Mitchell Starc names 2025 cricketer of the year by Wisden Cricketer’s Almanack
Glenn Moore
The “Bible” of cricket Wisden The Cricketer’s Almanac – While he crowned Australia’s Mitchell Starc as the men’s player of the year, he was left gutted by the England team’s defeat in the Summer Ashes series at Bazball Down Under.
The respected publication described the tourists as “clumsy, reckless and legless” in their 4-1 series defeat, inspired largely by Starc with the ball and Travis Head with the bat.
Starc became the fifth Australian man to be named the best cricketer of the year after a spectacular series in which he took 31 wickets at 19.93.
The left-armer, aged 36 in January, spearheaded an attack that was mostly without his usual mates Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon, and managed to make three appearances between them.
The Ashes success followed a stunning 6-9 score in Jamaica’s 27-run defeat of the West Indies, during which he took 40 Test wickets.
In total, Starc played 11 Tests in 2025, taking a career-best 55 wickets, 17 each, and added five more in Sydney’s January 2026 Test.
Starc follows Ricky Ponting, the inaugural winner of 2003, and Shane Warne (2004), Michael Clarke (2012) and Cummins (2023) as Australian winners.
The 163rd edition of the famous yellow book will be published on Thursday and its influential commentary section makes for alarming reading among those in the England and Wales Cricket Board.
The leadership group, which includes head coach Brendon McCullum, captain Ben Stokes and managing director Rob Key, who kept their jobs after the Ashes debacle, were slammed for inadequate preparation, muddled tactics and an over-indulgent approach to the social aspect of the tour.
Lawrence Booth writes in his editor’s notes: “In the long history of the game, it is difficult to think of a privilege so carelessly squandered, a chance so blithely spurned.”
“England were incompetent, reckless and legless. These were wings and prayers. Ashes and England got what they deserved. What a waste. What a shame.”
The five cricketers of the year include four Indian tourists; it’s a once-in-a-career award based heavily on performances in the previous England summer: Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Rishabh Pant and Mohammed Siraj after the 2-2 draw with England.
Gill won the Wisden Award for Test performance of the year with his innings of 269 and 161 in the Edgbaston Test.
The quintet is made up of former England opener Haseeb Hameed, who guided Nottinghamshire to the domestic title.
Deepti Sharma will be named the leading women’s cricketer of the year for her all-round excellence in India’s World Cup win on home soil, while her compatriot Abhishek Sharma will be named the T20 cricketer of the year.
AAP, Pennsylvania
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