New award honours Sobers

LONDON: The new award for the International Cricketer of the Year has been named after legendary West Indies all-rounder Sir Garfield Sobers. The trophy will be presented at tomorrow evening’s ICC Awards ceremony at London’s Alexandria Palace. The ten-man shortlist features England’s Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison. “Sir Garfield Sobers was an outstanding all-rounder, a wonderful ambassador and a man who has inspired generations of cricketers,” said ICC head Ehsan Mani.

“It is fitting that we name the player of the year award —  international cricket’s highest individual honour —  after this legend of the sport.” Sobers, who was knighted for his services to cricket in 1975, said: “It is a great honour to have this award named after me. “I appreciate this honour which has been initiated on my behalf, and I wish all those players who have been nominated as player of the year the very best of luck.” Sobers played 93 Tests and in his 20-year career, scoring 8,032 runs and claiming 235 wickets. He was named as one of Wisden’s five cricketers of the 20th century.

Awards —
Individual: Cricketer of the Year,  Test Player of the Year,  One-Day International Player of the Year,  Emerging Player of the Year, Umpire of the Year
Team: Test Team of the Year;  One-Day International Team of the Year,Spirit of Cricket Award.
Nominations —
Emerging Player of the Year: Tino Best (West Indies), Michael Clarke (Australia),  Imran Farhat (Pakistan)  Umar Gul (Pakistan),  Yasir Hameed (Pakistan), Hamish Marshall (New Zealand), Irfan Pathan (India),  Devon Smith (West Indies)
One-Day International Player of the Year:  Stephen Fleming (New Zealand),  Andrew Flintoff (England),  Chris Gayle (West Indies), Adam Gilchrist (Australia), Jason Gillespie (Australia), Matthew Hayden (Australia),  Jacques Kallis (South Africa), VVS Laxman (India), Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka), Shaun Pollock (South Africa), Ricky Ponting (Australia), Abdur Razzaq (Pakistan), Sachin Tendulkar (India), Heath Streak (Zimbabwe),   Andrew Symonds (Australia),  Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka), Daniel Vettori (New Zealand)
Test Player of the Year:  Rahul Dravid (India), Andrew Flintoff (England), Adam Gilchrist (Australia), Jason Gillespie (Australia), Steve Harmison (England), Matthew Hayden (Australia), Brian Lara (West Indies),  VVS Laxman (India), Jacques Kallis (South Africa),  Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka),  Ricky Ponting (Australia),  Virender Sehwag (India)
Player of the Year:  Rahul Dravid (India), Andrew Flintoff (England),  Steve Harmison (England), Matthew Hayden (Australia), Jacques Kallis (South Africa), Brian Lara (West Indies), VVS Laxman (India), Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka), Ricky Ponting (Australia), Virender Sehwag (India).