Edwards is Women's Player of Year

	Charlotte Edwards poses with her trophy for the Women's Player of the Year © Getty Images

England's captain, Charlotte Edwards, has won the Women's Cricketer of the Year award at the ICC Awards ceremony in Dubai.

During the voting period Edwards opened the batting in 18 ODIs for England, scoring 492 runs at an average of 54.66. She also took 15 wickets at 19.03 with her more-than-useful leg-spin.

In the only Test match she played during the voting period, Edwards scored 94 and 14 not out as England beat Australia by six wickets at Bowral, New South Wales.

Edwards, 28, took the award ahead of her England team-mate Claire Taylor, as well as Nicola Browne of New Zealand and Australia's Lisa Sthalekar.

Accepting the award in Dubai from the former India captain, Ravi Shastri, Edwards said: "Winning the Ashes in Australia was the highlight of the year for me. It was a great feeling.

"The ICC World Twenty20 is the talk of England at the moment and getting the chance to play in that alongside the guys is great for us. Before that, of course, we have the ICC Women's World Cup in Australia so it's a big year ahead for us.

"This is a massive night for women's cricket. It's a huge honour for me to be involved with a ceremony like this - I'm so glad that the ICC is recognising the women's game. It's a big moment for the other girls who have been nominated for this and I am honoured to be included in that short-list, let alone win it.

"Women's cricket has a big year ahead. It's fantastic for the game and an exciting time to be involved in women's cricket," she said.

The Women's Cricketer of the Year Award was one of eight individual prizes given at this year's ICC Awards. Each of the world's top 10 teams was given the opportunity to nominate two players, who were then voted on by a 16-person voting academy featuring former players and other experts on the women's game.

The ICC Awards 2008 - presented in association with FICA - are based on the 12 months between August 9, 2007 and August 12, 2008. The ICC Awards ceremony is now in its fifth year and this is the first time it has been staged in Dubai, the home of the International Cricket Council. Previous ceremonies were held in London (2004), Sydney (2005), Mumbai (2006) and Johannesburg (2007).