Sangakkara, Amla, Philander, Clarke in running for top ICC honour

South Africa's Hashim Amla and Vernon Philander, Australia's Michael Clarke and Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara are in the running for the ICC Cricketer of the Year award for 2011-12. The ICC announced the shortlists for the annual awards on Thursday, and the winners will be announced at a function ahead of the World Twenty20, on September 15, in Colombo.

The four cricketers have also been nominated for ICC Test Cricketer of the Year, while Lasith Malinga, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli join Sangakkara as the contenders for ODI Cricketer of the year.

The nominees were picked off the ICC's longlists, via voting by an academy of 32 people consisting of former players, members of the media, and representatives of the ICC's panel of umpires and match referees. The players were picked based on their performance between August 4, 2011, and August 6, 2012.

The Twenty20 Performance of the Year shortlist includes Tillakaratne Dilshan (for his century against Australia last August), Ajantha Mendis (for his six-for against Australia during the same series), Chris Gayle (for his unbeaten 85 against New Zealand in Florida) and Richard Levi (for his ton against New Zealand, the fastest century in international T20s).

West Indies' Stafanie Taylor and England's Sarah Taylor are most prominent on the women's shortlists, nominated for both Women's ODI Cricket of the Year and Women's T20I Cricketer of the Year.

ICC Cricketer of the Year: Hashim Amla, Michael Clarke, Vernon Philander, Kumar Sangakkara
ICC Test Cricketer of the Year: Hashim Amla, Michael Clarke, Vernon Philander, Kumar Sangakkara
ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year: MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Lasith Malinga, Kumar Sangakkara
ICC T20I Performance of the Year: Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chris Gayle, Richard Levi, Ajantha Mendis
ICC Women's ODI Cricketer of the Year: Lydia Greenway (Eng), Anisa Mohammed (WI), Sarah Taylor (Eng), Stafanie Taylor (WI)
ICC Women's T20I Cricketer of the Year: Alyssa Healy (Aus), Lisa Sthalekar (Aus), Sarah Taylor (Eng), Stafanie Taylor (WI)
ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year: Doug Bracewell, Dinesh Chandimal, Sunil Narine, James Pattinson
ICC Associate and Affiliate Cricketer of the Year: Kevin O'Brien, George Dockrell, Ed Joyce, Paul Stirling (all four Ireland), Dawlat Zadran (Afg)
ICC Umpire of the Year: Billy Bowden, Aleem Dar, Kumar Dharmasena, Richard Kettleborough, Simon Taufel, Rodney Tucker
ICC Spirit of Cricket: Mohammad Hafeez, Jacques Kallis, Daniel Vettori, AB de Villiers
People's Choice Award: James Anderson, Jacques Kallis, Vernon Philander, Kumar Sangakkara, Sachin Tendulkar