Brathwaite, Hope, Joseph picked in ICC teams of the year
WEST INDIES Test captain Kraigg Brathwaite has been named in the International Cricket Council’s men’s Test team of the Year, following a successful period with the bat.
The 30-year-old averaged 62 in seven Tests during the last calendar year, scoring two hundreds – a marathon 160 against England in Bridgetown and a fine 110 against Australia Perth last month.
Brathwaite’s West Indies teammates, batsman Shai Hope and fast bowler Alzarri Joseph, were also honoured by the ICC, named in the men’s One-day International Team of the Year.
“I’m very privileged and honoured to be named as a member of the Test team,” said Brathwaite, who recently arrived in Zimbabwe for the two-test tour against the hosts starting next month.
“I have been putting in lots of hard work and the hard work will continue here in Zimbabwe where we are preparing for the two Tests in a few days’ time.
“One of the outstanding performances for the year was the series win against England at home.
“It was my first time as captain against England and we worked really hard to beat them on our home soi l… that was fantastic from a team perspective, and for me the big moment of the year.”
England all-rounder Ben Stokes was named captain of the Test squad which also includes stellar Pakistan stroke-maker and skipper Babar Azam, Australia runscoring machine Marnus Labuschagne and South Africa seamer Kagiso Rabada.
Hope, meanwhile, kept up his consistency in the game’s shorter format in 2022, averaging 35 with three hundreds from 21 ODIS. He was among only seven players to pass 700 runs for the calendar year.
The 26-year-old Joseph, meanwhile, was also among the leading wicket-takers in ODIS for 2022, snaring 27 at an average of 25 from 17 matches for West Indies.
He was the leading fast bowler in the world last year among countries in the top tier of world cricket.
The ODI team is being led by Babar and includes the likes of India’s Shreyas Iyer and New Zealander Trent Boult.
Neither the men’s Twenty20 International Team of the Year nor the women’s ODI and T20 squad comprised any West Indies players.