Colombo, Aug 30 (IBNS): South Africa duo Hashim Amla and Vernon Philander, Australia captain Michael Clarke and Sri Lanka batsman Kumar Sangakkara have all been short-listed for the top honour at the LG ICC Awards 2012.
The votes have now been casted by the independent 32-person academy and these four men are the ones in the running to receive the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Cricketer of the Year at a glittering ceremony in Colombo on 15 September.
In addition, all four cricketers are also short-listed for the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year at the ninth LG ICC Awards.
Sangakkara is also in contention for the ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year award and has been short-listed alongside India’s MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, as well as team-mate Lasith Malinga.
The Twenty20 International (T20I) Performance of the year sees Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan short-listed alongside West Indies’ Chris Gayle, South Africa’s Richard Levi and Dilshan’s compatriot, Ajantha Mendis.
Meanwhile, in the ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year short-list, ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year 2011, Stafanie Taylor, is short-listed alongside fellow West Indian Anisa Mohammed, as well as England pair of Sarah Taylor and Lydia Greenway.
Both Taylors also feature in the short-list for ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year and are joined on that list by Australia pair Alyssa Healy and Lisa Sthalekar.
This year’s LG ICC Awards includes 11 individual prizes, including the LG People’s Choice Award** and features the new ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year and ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year awards.
The long-lists of nominations were made by a five-man ICC selection panel chaired by former West Indies captain and current chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee Clive Lloyd.
The panel also includes former international players Sri Lanka’s Marvan Atapattu , Clare Connor of England, Carl Hooper of West Indies and Tom Moody of Australia.
The short-lists were created after the individual player awards were voted for by an academy of 32 highly credentialed cricket personalities from around the world.
The academy includes a host of former players, respected members of the media as well as representatives of the Emirates Elite Panels of ICC Umpires and ICC Match Referees.
The David Shepherd Trophy for ICC Umpire of the Year award was voted on by the 10 current Test captains and the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees and is partly based on the umpires’ performance statistics.
There are six nominees this year including five-time winner Simon Taufel, three-time winner Aleem Dar, along with New Zealand’s Billy Bowden, Sri Lanka’s Kumar Dharmasena, England’s Richard Kettleborough and Australia’s Rodney Tucker.
The ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year nominees short-list features New Zealand’s Doug Bracewell, Sri Lanka’s Dinesh Chandimal, West Indies Sunil Narine and Australia’s James Pattinson.
To qualify for that award a player must be under the age of 26 at the start of the observation period and have played fewer than five Tests and/or 10 ODIs and/or five T20Is at the start of the voting period.
The ICC Associate and Affiliate Cricketer of the Year award serves to recognise and reward the efforts in all international matches of the outstanding cricketers from the teams outside the ICC Full Members.
This year’s short-list sees four nominees coming from Ireland in the form of Kevin O’Brien, George Dockrell, Ed Joyce and Paul Stirling, while Dawlat Zadran of Afghanistan makes up the group.
Based on the period between 4 August 2011 and 6 August 2012, the LG ICC Awards 2012 take into account performances by players and officials in a remarkable period for the game.
That period includes such high-profile events including the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier 2012 held in the UAE, the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier in Bangladesh in 2011, various rounds of the ICC Intercontinental Cup, as well as numerous Pepsi ICC World Cricket League and Championship fixtures, plus several bilateral Test and ODI series.
The LG ICC Awards ceremony is now in its ninth year and this year it will be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Previous ceremonies were held in London (2004 and 2011), Sydney (2005), Mumbai (2006), Johannesburg (2007 and 2009), Dubai (2008) and Bengaluru (2010).
LG ICC Awards 2012: Short-lists of nominees (in alphabetical order)
Individual Awards
Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Cricketer of the Year
Hashim Amla (SA)
Michael Clarke (Aus)
Vernon Philander (SA)
Kumar Sangakkara (SL)
ICC Test Cricketer of the Year
Hashim Amla (SA)
Michael Clarke (Aus)
Vernon Philander (SA)
Kumar Sangakkara (SL)
ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year
MS Dhoni (Ind)
Virat Kohli (Ind)
Lasith Malinga (SL)
Kumar Sangakkara (SL)
ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year
Lydia Greenway (Eng)
Anisa Mohammed (WI)
Sarah Taylor (Eng)
Stafanie Taylor (WI)
ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year
Doug Bracewell (NZ)
Dinesh Chandimal (SL)
Sunil Narine (WI)
James Pattinson (Aus)
ICC Associate and Affiliate Cricketer of the Year
Kevin O’Brien (Ire)
George Dockrell (Ire)
Ed Joyce (Ire)
Paul Stirling (Ire)
Dawlat Zadran (Afg)
ICC Twenty20 International Performance of the Year
Tillakaratne Dilshan (SL) – 104no (57b, 12x4, 5x6) v Australia, Pallekele, 6 August 2011
Chris Gayle (WI) – 85no (52b, 7x4, 5x6) v New Zealand, Lauderhill, 30 June 2012
Richard Levi (SA) – 117no (51b, 5x4. 13x6) v New Zealand, Auckland, 22 February 2012
Ajantha Mendis (SL) – 4-1-16-6 v Australia, Pallekele, 8 August 2011
ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year
Alyssa Healy (Aus)
Lisa Sthalekar (Aus)
Sarah Taylor (Eng)
Stafanie Taylor (WI)
David Shepherd Trophy for ICC Umpire of the Year
Billy Bowden
Aleem Dar
Kumar Dharmasena
Richard Kettleborough
Simon Taufel
Rodney Tucker
ICC Spirit of Cricket
Mohammad Hafeez (Pak)
Jacques Kallis (SA)
Daniel Vettori (NZ)
AB de Villiers (SA)
LG People’s Choice Award
James Anderson (Eng)
Jacques Kallis (SA)
Vernon Philander (SA)
Kumar Sangakkara (SL)
Sachin Tendulkar (Ind)