London:England all-rounder Ben Stokes on Wednesday was named the leading cricketer of the year 2019, while Australia all-rounder Ellyse Perry was named the top female cricketer by the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. Stokes became first Englishman to receive the honour since former captain Andrew Flintoff in 2005.
The swashbuckling all-rounder was instrumental to England's success in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019, where he scored 465 runs, including 84* in the tense final at Lord's and claimed seven wickets as his team won the coveted trophy for the first time.
He then carried the form into the 2019 Ashes, lighting up the series with a splendid 135* to help England win a one-wicket thriller at Headingley.
"Those two landmark innings? 84 and 135, both unbeaten, the first propelling his country to a maiden World Cup, the second inspiring a national record Test chase of 359. They alone were feats worthy of breaking Virat Kohli's three-year monopoly as Wisden's Leading Cricketer in the World, " the Almanack was quoted as saying by ICC.
Apart from being the leading cricketer of the year, Perry was also named among the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year alongside Marnus Labuschagne, Pat Cummins, Jofra Archer and Simon Harmer.
Perry became the first female cricketer to achieve the double in a single year, and the fourth overall after Kane Williamson, Virat Kohli and Kumar Sangakkara.
Perry was in scintillating form in 2019 and simply mind-boggling across all three formats.
In T20Is she scored 150 runs while getting dismissed only once and took six wickets. In ODIs she averaged 73.50 with the bat and just 13.52 with the ball. In the one Test she featured in last year, she scored 116 and 76*.
Andre Russell was adjudged the leading T20 cricketer for the year, with his performances in last year's Indian Premier League coming in for special praise.
"His exploits with Kolkata Knight Riders ? 510 runs and 11 wickets - won him the Most Valuable Player award. His tally of 52 sixes was 18 clear of the next (Chris Gayle), and not far off Gayle's IPL record of 59, in 2012,'' the Almanack noted.(UNI)