LONDON: India captains Virat Kohli and Mithali Raj were yesterday named the leading men’s and women’s cricketers in the world by Wisden.
The England women’s trio of Heather Knight, Natalie Sciver and Anya Shrubsole were selected among Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year in a landmark move by the sport’s ‘bible’.
Only two female cricketers - Claire Taylor and Charlotte Edwards, Knight’s immediate predecessor as England captain - had previously won an award dating back to 1899.
But Knight, Sciver and Shrusbole’s contributions to England’s 2017 World Cup triumph, culminating in a dramatic win over India in a sold-out final at Lord’s, saw them honoured by the Almanack.
West Indies batsman Shai Hope and Essex bowler Jamie Porter were also chosen for the award.
Kohli won his award for the second year in a row after again starring in all formats, while Raj was acknowledged after a year in which she became the leading run-scorer in women’s one-day internationals during India’s run to the World Cup final.
Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan collected the inaugural leading Twenty20 cricketer in the world prize.
Hope was chosen mainly on the back of his brilliant twin centuries that saw West Indies to a shock win over England in the second Test at Headingley.
It was the first time any batsman had scored centuries in both innings of a first-class match at Yorkshire’s headquarters ground.
Lawrence Booth wrote in his editor’s notes for the 2018 Wisden:
Unveiled
“When the cover was unveiled in January, it generated seven times as much social media interest as its predecessor, which depicted Virat Kohli, the most marketable player of the world’s best-supported team.
“Wisden shouldn’t be too smug: we have often been slow to acknowledge the women’s game. Thanks to Shrubsole and her team-mates, the case has become unanswerable. There were few cries of tokenism.”
By tradition, the Cricketer of the Year award can be won only once by any player and is judged mainly on their contribution to the English season.