ICC awards farce lacks real feel

My iPhone buzzed like crazy last night in response to a torrent of emails from the ICC announcing awards winners from the big event. I didn't expect much success for Pakistan but I did believe that their extraordinary performance in the World T20 would earn one of their players a gong. Now I have nothing but admiration for Dilshan and his frying pan shot. Sri Lanka have faced adversity too.

Nonetheless the big Twenty20 performances of the last year were the ones that turned the World T20 on its head and in Pakistan's favour. My sympathies also extended to South Africa, whose phenomenal performance in Test cricket last year went unrecognised. The only triumph for Pakistan was Aleem Dar's umpiring award, which I admit is a considerable achievement and recognition for the way in which Dar and Asad Rauf have transformed the reputation of Pakistani umpires.

Overall, however, the ICC awards have left me baffled. The leading countries in two out of three formats went unrecognised. There is no relationship between the ICC awards and the ICC rankings for countries or individuals, which are recalculated regularly to maintain our interest. What then is the point of all this? There is little real feel to these awards and hence fans, and I guess some players, will be disillusioned.

It's time for a rethink.