Ben Stokes named ICC Player of 2019, wins Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy; Pat Cummins best Test Player, Marnus Labuschagne Emerging Cricketer of Year

Elated with his achievements in 2019 and the ICC award, Ben Stokes said, "It is quite flattering to win the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year." Pat Cummins's 59 wickets in 12 Test matches during the voting period ensured he finished the year as the top-ranked bowler in the ICC Test Player Rankings.

Ben Stokes, England's World Cup 2019 triumph hero, won the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the ICC Player of 2019 for his magnificent performance across all the formats of the game in the year gone by. The England all-rounder played a decisive role in his team's dramatic and historic victory at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 at home. Stokes also had a string of memorable performances in Tests, too, as he emerged as the top player of the last 12 months.

Stokes had kept his nerve to smash an unbeaten 84 in the final against New Zealand and ensure England's maiden ODI World Cup trophy at Lord's in London on July 14, 2019. He scored 719 runs and scalped 12 wickets in 20 ODIs during the voting period. He also scored 821 runs and took 22 wickets in 11 Tests, the highlight being an unbeaten 135 to win a nail-biting Ashes thriller in Leeds.

Elated with his achievements in 2019 and the ICC award, Stokes said, "It is quite flattering to win the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year. The past 12 months have been incredible for England cricket and to lift the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup for the first time was our greatest achievement. This award is testament to my teammates and the support staff that have been there every step of the way. Fundamentally, without the support of these individuals, we would never achieved our objective of lifting a major trophy."

"There is an incredible bond between teammates and to savour our achievements, whether that’s winning the World Cup Final at Lord’s or digging deep to win a Test match against Australia at Headingley. It is satisfying you can accomplish these superb highs together. The last 12 months have been the best in my career, and I believe what we attained will be the catalyst to achieve further success over the next few years," added the England player.

ICC announced the men's awards on Wednesday with the Test Player of the Year award going to Australian pacer Pat Cummins while Indian opener Rohit Sharma won the ODI Player of the Year. Pat Cummins's 59 wickets in 12 Test matches during the voting period ensured he finished the year as the top-ranked bowler in the ICC Test Player Rankings. Cummins had stiff competition from several players including his team-mates Smith and Labuschagne.

"It’s a tremendous honour to be considered the best player of last year and one which was certainly unexpected. I owe much to my team, team-mates and all those involved in Australian cricket for what was a really successful year for the team. The highlight was certainly being able to retain the Ashes which was a great reward for the hard work that went into that tour," he asserted.

Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne is the Emerging Cricketer of the Year while Scotland’s Kyle Coetzer is the Associate Cricketer of the Year. Labuschagne was an easy winner after he aggregated 1,104 runs in 11 Tests, which saw him zoom in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings from 110 at the start of 2019 to fourth by the end of the year.

"It’s been exciting, it has been a great journey and I am very humbled with this award. It has been a great summer but the challenge is when you have a summer like that is to make sure you are backing it up and keep doing it. Being part of such a great team has been amazing, I have been very fortunate to be able to play in what is a great time for Australian cricket," the Australian reasoned.

A surprised Coetzer called the Associate Cricketer of the Year award a huge honour. He was the leading Associate batsmen in ODIs with 880 runs in 18 matches and also scored 702 runs in 22 T20Is. "It is a huge honour to have won the award. It was a huge shock, I certainly did not expect it, which makes it even more special. A big shout out needs to go to everyone who supported me throughout in 2019 – my family, my friends, all Cricket Scotland supporters who have come out through thick and thin, usually in some poor weather to be honest, everyone in the Cricket Scotland office as well as the backroom staff. A very special mention needs to go out to the players who support me on the field every day."

Indian captain Virat Kohli, who had swept the Player of the Year, Test Player of the Year and ODI Player of the Year in 2018, won the Spirit of Cricket Award. He was given the award for his gesture at the 2019 ODI World Cup in England when he egged the crowd on to support Steve Smith rather than boo him soon after his return to international cricket from a one-year suspension for changing the condition of the ball. Kohli added two more feathers in his cap by being named captain of both the ICC Test and ODI teams of 2019.

England umpire Richard Illingworth is the seventh person to win the David Shepherd Trophy for Umpire of the Year. This is the first time that the 56-year-old has won the award named after the late umpire from England. Illingworth thanked all of those who supported him over the years and was happy to join his predecessors already on the list.

"It’s an honour and a privilege to be named umpire of the year. To join the prestigious list of previous recipients of the award is very humbling. Although umpiring can be seen to be quite individual, there’s a huge amount done as a collective. I’d like to thank all my fellow match officials, the ICC and the ECB offices who have been great sounding boards and inspirations over the years. Also, thank you to my coach Denis Burns who helps me a huge amount and puts a great perspective on tough days. My family have been a tremendous support over the years and I’m delighted to share this award with them," he said.

ICC Men’s Cricket Awards:
Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for Best Cricketer of the Year – Ben Stokes (England)
Test Cricketer of the Year – Pat Cummins (Australia)
ODI Cricketer of the Year – Rohit Sharma (India)
T20I Performance of the Year – Deepak Chahar (India, 6-7 v Bangladesh)
Emerging Cricketer of the Year – Marnus Labuschagne (Australia)
Associate Cricketer of the Year – Kyle Coetzer (Scotland)
Spirit of Cricket Award – Virat Kohli stopping the fans booing Steve Smith at the Oval
David Shepherd Trophy for Umpire of the Year – Richard Illingworth
ICC Test Team of the Year (in batting order): Mayank Agarwal, Tom Latham, Marnus Labuschagne, Virat Kohli (captain), Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, BJ Watling (wicketkeeper), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Neil Wagner, Nathan Lyon.
ICC ODI Team of the Year (in batting order):  Rohit Sharma, Shai Hope, Virat Kohli (captain), Babar Azam, Kane Williamson, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Mitchell Starc, Trent Boult, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav

Both teams and the annual men’s individual awards sides have been selected by a voting academy, which took into consideration player performances throughout the 2019 calendar year.

ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney congratulated the winners of the awards this year and wished them all the best for the future. "On behalf of the ICC, I would like to congratulate all of the individual 2019 award winners as well as those players named in the ICC Teams of the Year. The awards celebrate the world’s best cricketers and this has undoubtedly been an extraordinary year for men’s cricket. The highlight of course was the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 that ended in such dramatic fashion. Ben Stokes was, of course in the midst of all the action during the event from that quite incredible catch at the Oval right through to that epic final at Lord’s and is a very deserving winner of the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy," said Sawhney.