ten Doeschate wins Associate award again

Ryan ten Doeschate, the Netherlands allrounder, has been named the ICC Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year for the third time in four years, and for the second year running. ten Doeschate was chosen ahead of Afghanistan allrounder Hamid Hassan, and the Irish duo of Paul Stirling and Kevin O'Brien, both centurions in the 2011 World Cup, during the awards ceremony in London.

ten Doeschate, 31, played six ODIs in the voting period - August 11, 2010 to August 3, 2011 - all of them in the World Cup. He scored two centuries and a half-century, and averaged 61.40 for the period with a strike rate of 89.24.

"I'm really sorry I couldn't be there tonight," ten Doeschate said. "It's obviously a great privilege to win this award and I'd like to thank all the coaches and my team-mates who have helped me during what has been a very good year for the Netherlands cricket team."

ten Doeschate also was the first Associate player to win an IPL contract. He was bought at the 2011 auction by Kolkata Knight Riders.