Wisden Cricket Monthly has named their 2023 men’s Test XI of the Year, with Ashes stars dominating the side.
Seven of the 11 players picked hail from England and Australia, including opener Usman Khawaja, the only unanimous selection in the side. “Nothing and no one can hold him back,” writes WCM editor-in-chief Phil Walker.
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Australia edged the player count four to three over England, with Travis Head – Player of the Match in the World Test Championship final – and seam-bowling pair Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc making up the Aussie contingent. Zak Crawley, the second leading run-scorer in the Ashes, Joe Root and Stuart Broad, who signed off from Test cricket in unforgettable style at The Oval, are the English players selected.
Aside from the Ashes stars, the XI includes two Indians – spin pair Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja – New Zealand great Kane Williamson, and Ireland wicketkeeper Lorcan Tucker, the first Irishman to be picked in a WCM Test team of the year.
The XI was picked by compiling votes across a 30-strong panel of journalists and commentators spanning a range of outlets and nationalities. These include Wisden Almanack editor Lawrence Booth, Test Match Special duo Andy Zaltzman and Daniel Norcross.
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Two-thirds of the votes went to players from England and Australia, with India players receiving 14 per cent, New Zealand’s 11 per cent, and each other team fewer than five per cent. Only two players, Khawaja and Cummins, remain from the 2022 WCM Test team of the year.
Elsewhere in the magazine, Andrew McDonald, who led Australia to the World Test Championship title, an Ashes retention and a World Cup win, was named Coach of the Year, while a Women’s Cross-Format XI was also selected.
Wisden’s 2023 men’s Test XI of the Year
1. Usman Khawaja
2. Zak Crawley
3. Kane Williamson
4. Joe Root
5. Travis Head
6. Lorcan Tucker
7. Ravindra Jadeja
8. Ravichandran Ashwin
9. Mitchell Starc
10. Pat Cummins
11. Stuart Broad
The latest issue of Wisden Cricket Monthly is available to buy here.
