Aussies gonged by cricket 'bible'

Ryan Harris and Chris Rogers have capped remarkable comeback years with selection as two of Wisden's five Cricketers of the Year.

Harris took 38 wickets at 21.94 in the calendar year, while Rogers scored 700 runs at 41.17. The pair were Australia's leading wicket-taker and run-scorer across the 10 Ashes Tests played between July 2013 and January this year.

The recognition, a tradition that dates back to 1889, highlights on-field excellence and influence on results throughout the year centred around the English summer.

The Wisden editor, Lawrence Booth, wrote: "Ryan Harris hardly deserved to be on the losing side in England in 2013, when he finished the series with 24 wickets at 19 – a heroic performance from a bowler whose creaking body had so often got the better of him.

"And when England went to Australia, he was at it again. This time, his 22 wickets at 19 helped them to a 5–0 victory – and made him the leading wicket-taker on both sides across the two series.

"Chris Rogers’s second crack at Test cricket warmed the cockles of 35-year-old hearts everywhere. An under-pressure 83 at Manchester was followed by a maiden Test century in Durham.

"The (English) winter Ashes underlined his class, with centuries at Melbourne and Sydney giving him 830 runs in the ten Tests against England – more than anyone on either side."

Dale Steyn took home the Leading Cricketer in the World gong, after picking up 51 wickets in just nine Test matches, at an average of 17.

“I enjoy taking wickets more than most people can understand,” Steyn said.

Despite failing to attract any of the major awards, Mitchell Johnson’s efforts with the ball were still held in high esteem by the Wisden editor.

“Egged on by packed houses and giant screens proclaiming his latest triumph over the speedgun,” Booth writes

“He took wickets in clusters: four brief spells spread across the first four Tests brought 16 at a cost of 63 and an average of 3.95.

“He would have demolished better sides than England and, against South Africa at Centurion in February, he did.

“But Johnson could now join an Ashes express-pace pantheon that included perhaps only Harold Larwood, Frank Tyson and Jeff Thomson. Whichever side you were cheering for, it was wonderful to watch.”

As great as Wisden’s praise for Johnson, was its vitriol towards England’s most recent Ashes display, the storied almanac labelling the side’s 5-0 defeat in Australia their worst result in history.

“No sporting defeat is a disaster,” Booth writes.

“But 5–0 against a team that had won none of their previous nine Tests came close.”

“By January, the bottom line read 5–3 to Australia. It felt like 10–0.”

Joining the Aussie pair in the Five is England’s Joe Root and women’s captain Charlotte Edwards, along with India opener Shikhar Dhiwan.

Root grew from new man on campus to head pupil during what was a rollercoaster year for the England national side. The classy right-hander became the first ever Yorkshire player to score his maiden century at Headingly before notching a series-defining 180 against Australia at Lord’s.

The heart and soul of the England women’s team, Charlotte Edwards led her team to Ashes success on home soil before retaining the urn in Australia. Following on from Claire Taylor, Edwards is just the second woman to ever be selected by Wisden.  

Dhawan burst onto the scene in 2013, striking a 173-ball 187 against Australia on debut in Mohali and carried that form into the Champions Trophy, where he averaged 90 at a strike-rate of 101 at the top of the order.

Awards weren’t restricted to those on the pitch however, with Atul Kamble’s photograph of Sachin Tendulkar walking out for his last Test innings winning the prestigious Wisden – MCC Cricket Photograph of the Year.

The photo was taken at the Wankhede Stadium in November, during India’s second Test against the West Indies. 

South African Shaun Roy and Bangladeshi amateur photographer, Md. Khalid Rayhan Shawon, were awarded runners-up prizes for their pictures.

Photos courtesy of Wisden - MCC

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