Players get ready to take the accolades in ICC Awards

Many of the world's best cricketers will assemble in Johannesburg on Monday night for the fourth annual ICC Awards with Australia captain Ricky Ponting nominated in four categories, including one of the prizes he collected last year, for Cricketer of the

Brian Murgatroyd

09-Sep-2007

Pakistan's Mohammad Yousuf, Kevin Pietersen of England and the West Indies' Shivnarine Chanderpaul have also been short-listed for arguably the highest individual honour in the game, with the top player carrying off the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy.

Ponting won two awards last year - Cricketer of the Year and Test Player of the Year - and this time around he is the only player to make short-lists in four categories. He is in the running for the two prizes he secured in 2006 as well as the ODI Player of the Year and the Captain of the Year, following another outstanding 12 months for the 32-year-old Australian.

Yousuf is potentially in line to collect two awards, having made the short-lists for Cricketer of the Year and Test Player of the Year. England's Kevin Pietersen is also short-listed for those two awards while Chanderpaul completes the short-list of players in contention to win the coveted Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy.

The short-lists for the ICC Awards 2007 - this year presented in association with FICA, the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations - have been compiled and all is now in readiness after all the votes of the 56 members of the voting Academy have been counted.

The Emerging Player of the Year nominees include Australia fast-bowling discovery Shaun Tait, Bangladesh star Shakib Al Hasan, New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor and England's Ravi Bopara.

To qualify for that award a player has to be under the age of 26 and have played fewer than five Tests and/or 10 ODIs at the start of the voting period, 9 August 2006.

In all, there are eight individual awards this year including a new one for the Associate ODI Player of the Year. This award serves to recognise and reward the efforts in ODIs of the outstanding cricketer from the six countries outside the ICC Full Members - Bermuda, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, the Netherlands and Scotland.

The short-list for that award includes two players from Kenya - Steve Tikolo and Thomas Odoyo - one from the Netherlands (Ryan ten Doeschate) and Ashish Bagai from Canada.

The short-list for the Women's Cricketer of the Year is made up of England's Claire Taylor, Jhulan Goswami of India and Australia's Lisa Sthalekar.

Based on the 12 months between 9 August 2006 and 8 August 2007, the ICC Awards will take into account performances by players and officials in a remarkable period for the game.

That period includes last year's ICC Champions Trophy in India, the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup in the Caribbean, a record-breaking Ashes series and a plethora of individual feats.

The nominations were made by a five-man ICC selection panel led by former India captain Sunil Gavaskar and also including Chris Cairns, the former New Zealand all-rounder, ex-South Africa batsman Gary Kirsten, Iqbal Qasim, the former Pakistan left-arm spinner, and ex-England captain Alec Stewart.

Selection for the Test and ODI teams will be made by the ICC selection panel. The Spirit of Cricket award will be presented to one international team determined by the captains and match referees.

In addition to the seven player-related awards, an award will be presented to the Umpire of the Year. Three-time winner of this award Simon Taufel has again been nominated in the short-list along with his colleagues, Mark Benson and Steve Bucknor. All three are members of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires.

The ICC Awards ceremony is now in its fourth year and this event, to be held at the Sandton Convention Centre, will be the first time it has been staged in South Africa. Previous ceremonies were held in London (2004), Sydney (2005) and Mumbai (2006).

The ICC wishes to thank its commercial partners for the ICC Awards, LG and Swarovski (manufacturers of each ICC Award), and its broadcast partner ESPN STAR Sports.

ICC Awards 2007, presented in association with FICA, the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations

The short-list for the Emerging Player of the Year is:

Ravi Bopara (Eng)
Shakib Al Hasan (Ban)
Shaun Tait (Aus)
Ross Taylor (NZ)

The short-list for the ODI Player of the Year is:

Matthew Hayden (Aus)
Jacques Kallis (SA)
Glenn McGrath (Aus)
Ricky Ponting (Aus)

The short-list for the Test Player of the Year is:

Muttiah Muralidaran (SL)
Kevin Pietersen (Eng)
Ricky Ponting (Aus)
Mohammad Yousuf (Pak)

The short-list for the Cricketer of the Year (and winner of the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy) is:

Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI)
Kevin Pietersen (Eng)
Ricky Ponting (Aus)
Mohammad Yousuf (Pak)

The short-list for the Associate ODI Player of the Year is:

Ashish Bagai (Can)
Ryan ten Doeschate (Nth)
Thomas Odoyo (Ken)
Steve Tikolo (Ken)

The short-list for the Women's Cricketer of the Year is:

Jhulan Goswami (Ind)
Lisa Sthalekar (Aus)
Claire Taylor (Eng)

The short-list for the Umpire of the Year is:

Mark Benson
Steve Bucknor
Simon Taufel

The short-list for the Captain of the Year is:

Mahela Jayawardena (SL)
Ricky Ponting (Aus)

The short-list for the Spirit of Cricket Award is:

Australia
Ireland
New Zealand
Sri Lanka

Media arrangements for ICC Awards 2007

Applications are still being accepted for media accreditation to cover the ICC Awards, which will take place in Johannesburg on the evening of Monday 10 September, the day before the opening match of the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 tournament.

If you wish to attend and have not yet applied, contact ICC Communications Officer Sami-ul-Hasan (sami.ulhasan@icc-cricket.com or +27 83 257 1478).

Accredited journalists are asked to arrive at Sandton Convention Centre no later than 1800 tomorrow evening (Monday). The media centre for the event will be located in the Bill Gallagher room on level 2 of the venue and media can collect their passes from outside that room.

The media centre is for working journalists only and it will include wireless connections, desks, television screens with a direct feed from the main function hall, press conference facilities, buffet-style catering and ICC staff available to provide assistance.

There will be two main opportunities for media on the night. Access to broadcast media will be granted as the players and guests arrive at the venue and there will be media conferences held with the winners on a rolling basis as the awards are presented.

Journalists in the media centre do not have to wear black-tie attire as access to the main function room is strictly limited.

The ICC Awards are presented in association with FICA (the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations).

Media Releases

Media releases will be sent out via email as soon as each award is announced. Each release will, where appropriate, includes quotes from the award winners.

Photography

Only the ICC's official photographer, Getty Images, will have access to the main function area to obtain pictures from inside the room and of the stage area.

Images from the main function area will be available from Getty Images; all other photographers will have access to the arrival of the guests and to the media conferences that will follow the presentation of each award. Black-tie attire is not required by photographers but they, in common with all other media, will still have to apply for accreditation.

Footage

Footage of the event will be available via a Video News Release (VNR) from SNTV.

Brian Murgatroyd is ICC Manager - Media and Communications