including one century – breaking the calendar record, set by Ireland’s Paul Stirling in 2019, by almost 600.

In the T20s however, the southpaw achieved a rare feat by scoring more than 2,000 runs in a calendar year, which no other batters could do previously.

Taking to Twitter, Wisden announced Rizwan as the T20 Cricketer of 2021.

“The bare numbers had a formidable heft. Rizwan peeled off 1,326 T20I runs at 73 – breaking the calendar record, set by Ireland’s Paul Stirling in 2019, by almost 600,” Wisden wrote.

"The bare numbers had a formidable heft. Rizwan peeled off 1,326 T20I runs at 73 – breaking the calendar record, set by Ireland’s Paul Stirling in 2019, by almost 600."https://t.co/JFx1K0Xqw8

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) April 21, 2022

It is pertinent to mention here that Rizwan has already been named the ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year 2021 and also the Most Valuable and T20I Cricketer of the Year in the previously held Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Awards.

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