England captain Joe Root has been named men’s Test cricketer of the year by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
Despite a difficult year for his side, Root hit 1,708 runs in 2021 - the third most in a calendar year in Tests.
He scored two double centuries and a further four hundreds, including three in successive Tests against India.
Root was also nominated for the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC men’s cricketer of the year, that award going to Pakistan bowler Shaheen Afridi.
“I am incredibly proud to receive this award,” said Root, 31, who become the second Englishman to win the Test cricketer award after Alastair Cook in 2011.
New Zealand bowler Kyle Jamieson, Sri Lanka opener Dimuth Karunaratne and India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin were the other nominees.
Root scored more than three times as many runs as any of his team-mates - Rory Burns was the next highest scorer with 530 runs - and averaged 61 from 29 innings.
He began the year with 228 and then 186 in Sri Lanka and followed that with a sublime 218 in the first Test against India in Chennai - his 100th Test.
When India travelled to England in the summer Root hit 109 in the first Test, 180 not out in the second and 121 in the third.
Only Pakistan batter Mohammad Yousef (1,788) and West Indies legend Viv Richards (1,710) have scored more than Root in a calendar year.