The nominees for the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year 2022 have been revealed

Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy

Babar Azam – Pakistan

2598 runs in 44 matches

It was a year

2022 was another year of Babar Azam making and breaking records. Babar was the only player to cross the 2,000-run mark in a calendar year across formats, with his 2,598 runs at an average of 54.12, which included eight hundreds and 17 fifties.

Still adjudged the 2021 ICC ODI Player of the Year at the age of 50, he scored 679 runs in nine matches. It is a testament to his consistency that he recorded scores of 50 or more in eight of those innings. He continues to hold on to his top spot in the MRF Tires ICC Men’s ODI Player Rankings and is again in the running for the ICC Men’s ODI Player of the Year 2022 award.

Babar also enjoyed a huge year in Test cricket, although the team’s results did not go his way. He amassed 1,184 runs in just nine matches and did most of Pakistan’s heavy lifting in the longer format.

It was also a memorable year for Babar as captain in the white-ball formats as Pakistan won all three ODI series they played, losing just one match out of nine. In the T20I format, he led Pakistan to their first T20 World Cup final since 2009.

A memorable performance

The signs are down, Pakistan are staring at defeat, but one man stood between Australia and victory in the second Test in Karachi.

Pakistan were bowled out for 148 in the first innings, giving Australia a commanding lead of 408 runs. The visitors batted again and set a target of 506 with almost six sessions remaining.

Pakistan got off to the worst possible start, losing two wickets for just 21 runs with five sessions remaining. Babar Azam walked and so began a grueling 10-hour marathon that almost took Pakistan from inevitable defeat to near-impossible victory.

His 425-ball 196 not only brought him his first Test century in two years, but also his highest Test score. He forged important partnerships first with Abdullah Shafique (228 runs) and then with Mohammad Rizwan (115 runs).

The equation slumped to 196 runs in 36 overs, but Babar’s wicket four times from a well-deserved double ton, followed by two quick scalps, ended all hopes of victory.

Babar Azam walked to a standing ovation after registering the highest score by a Test captain in the fourth innings of a Test.

Ben Stokes – England

1066 runs and 33 wickets in 28 matches

It was a year

England had a nightmare in Test cricket after humiliating series defeats in the Ashes and the West Indies. Joe Root resigned as Test skipper and the reins were handed over to Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum.

Since then, Stokes has taken England to new heights, winning nine out of ten Tests as captain. Along the way, he has scored 870 runs, including two centuries, and picked up 26 wickets.

The talismanic all-rounder did not have a great white ball year. In fact, he announced his retirement from ODI cricket to focus on other formats. In T20Is, he scored 143 runs in nine matches and picked up seven wickets. The numbers may not seem significant, but 52 of those times came when England needed it most.

A memorable performance

2022 will be remembered for Ben Stokes’ captaincy and performances in Test cricket, but his 52* innings in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup final proved priceless.

The bowlers, including Stokes who picked up one wicket, did their job in the first innings to restrict Pakistan to just 137 in the final over. But given the circumstances in which they reached the final, Pakistan showed incredible faith and scalped three big wickets inside the Powerplay.

Batting at No.4, Stokes came in clutch for England and showed great temperament when the dugout was nervous after early wickets. He was less than a run ball for most of the innings but took the game deep to keep England alive.

He turned the tide in England’s favor with a six and a four with Iftikhar Ahmed in the 16th over. He got to 50, his first in the T20 World Cup 2022, as well as his only half-century in limited-overs cricket this year, and managed to bury the ghosts of the Eden Garden from 2016.

Sikandar Raza – Zimbabwe

1380 runs and 33 wickets in 39 matches

It was a year

Sikandar Raza emerged as Zimbabwe’s crisis man in a year when the African country’s stock rose in international cricket.

Raza was a force to be reckoned with in both white-ball formats, scoring over 600 runs in both T20Is and ODIs. The all-star player enjoyed his most prolific year with both bat and ball since his debut in 2013.

Raza scored 645 runs at an average of 49.61 in ODIs. All three of his centuries in the 50-over format came when the chips were down with two of them chasing Bangladesh to victory and the last one giving India a huge scare.

In the T20Is, Raza struck at an incredible strike rate, with over 150 to amass his 745 runs. He was also the highest wicket-taker in the shortest format, scalping 25 and conceding just 6.13 overs.

He was player of the tournament in the T20 World Cup Qualifier B in July and carried his form into the marquee event, winning man of the match three times, including in Zimbabwe’s epic win over Pakistan.

A memorable performance

Sikandar Raza scored a mountain of runs for Zimbabwe in 2022, but it was his bowling in the World T20 against Pakistan that impressed the most.

Chasing just 131 runs, Pakistan recovered from an early stutter to cruise to victory. At one point they needed just 43 off 39 balls, but that’s when Raza wove his magic with the ball.

Hit for a six off the previous ball, Raza roared back with back-to-back faults from Shadab Khan and Haider Ali. In the next over, he scalped a well-settled Shan Masood down the leg side with a choke, turning the tide of the game in the five balls he bowled.

The Pacers held their nerve in the final overs and led Zimbabwe to a memorable victory.

Tim Southee – New Zealand

65 points in 31 games (correct at time of publication)

It was a year

The ever-reliable Tim Southee was one of New Zealand’s stars with the ball in 2022. Southee was consistently among the batsmen, finishing with 65 scalps, the highest for a Kiwi in a calendar year.

In a year when New Zealand were far from their best team in Tests, finishing without a single series win, Southee was his country’s highest wicket-taker with 28 wickets in eight matches.

The 34-year-old was particularly lethal in white-ball formats, picking up vital points at all stages of the game. He was a vital cog in the New Zealand team that made it to the semi-finals of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, picking up seven wickets in five matches at a dismal economy of 6.57.

A memorable performance

Tim Southee set the tone for the rest of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup with a stunning 3/6 in the tournament opener against neighbors and hosts Australia.

Southee bowled his first ball of the tournament to dismiss David Warner and added another in the Powerplay at the wicket of Mitchell Marsh, while conceding just six runs.

He started Australia on the day of the drop and he ended it as the hosts succumbed to an 89-run defeat on the opening day.