Jayawardene named Captain of the Year

Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lanka captain, was tonight named as the Captain of the Year at the ICC Awards in Mumbai. He was also appointed captain of the World ODI Team of the Year.

Between August 1 2005 and August 8 2006, Jayawardene captained his side in nine Test matches, winning five of them, and 14 one-dayers, winning ten. He beat off strong competition from the England captain Michael Vaughan, Australia's Ricky Ponting and the India captain Rahul Dravid.

Perhaps the highlight of his leadership was Sri Lanka's comeback in the Test series in England, where they shared the three-match clash 1-1. He then led Sri Lanka to a comprehensive five-match series win over England in the one-dayers and a 2-0 series win over South Africa. During the voting period, Jayawardene's Test batting average was over 55.

"It's a shock," Jayawardene said. "I am really thrilled even to be nominated for this award alongside Ricky, Michael and Rahul. So to actually win it is a great feeling. "This award means that the team has done well. I think a captain is only as good as his team. This is really for the team work we have show. The whole team deserves this because they have put so much work into this.

"I am still a stand-in captain. Hopefully Marvan (Atapattu) will be back from injury soon and I will be glad to just be there alongside him on the field."

This is the first time the ICC Awards has included a Captain of the Year honour. Jayawardene received the award from the former Pakistan captain Imran Khan.