3 players who could win the 2019 ICC Test Player of the Year award

2019 marked the start of the World Test Championship (WTC), which added a whole lot of context to Test cricket. No Test match in any series is a dead rubber now, even if the outcome of the series has already been decided by one team taking an unassailable lead.

Points are always at stake and each and every match-winning performance guides the team towards the WTC trophy.

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There were plenty of such performances by players from different Test sides in 2019 and these players, who put in such performances on a constant basis, are in line to get rewarded for their hard work as the game’s governing body will announce the ICC Test Player of the Year shortly.

Here are 3 players who could be named the 2019 ICC Test Player of the Year:

#1 Marnus Labuschagne

Marnus Labuschagne

Labuschagne was not the first choice pick in Australia’s playing XI in Test matches, at least until half of 2019. He was a part of the Ashes squad but wasn’t originally selected to play in the first couple of games. He got into the playing XI as a concussion substitute when Steve Smith got hit by a bouncer from Jofra Archer.

Once he got into the XI, Labuschangne never looked back. He performed well enough in Smith’s absence to make sure he remained in the team even when the former Australian captain returned. The 25-year-old right-hander scored 353 runs at an average of 50.42 in the four games that he played in the 2019 Ashes with four half-centuries to his name.

Labuschagne carried his form into the Australian summer as well and scored three hundreds (two against Pakistan and one against New Zealand) to cement his place as the ideal no. 3 batsman for Australia. In a total of 11 Test matches that Labuschagne played in 2019, he scored 1104 runs averaging close to 65.

#2 Pat Cummins

Pat Cummins

Pat Cummins finished the year as the leading wicket-taker in Test match cricket, also topping the ICC bowler rankings in the format. His consistency with the ball across varying playing conditions throughout the year stood out and helped Australia win a lot of games in the longest format.

Cummins was the pick of the Australian bowlers most of the time, no matter the kind of surface they were playing on. His relentlessness with the ball in the Ashes was the main reason why Australia didn’t let England regain the urn in their home conditions.

Cummins played all five Test matches for his country in the Ashes and took 29 wickets at an average of 19.62. Overall in 2019, Cummins grabbed 59 Test scalps in a total of 12 games, averaging 20.13 and having two five-wicket hauls and one ten-wicket haul to his name through the year.

#3 Ben Stokes

Stokes in Ashes 2019

2019 will always be a special year for Ben Stokes as he put on a monumental effort for England in the ODI World Cup final and was also in top form in Test match cricket throughout the year.

Not only did he play match-defining knocks for his country in crunch situations, but he also pitched in as the team's fifth bowler with near perfection.

Stokes was the third-highest leading run-scorer as well as the third-highest leading wicket-taker for England in Test cricket in 2019, performing the job of two players alone (like a genuine all-rounder is supposed to).

Only Joe Root and Rory Burns scored more Test runs for England than Stokes and only Stuart Broad and Jofra Archer took more Test wickets than him.

In the eleven Test matches that he played in the year, the 2019 World Cup hero scored 821 runs at an average of 45.61 with two hundreds and four fifties and also took 22 wickets at an average of 35.45.