After a remarkable season that included winning the world cup, Ben Stokes has been awarded the ICC Player of the Year, claiming the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy that comes with it. He won the title after winning the votes of media personalities and former players.

Stokes’ achievements last year was something to reckon with. Perhaps the highlight was when he won the man of the match, after making an unbeaten 84 in the world cup match against New Zealand which saw England win their first World Cup event. In August, he scored an amazing 135 without going out in the match against Australia at Headingley, helping to win the match, although Australia won the Ashes.

No doubt, Stokes deserves everything he gets after putting much effort last year. He had earlier won the BBC player of the year award in recognition of all he did in 2019.

His performance last year includes making 5 half-centuries, 465 runs at the World Cup level and 441 at the Ashes. Speaking after collecting the award, he acknowledged the fact that 2019 was a good year for both he and his country.

He said, “the last 12 months have been the best of my career…the past 12 months have been incredible for England Cricket.” He further stated that the award was proof of the work put in not just by him alone, but his teammates and the entire support staff. Besides winning the award, he was also mentioned in the ICC Test Team of the year, the only English player to be recognized, and also in the One Day International team of the year, alongside countryman Jos Buttler.

Other awardees include Australian Pat Cummins, who won Test Cricketer of the Year, Kyle Coetzer of Scotland who won Associate Cricketer of the Year, India’s Rohit Sharma who won the ODI Cricketer of the year.

Written by: Leon Osamor