Joe Root was named Test Player of the Year, Limited Overs Player of the Year and Fans' Player of the Year at England's annual awards ceremony Monday. The Yorkshire batsman, 25, hit two centuries in England's Ashes triumph last year, scored four one-day tons and was his team's leading scorer at the recent World Twenty20 tournament in India. He overcame competition from Stuart Broad and Ben Stokes for the Test award and edged Jos Buttler and David Willey in the Limited Overs category, with both prizes decided upon by a media poll. "It's been a remarkable year for our international teams," said England and Wales Cricket Board CEO Tom Harrison. "The women's Ashes attracted record attendances and unprecedented levels of media interest, our physical disability team won the inaugural Physical Disability World Cup in Bangladesh and our men's team regained the Ashes, won a major Test series in South Africa and reached the final of the World T20 tournament. "Each of the players honored tonight has made a big contribution to England cricket, helping to win matches and to inspire a wider audience and deserves the highest praise." The awards were handed out at a celebratory dinner in the northern English city of Leeds, which stages England's first Test against Sri Lanka later this week. Somerset's Anya Shrubsole was voted Women's Player of the Year, with veteran England skipper Charlotte Edwards, who recently announced her international retirement, taking home the fans' prize. There was also a Special Achievement Award for former England coach turned Sky Sports commentator David Lloyd. ‘T20 drama to help Stokes' England all-rounder Ben Stokes will learn from his dreadful World Twenty20 experience and come back a stronger player, teammate Stuart Broad has said. Stokes was hit for four successive sixes by West Indies' Carlos Brathwaite in the last over of the T20 final, the onslaught ending England's hopes of a second title. Broad, the world's top-ranked Test bowler, was famously blasted for six sixes by India's Yuvraj Singh in the 2007 tournament but used the setback as motivation and has backed Stokes to follow suit. "I wouldn't be the bowler I am now without that experience," Broad told British media. "You're dead right, people would have been sat there thinking: ‘Why did you go that way?' "But you've got to go with what you feel is your strength, so as a player you'll always have things you are confident in. I prefer a player to get it wrong going for something they believe is their strength than going to something that isn't. "Don't be surprised if Stokesy now performs at a really high level because he'll realize what went wrong and channel it the right way — he has an amazing talent." England kicks off its three-match home Test series against Sri Lanka at Headingley Thursday, which will be followed by an ODI series.
