After announcing the T20I and ODI team, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the Test team of the Year for 2023. Australian skipper Pat Cummins has been appointed as the captain of the Test team. Apart from him four other Australian players have also made it into the list, while only two Indian Players have made it into the 2023 Test of the year.
Pat Cummins had a memorable year in 2023 as the Australian captain in the longest format as he led Australia to the 2021-23 World Test Championship title as they defeated India by 209 runs in the final at the Oval. Cummins also led from the front as he took 4 wickets in that game. Under his captaincy, Australia also retained the Ashes against England as the five-match series was drawn by 2-2. Cummins is also the second-highest wicket taker in 2023 with 42 scalps in 11 matches at an average of 27.50.
On the other hand, star pacer Mitchell Starc has also made it into the XI for his consistent performance last year. He was the leading wicket taker in the 2023 Ashes with 23 scalps from four matches at an average of 27.08. Starc is also among leading wicket takers in Tests in 2023 with 38 wickets from nine games.
Usman Khawaja has also been included in the team for his consistent scoring in the year 2023. Khawaja finished as the top-run getter in Test in 2023 with 1210 from 12 matches at an average of 43.33. He was also the leading run-scorer in the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India with 333 runs from four matches.
Travis Head is another Australian in the ICC Test Team of the Year 2023 for his tremendous performance for Baggy Greens in Red-ball cricket. Head is the third-highest run-getter in Tests in 2023 with 919 runs in 12 matches at an average of 41.77. He turned out to be a big match player when he scored 163 runs against India in the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) final at The Oval.
Alex Carey has been selected as the wicketkeeper-batter for his brilliant work behind the stumps. Carey has most dismissals in Tests in 2023 with 44 catches and 10 stumpings in 12 matches. Apart from that, Carey also showed his importance in big matches for Australia as he scored 48 and 66 runs respectively in the WTC final.
The Indian spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja has made it into the Test Team of the Year 2023. Both Ashwin and Jadeja were jointly adjudged Player of the series in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia at the start of the year. Apart from that, Ashwin is the third-highest wicket taker in Tests in 2023 with 41 scalps from seven matches, while Jadeja comes sixth in the list for taking 33 wickets in seven games.
New Zealand star batter Kane Williamson is also picked by the Apex Council. The Kiwi batter has been an anchor for New Zealand’s memorable wins in Tests in 2023. He was the top scorer with 132 runs in Wellington as Kiwis defeated England by a margin of just 1 run He was also unbeaten on 121 runs as New Zealand clinched a last ball thriller against Sri Lanka in Christchurch in March. He was also the top scorer with 132 runs in Wellington as Kiwis defeated England by a margin of just 1 run.
Stuart Broad and Joe Root are the only English in the 2023 Test team of the Year. In his final year as a cricketer, Broad showed tremendous form and emerged as the leading wicket-taker for England in the Ashes 2023 with 22 scalps in five games and played a monumental role in England’s comeback as they drew the series by 2-2 after losing the first two games consecutively. He played his final Test against Australia at The Oval in July 2023. On the other hand, Joe Root is among the leading run scorers in Tests with 787 runs from eight matches at an average of 65.58.
Let’s have a look at ICC Test team of the Year 2023:
Usman Khawaja, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kane Williamson, Joe Root, Travis Head, Ravindra Jadeja, Alex Carey (WK), Pat Cummins (C), Ravichandran Ashwin, Mitchell Starc, Stuart Broad.