Dubai - Erasmus named Umpire of the Year, Misbah wins Spirit of Cricket Award
Published: Thu 22 Dec 2016, 9:56 AM
Last updated: Sun 25 Dec 2016, 2:47 PM
India's premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Thursday was named the International Cricket Council's (ICC) Cricketer of the Year, while Test skipper Virat Kohli was chosen to lead the ODI Team of the Year.
Ashwin was the only Indian in ICC's Test Team of the Year and was also named the Test Cricketer of the Year. Batsman Rohit Sharma and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja were named in the ODI team.
Ashwin has become the third India player and 12th player overall to win the Garfield Sobers Trophy for being the best cricketer of the year.
The 30-year-old followed in the footsteps of Rahul Dravid (2004) and Sachin Tendulkar (2010). Other recipients of the prestigious trophy include Andrew Flintoff and Jacques Kallis (joint-winners in 2005), Ricky Ponting (2006 and 2007), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (2008), Mitchell Johnson (2009 and 2014), Jonathan Trott (2011), Kumar Sangakkara (2012), Michael Clarke (2013) and Steve Smith (2015).
Ashwin also became only the second India player after Dravid (2004) to bag the two coveted awards in the same year. Kallis (2005), Ponting (2006), Sangakkara (2012), Clarke (2013), Johnson (2014) and Smith (2015) are the other players to annex both the awards in the same year.
The voting period for the awards was from September 14, 2015 to September 20, 2016.
The Chennai-born played eight Tests in the period, taking 48 wickets and scoring 336 runs. He also claimed 27 wickets in 19 T20s.
He had finished 2015 as the number-one ranked Test bowler, a position he twice reclaimed in 2016.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Anurag Thakur congratulated Ashwin on his achievement.
Misbah wins Spirit of Cricket Award
Pakistan captain Misbah-Ul-Haq won the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award, becoming the first player of his country to win the award.
The 42-year-old Misbah was adjudged the winner for inspiring his side to play the game in its true spirit, at the same time lifting the Pakistan cricket team from number four to number one on the Test team rankings. It was achieved without playing any Test matches in his home country.
Misbah is the first Pakistan player to win the award with the previous winners being M.S. Dhoni (2011), Daniel Vettori (2012), Mahela Jayawardena (2013), Katherine Brunt (2014) and Brendon McCullum (2015). New Zealand also won this award in 2004, 2009 and 2010, England in 2005 and 2006, and Sri Lanka in 2007 and 2008.
Commenting on the news, Misbah said: "I feel honoured and humbled to have won the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award. To lift the Test mace earlier this year and now this in the twilight of my career, is a message for every athlete that age is not a barrier as long as the sportsperson maintains highest fitness levels and continues to perform up to international standards.
"As a team, we have focused on playing within the rich traditions of the sport with a positive mindset and approach so that we can entertain the spectators and fans, and at the same time, challenge the oppositions. I am glad that this has been noticed and recognised by the game's governing body."
Legends Rahul Dravid, Gary Kirsten and Kumar Sangakkara selected the ICC Test and ODI sides based on players' performances in the period from September 14 2015 to September 20 2016.
England's Alastair Cook was named the captain of the Test Team of the Year, which included four Englishmen, three Australians, and a player each from New Zealand, India, Sri Lanka and South Africa.
it was the third time Cook has been appointed captain, while it the eighth time in nine years that Dale Steyn was selected. Joe Root, David Warner and Kane Williamson have been chosen for the third successive year.
Afghanistan's Mohammad Shahzad wins the award for ICC Associate/Affiliate Cricketer of the Year
Carlos Brathwaite wins the ICC T20I Performance of the Year for his outstanding display in the World T20 Final
Bangladesh's Mustafizur Rahman is the ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year 2016
Quinton de Kock picks up ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year
The ICC ODI Team of the Year 2016
The ODI Team of the Year, included three Australians, Indians, South Africans each, and one each from England and the West Indies. AB De Villiers has been selected for the sixth time since 2010, while Starc has been picked up for the third time in four years.
The ODI team: David Warner (Australia), Quinton de Kock (South Africa, wicketkeeper), Rohit Sharma (India), Virat Kohli, (India, captain), AB de Villiers (South Africa), Jos Buttler (England), Mitchell Marsh (Australia), Ravindra Jadeja (India), Mitchell Starc (Australia), Kagiso Rabada (South Africa), Sunil Narine (West Indies), Imran Tahir (South Africa)
Starc and his team-mate Warner are the only two players to have been selected in both the Test and ODI sides in 2016.
The Test team: David Warner (Australia), Alastair Cook (England, captain), Kane Williamson (New Zealand), Joe Root (England), Adam Voges (Australia), Jonny Bairstow (England, wicketkeeper), Ben Stokes (England), R. Ashwin (India), Rangana Herath (Sri Lanka), Mitchell Starc (Australia), Dale Steyn (South Africa), Steve Smith (Australia)
Erasmus named Umpire of the Year
Marais Erasmus on Thursday won the David Shepherd Trophy for the Umpire of the Year for 2016 while Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq won the Spirit of Cricket Award.
Erasmus was voted by the International Cricket Council's (ICC) elite panel match referees as well as the Test playing captains, and he beats off strong competition for this award from his colleagues Richard Illingworth, Bruce Oxenford and Richard Kettleborough.
Erasmus is the fifth umpire to win this prestigious award after Simon Taufel (2004 to 2008), Aleem Dar (2009-2011), Kumar Dharmasena (2012) and Richard Kettleborough (2013-2015).
Erasmus, 52, made his international debut in October 2007 in a One-Day International (ODI) between Kenya and Canada at the Nairobi Gymkhana and was promoted to the elite panel in 2010.
Reacting to the news, Erasmus said, in an ICC release: "David Shepherd has been one of the role models for many aspiring umpires and to win the trophy named after him is something to be really proud of. It has been an excellent period of international cricket and I consider myself extremely fortunate to be part of it.
"I thank the match referees and the Test captains for voting me as the ICC Umpire of the Year 2016, but the fact is without the support, help and encouragement of my Playing Control Teams, this would not have been possible. As such, it is appropriate that I win this on behalf of all my fellow match officials.
"I would like to thank my wife Adele and my sons Chris and Geo for their support and sacrifices so that I can live the dream of umpiring at the world stage, as well as my ICC coach, Denis Burns, who during the past three years guided me to become the best possible umpire that I can be."
ICC General Manager - Cricket, Geoff Allardice, congratulated Erasmus, saying: "The ICC is very fortunate to have such a strong team of umpires, and Marais has been deservedly rewarded for the steady improvement in his umpiring over the past few years. This recognition, voted by the match referees and the Test captains, shows the high regard in which Marais is held by those closely involved with the game."
iPhone | iPad
Android
Huawei
