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England captain Ben Stokes has been named the ICC Men's Test Cricketer of the Year 2022, just two days after being named captain of the ICC Men's Test Team of the Year for 2022.
He is also the third England cricketer to win the award, following Alastair Cook (2011) and Joe Root (2021), beating out compatriot Jonny Bairstow, Australia's left-handed opener Usman Khawaja, and South Africa fast-bowler Kagiso Rabada, all of whom made the ICC Test eleven for 2022.
Stokes, along with head coach Brendon McCullum, has transformed England's Test fortunes in 2022. Stokes took over an English side that was struggling for results and was at the bottom of the World Test Championship standings. Before he was named captain, England had lost all four of their most recent series and had only won one of their previous 17 Tests.
His inspirational leadership has created a confident and attacking unit that has won nine out of ten Test matches under his watch in 2022. Under Stokes, England won series against New Zealand and South Africa at home, while also defeating India in a one-off postponed Test at Birmingham to tie the series at 2-2 and thrashing Pakistan 3-0 on a historic tour in December.
Stokes has repeatedly stated that removing the fear of failure from the players has resulted in England playing an ultra-aggressive brand of cricket under him. He has also led by example, having a successful year with both bat and ball.
He had 870 runs, two centuries, and four half-centuries, as well as 26 wickets at an average of 31.19. His aggressive batting style resulted in 26 sixes and just shy of 100 fours for the year.
Stokes' side averaged 5.50 runs per over in the historic 3-0 series victory in Pakistan before Christmas, and the attacking batting was matched by the captain's assertive decision-making.
Stokes' inspired declaration in a high-scoring affair in Rawalpindi gave England enough time to win as the sun set, in what will go down as one of England's greatest away wins. Stokes will be seen in Test action when England visits New Zealand in February for two Tests in Mount Maunganui and Wellington.