Australia great Ricky Ponting presents Pat Cummins ICC Men's Cricketer of the Year trophy in Antigua

Australia great Ricky Ponting presented the ICC Men's Cricketer of the Year award to the star Aussie pacer Pat Cummins at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Thursday.

Ponting, an ICC Hall of Famer and winner of the same accolade in 2006 and 2007, presented his compatriot with the trophy to celebrate his work in 2023.

Cummins led his country to a great year as captain of both the Test and One Day International teams, defeating India at The Oval to win the World Test Championship, followed by a victory over the same opponent in the ODI World Cup final in Ahmedabad.



Individually, Cummins had a productive year. He took 42 Test wickets at 27.50, scoring 254 runs as the team in white won a Test in India and retained the Ashes away from home. Cummins was instrumental in Australia's World Cup success, taking 15 wickets while also contributing significantly with the bat (128 runs at 32) down the order.

With a T20 World Cup triumph in 2024, Australia, led by Cummins, has the opportunity to win both the white-ball World Cup and the World Test Championship.

The 31-year-old continues to impress in 2024, taking 17 Test wickets at 25.64 and 157 runs at 26 with the bat, as well as five wickets in as many T20Is at an economy of less than eight.

Currently, Cummins is a part of Australia's playing XI team against Bangladesh playing in their Super 8 match of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2024. In the match, Australia won the toss and opted to bowl first.

Despite Najmul Hossain Shanto's fighting 41 and Towhid Hridoy's blitz cameo of 40 runs, Pat Cummins' stellar hat-trick helped Australia restrict Bangladesh to 140/8 in their Super 8 clash of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2024 at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Thursday (local time).

For Australia, Pat Cummins and Adam Zampa were the stand-out bowlers with five wickets among them. Only Towhid Hridoy (40 off 28) remained around in the middle and delivered some ferocious smashes to propel his team to the 140-run mark.