ICC announce panel of judges for awards

Richie Benaud, Ian Botham, Viv Richards and Javed Miandad have been chosen as part of the 50-member panel which will decide the winners of the inaugural International Cricket Council awards. The awards ceremony, to be held at Alexandra Palace in London on September 7, promises to be a glamorous curtain-raiser for the Champions Trophy.

The academy, which includes a minimum of two representatives from each of the full-member countries, comprises four groups:

The captain of each country (10)

All members of the Emirates Elite Panel of Referees (current officials who have officiated in a series in the voting period) (7)

All members of the Emirates Elite Panel of Umpires (8)

An invited group of "Legends and Media" (25)

A few days ago the ICC announced the players nominated for the awards and placed them in four different categories. Malcolm Speed, the chief executive of the ICC, said that establishing the voting Academy would ensure that the adjudication process will be a fair one, and that a carefully considered approach would result in worthy winners.

For details of the full jury Click here.