Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack has named Mitchell Starc as the Leading Men’s Cricketer in the World. Deepti Sharma from India was named as Women’s Player by Wisden.
These awards/accolades were announced ahead of Wednesday’s publication of the 163rd edition. In the calendar year 2025, Starc took 55 wickets in 11 Tests at 17.32. His career best of 6 for 9 against the West Indies also came in this year. After that, he also showed his brilliance against England in the first two Test matches of the 2025-26 Ashes. He took 18 wickets in those two matches and finished the series with 31.
Deepti Sharma, the 28-year-old Indian all-rounder, was named India’s Player of the Tournament in their maiden ODI World Cup trophy. India defeated South Africa by 52 runs. In the World Cup, she took 22 wickets at 20.40 and made 215 runs at 30.71. She excelled in the final game as she made a run a ball 58 and also took 5 wickets for 39 runs.
Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Rishabh Pant, and Mohammed Siraj were also named among Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year after their performances in the series against England in England.
England opener Haseeb Hameed was the last of the five cricketers on the list. All these names were based on the performances in the past English summer.
Away from all these awards, Wisden editor Lawrence Booth reflects on England’s 4-1 Ashes defeat in Australia. Have a look at what he had to say about it.
“In the game’s long history, it is hard to think of a privilege so carelessly squandered, a chance so blithely spurned.”
“England arrived for the Ashes hell-bent on making history, and ended up being laughed out of town.”
He continues on the England revival. “Restore the links with a county game that remains imperfect but is the only finishing school they have. That is not just pragmatism: it is vital to the sense that any of this matters, that runs and wickets in domestic cricket are the surest route to international recognition, that the structure is working.”
