Joe Root and Charlotte Edwards have been named England men’s and women’s cricketers of the year for 2014-15.
Root overcame strong competition from a shortlist that included James Anderson, Moeen Ali and Gary Ballance to win the award, voted for by the cricket media, for the first time.
The Yorkshire batsman scored 1,135 Test runs at an average of nearly 95 since the two-match series against Sri Lanka at the start of last summer, including four scores of 149 and above, with a top score of 200 not out against Sri Lanka at Lord’s. He also made three one-day international centuries.
The women’s captain, Charlotte Edwards, enjoyed another remarkable year to win the women’s team award for the second consecutive year. She averaged above 75 in ODIs and nearly 60 in Twenty20 internationals over the past 12 months as England secured ODI series victories against India and New Zealand, alongside T20 series wins against South Africa and New Zealand.
Heather Knight, Anya Shrubsole and Sarah Taylor were the other nominees for the award.
Edwards was also presented with a silver England cap by the England and Wales Cricket Board to celebrate her 200th match as women’s captain. The feat was achieved during the third T20 match against New Zealand in February 2015.
The Lancashire and England Under-19s right-arm seamer Saqib Mahmood won the England development programme cricketer of the year award, while the England disability cricketer of the year award was presented to Luke Sugg from the England visually impaired team.
Mahmood recently signed his first professional contract and beat off competition from his Lancashire team-mate Haseeb Hameed, Hampshire’s Brad Taylor and Warwickshire’s Aaron Thomason to win the award.
Sugg scored more than 500 runs, including four centuries, at the 2014 Blind Cricket World Cup in South Africa before Christmas. His efforts helped England to reach the semi-finals.
