Ben Stokes outstanding exploits in 2022 made him the undeniable front-runner for the ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year award, and he well deserves to be recognised as the recipient of this honour. Ben Stokes defined the year of Test cricket more than any other player.
Ben Stokes, England’s talismanic all-rounder, had a terrific year in the whites of international Test cricket, judging just by the figures he posted.
But sometimes the game is about more than simply numbers, and in 2022 Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, the new head coach of the England Men’s Test team, radically overhauled the shape, fortunes, and style of the side.
Players and teams have engaged in highly aggressive forms of cricket in the past. However, Ben Stokes has brought England’s exciting and aggressive strategies with the bat, ball, and on the field to a new level with his consistent commitment to these strategies.
Since taking over as captain of England, Ben Stokes has led the team to nine victories out of ten Test matches. Under his leadership, England has completed series victories at home against New Zealand and South Africa, won the one-off postponed Test against India to level the series at 2-2, and thrashed Pakistan 3-0 away from home, which is England’s best ever margin of victory in the country.
Prior to his appointment as captain, England had lost all four of their most recent completed series and had won only one of their previous 17 Test matches. Before his appointment, England’s record in this format was 1–17.
Ben Stokes was a tremendously effective captain, as seen by the fact that he created cunning traps with his fields and made superb use of his bowlers throughout the year.
He was also fair but forceful with his selection judgements, bringing in new faces when required but not being afraid to leave out form players if the conditions merited it. He was a good judge of talent.
Ben Stokes had a productive year with the bat in 2022, accumulating 870 runs at an average of 36.25 and a brisk strike rate of 71.21. He also notched two centuries during this time.
His first-inning 103 in the second Test against South Africa was the standout innings of his year, and it provided his team with some energy immediately after suffering their sole loss in a Test throughout the English summer.
Additionally, Ben Stokes was successful in dismissing four batters during that game, bringing his total for the South Africa series to 10 wickets while maintaining a batting average of 15.70.
Although his overall statistics with the ball for 2022 do not stand out as being particularly impressive (26 wickets at a strike rate of 31.19), Stokes utilised himself in a number of different tactical roles throughout the year, placing an emphasis on impact and team balance rather than his own individual statistics.
Under Ben Stokes’ leadership, the team’s records fell to new lows. In addition, the records with the bat were the ones that stood out the most.
The scoring rate of 4.13 that England maintained across 15 Tests in 2022 was the second highest in the annals of cricket history and the highest since Australia in 1910.
These statistics take into account the team’s loss on the road to the West Indies as well as the conclusion of their Ashes series defeat. During the matches in which Stokes captained England, the side averaged 4.77 runs scored per over, which was game-changing.
The score of 506/4 that England reached on the first day of the first Test match against Pakistan was the highest total that any side had ever achieved on the first day of a Test match. Even more astounding is the fact that they did it in only 75 overs, as poor lighting forced the premature end of play.
And among the front-line hitters (from numbers one to six) who have scored at least 100 runs in Test cricket in 2022, English players account for five of the seven highest strike rates, with Stokes being one of those players. Rishabh Pant and Travis Head are the only two players that prevent an English clean sweep of those stats.
Stokes was announced earlier this week as the new captain of the International Cricket Council’s men’s test eleven for the year 2022.
He was joined in the select eleven by his other nominees for the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year Award, including his countryman Jonny Bairstow, Australia’s Usman Khawaja, and South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada. Jonny Bairstow, Usman Khawaja, and Kagiso Rabada are all bowlers.
India
