Nicholas - Awards are 'fantastic opportunity to celebrate cricket'

Had the ICC Awards been around during the heyday of Mark Nicholas, it is probably fair to say that he wouldn't have been on the short-list. Not that he was a bad player. Far from it. He averaged a respectable 34.39 with the bat during a first-class career that lasted 18 summers and in that time he scored 36 centuries, including a top score of 206 not out, and captained Hampshire in the English County Championship from 1985-95.

But these awards are about the upper end of world cricket and while Nicholas was a well-respected player, he was no star. Until, that is, he swapped the willow for the microphone. For many people, his smooth tones, suave presence and a lyrical turn of phrase that tends towards hyperbole, will forever be synonymous with the long, thrilling Ashes series of 2005.

While that series carved names like Pietersen, Flintoff and Strauss into English cricket history, it was also perhaps the finest hour of the new doyen of cricket TV in that part of the world. But even as Nicholas prepares to host the ICC Awards gala evening in Mumbai on Saturday, he is conscious of the fact that the only people who ultimately count in all of this are the players.

"The only thing that really matters for the future success of the ICC Awards is whether the players regard them as important," said Nicholas. "This is not about administrators or sponsors, this is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate cricket and to celebrate the players that bring so much enjoyment to so many people," he said, adding that the awards can also be used as a vehicle to promote the spirit of cricket.

"And as far as I can see, all the players would love to win one of these awards and so long as that remains the case, the ICC Awards can grow enormously. I'll make the analogy of the Oscars. In Hollywood, all the actors make a big effort when it comes to the Oscars and I think we should be aiming at that level of universal respect for these awards too."

Nicholas will arrive in Mumbai this week in order to front the event, which will see eight awards handed out as chosen by a 56-person Academy made up of many of the biggest names in cricket, including each of the ten Test/ODI captains, ICC umpires and referees and many other former players, commentators and journalists. Also on the evening, the ICC Test and ODI teams of the year will be named, as selected by a five-man panel of experts including Sunil Gavaskar (chairman), Allan Donald, Ian Healy, Arjuna Ranatunga and Waqar Younis.

"I am looking forward to it immensely. It should be a great acknowledgement of excellence in cricket as well as a chance to get together and celebrate this great game," said Nicholas.