DUBAI — England skipper Alastair Cook was named captain of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Team of the Year Wednesday, with international teammates Joe Root and Stuart Broad also selected.
Cook, 30, has recaptured his form in 2015, skippering England to Ashes glory against Australia and recently hitting 263 against Pakistan, and is the current leading Test run-scorer for the year. He was included in the ICC team, selected by an expert panel, for the fourth time and the second as captain.
“I would like to congratulate all the players for their selection in the Test and ODI teams of the year,” said awards selection panel chairman Anil Kumble, the former India captain.
“It is an achievement for each of them to be proud of and a recognition for their good performances in the qualifying period.”
Root scored two crucial Ashes centuries and is currently joint top of the Test batting rankings.
Broad, selected for the fifth time, is the leading fast bowling wicket-taker in Tests this year and recorded career-best figures of 8-15 against Australia at his home ground of Trent Bridge.
Australia captain Steve Smith and New Zealand’s left-arm fast bowler Trent Boult were named in both the Test and One-Day International teams, with Root appointed 12th man for the one-day side.
South African lynchpin AB de Villiers captains the 50-over team.
ICC Test Team of the Year
A Cook (England, captain), D Warner (Australia), K Williamson (New Zealand), Younis Khan (Pakistan), S Smith (Australia), J Root (England), Sarfraz Ahmed (Pakistan), S Broad (England), T Boult (New Zealand), Yasir Shah (Pakistan), J Hazlewood (Australia); 12th man: R Ashwin (India).
ICC ODI Team of the Year
AB de Villiers (South Africa, captain), T Dilshan (Sri Lanka), H Amla (South Africa), K Sangakkara (Sri Lanka), S Smith (Australia), R Taylor (New Zealand), T Boult (New Zealand), M Shami (India), M Starc (Australia), Mustafizur Rahman (Bangladesh), Imran Tahir (South Africa); 12th man: J Root.
Steyn to miss final Test
South African speedster Dale Steyn will miss the fourth and final Test against India with a lingering groin injury that has limited his participation in the four-match series to a solitary contest in the series-opener in Mohali.
With the series already lost and a home series against England looming, few expected the 32-year-old to return to the squad even as his team bid for a pride-salvaging victory at the Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium. “I can confirm that Dale Steyn is not going to be fit. Dale is not playing in this game,” visiting captain Hashim Amla said at the pre-match news conference Wednesday.
Currently the No. 1 Test bowler, Steyn will finish the series having bowled only 11 overs, during India’s first innings at Mohali.
The turning tracks in India had already taken much of the sting off the Proteas attack and Steyn’s injury meant he and Morne Morkel, who missed the Mohali contest with a quad strain, never bowled in tandem in the series.
