Windies’ Brathwaite, Hope, Joseph picked in ICC teams-of-the-year
LONDON, (CMC) – 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 year in the batting department.
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 in Perth last month.
“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 Test 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 soil… that was fantastic from a team perspective, and for me the big moment of the year,” he added.
In addition, Brathwaite’s Windies teammates, batsman Shai Hope, and fast bowler Alzarri Joseph, were also honoured by the ICC, named in the men’s One-Day International (ODI) Team-of-the-Year.
Hope kept up his consistency in the game’s shorter format (T20), 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 was also among the leading wicket-takers in ODIs last year, 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.
Meanwhile, England all-rounder Ben Stokes was named captain of the Test squad, which also includes the stellar Pakistan stroke-maker and skipper Babar Azam, Australia run-scoring machine Marnus Labuschagne, and South Africa steamer Kagiso Rabada.