Alastair Cook named captain in ICC Test team of the year for 2016
Thursday 22 December 2016 12:45, UK
England have outnumbered India four-to-one in the ICC's Test Team of the Year, despite their 4-0 defeat in the recent series.
Alastair Cook has been picked to captain the year's best XI as chosen by Rahul Dravid, Gary Kirsten and Kumar Sangakkara, while Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes are also included.
India have just one representative in prolific off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who has been named Cricketer of the Year and Test Cricketer of the Year.
But the awards were decided on the period between September 14, 2015 and September 20, 2016, so England's hammering on the sub-continent was not taken into consideration.
Root, Bairstow and Cook are the top three Test run-scorers in 2016, while Stokes made the second-fastest 200 in Test history against South Africa at the start of January.
But England lost five of 14 Tests played during the relevant period, drawing three more, and failed to beat Pakistan in home and away series.
Ashwin's double success comes after he took 48 wickets and scored 336 runs in eight applicable Tests, and he said: "It feels great to follow the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid."
South Africa pace bowler Dale Steyn, meanwhile, is included for the eighth time in nine years despite playing just four Tests.
David Warner and Mitchell Starc are two of three Australians in the Test side and the only two who also make the ODI team of the year, but captain Steve Smith is in neither.
Virat Kohli skippers the limited-overs XI, which features England's Jos Buttler.
Cricketer of Year: Ravichandran Ashwin (Ind)
Test Cricketer of Year: Ashwin
ODI Cricketer of Year: Quinton de Kock (SA)
Test team of Year: David Warner (Aus), Alastair Cook (Eng, c), Kane Williamson (NZ), Joe Root (Eng), Adam Voges (Aus), Jonny Bairstow (wkt), Ben Stokes (both Eng), Ashwin, Rangana Herath (SL), Mitchell Starc (Aus), Dale Steyn (SA), 12th man Steve Smith (Aus)
ODI team of Year: Warner, De Kock (SA), Rohit Sharma (Ind), Virat Kohli (Ind, c), AB de Villiers (SA), Jos Buttler (Eng), Mitchell Marsh (Aus), Ravindra Jadeja (Ind), Starc, Kagiso Rabada (SA), Sunil Narine (WI) 12th man Imran Tahir (SA)
Spirit of Cricket Award: Misbah-ul-Haq (Pak)
Umpire of Year: Marais Erasmus (SA)
Women's ODI Cricketer of Year: Suzie Bates (NZ)
Women's T20I Cricketer of Year: Bates
Emerging Cricketer of Year: Mustafizur Rahman (Ban)
T20I Performance of Year: Carlos Brathwaite (WI)
Associate Cricketer of Year: Mohammad Shahzad (Afg)
