The men’s categories in the 17th edition of ESPNcricinfo Awards are dominated by India and Australia, the ODI World Cup and World Test Championship finalists.
Travis Head received the Test batting award for his defining 163 in the WTC final victory at the Oval.
Despite making a century in the World Cup final, Glenn Maxwell’s 201 not out saved Australia from 91 for 7 in their World Cup match against Afghanistan and advanced them to the semi-finals.
Muhammad Shami won the men’s ODI bowling award with seven wickets, helping India defeat New Zealand and advance to the final.
India has had an outstanding home test record over the last decade. They have only lost three of their 46 matches from 2013 to 2023. One of those defeats came at the hands of Nathan Lyon, who won the Test bowling award for his suffocating 8 for 64 in Australia’s nine-wicket win in Indore.
Pat Cummins was named Captain of the Year despite missing the Indore Test due to a bereavement. He led Australia to WTC and World Cup titles, a 2-2 Ashes retention in England, and a home series victory over Pakistan.
Suryakumar Yadav won the men’s T20I batting award for the second consecutive year. He scored 112 runs at a strike rate of nearly 220 against Sri Lanka in Rajkot.
West Indies fast bowler Alzarri Joseph won the men’s T20I bowling award for a series-clinching 5 for 40 in Johannesburg. At the start of the 19th over, South Africa needed 35 to win. Joseph dismissed Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, and Wayne Parnell, giving the West Indies a significant advantage heading into the final six balls.
Two other Australians received awards last year in new categories for women’s T20 leagues, including performances in the WBBL, WCPL, WPL, and Women’s Hundred. In a big win over the Perth Scorchers, Brisbane Heat opener Grace Harris broke the WBBL record for the highest score. She won the batting award.
Adelaide Strikers legspinner Amanda-Jade Wellington won
bowling award for her performance in the WBBL final, defending 13 runs in the final over.
South Africa Women reached the T20 World Cup final for the first time in both men’s and women’s formats in 2023, thanks to fast bowler Ayabonga Khaka’s 4 for 29 performance in the semi-final against England in Cape Town. Khaka also won the women’s T20I bowling award.
Another South African took home the Debutant of the Year award: 23-year-old Gerald Coetzee, who had a fantastic World Cup and emerged as one of the team’s frontline fast bowlers in the absence of Anrich Nortje and Sisanda Magala.
Hayley Matthews won the women’s T20I batting award for her outstanding performance against Australia in Sydney. Her 132 off 64 balls broke the record for the highest T20I score by a West Indies batter and helped her team complete the largest chase in the format.
This year’s men’s T20 league awards were based on performances in ten franchise leagues: the BBL, BPL, SA20, ILT20, PSL, IPL, CPL, LPL, Major League Cricket (MLC), and The Hundred. Nicholas Pooran received the batting award for his century in the MLC final, setting records for the tournament’s fastest fifty (16 balls), fastest hundred (46 balls), and highest individual score. The MI franchise won their ninth title in ten T20 tournaments.
Yuzvendra Chahal, a legspinner, won the T20 league bowling award for his 4 for 29 against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL, outperforming other bowlers in a 431-run game.
The Netherlands lit up the men’s ODI World Cup with victories over South Africa and Bangladesh, but the performance that qualified them for the tournament—Bas de Leede’s century against Scotland in the World Cup Qualifier in Bulawayo—won the associate batting award. The Netherlands needed to complete the 278-run chase in 44 overs to improve Scotland’s net run rate, and de Leede’s innings, which included seven fours and five sixes, provided them with the necessary boost.
In the World Cup Qualifier, medium-pacer Brandon McMullen’s maiden five-for helped Scotland narrowly defeat Ireland, earning the Associate Bowling Award.