Narine awarded best newcomer at ICC awards

West Indies' offspinner Sunil Narine has been named the Emerging Player of the Year for 2012 at the ICC Awards ceremony in Colombo. He saw off competition from New Zealand's Doug Bracewell, Sri Lanka's Dinesh Chandimal and Australia's James Pattinson to take the award.

Blessed with biting turn, a difficult knuckle-ball and a natural knack for guile, Narine, 24, has quickly become one of the world's most promising talents. In the assessment period (August 4, 2011, to August 6, 2012), Narine carved up New Zealand in two home Tests, taking 12 wickets at 25.66. In Twenty20s he took 7 wickets in five games at 18.28. He hit his best form in the 50-overs format though, where he took 28 wickets in 15 games at 18.82.

Narine follows West Indies legspinner Devendra Bishoo as a recipient of the Emerging Player award. "We've a good junior set-up so hopefully the awards keep coming for us," Narine said. "I would say this is just the start. As Emerging Player of the Year I know I am someone to look at, and hopefully I will continue to do well.

"I've enjoyed my first year in the West Indies team. I've worked hard and I've dedicated myself to the game. This makes me look at life and makes me want to dedicate myself more to the game and to improve. I dedicate this award to my father who kept pushing me."