ICC short-lists Awards 2009

Samaraweera and Dilshan in line for honours

Gambhir, Johnson and Strauss in running for both Cricketer of the Year and Test Cricketer the Year at ceremony set for 1 October in Johannesburg
Gautam Gambhir, Mitchell Johnson, Andrew Strauss and Mahendra Singh Dhoni have all been short-listed for the top honour at the LG ICC Awards 2009.

Thilan Samaraweera

The votes have now been cast by the independent 25-person academy and these four men are the ones in the running to receive the Sir Garfield Sobers trophy for Cricketer of the Year at a glittering ceremony in Johannesburg on 1 October.
In addition, Gambhir, Johnson and Strauss are also short-listed for the Test Player of the Year alongside Sri Lanka’s Thilan Samaraweera at the sixth annual LG ICC Awards, presented in association with the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA).
Dhoni is also in contention to retain the ODI Player of the Year award he won last year as he is short-listed in that category with India team-mates Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag as well as West Indies’ Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
The Twenty20 International Performance of the year sees two Pakistan players in the short-list, Shahid Afridi and Umar Gul, who are joined by West Indies’ Chris Gayle and Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan.
This year’s LG ICC Awards includes eight individual prizes and also features the selection of the Test and ODI Teams of the Year and the award to the side that has adhered most to the Spirit of Cricket.
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 players such as India’s Anil Kumble, Mudassar Nazar of Pakistan, Bob Taylor of England and New Zealand’s Stephen Fleming.

Tillakaratne Dilshan

The short-lists were created after the individual player awards were voted for by an academy of 25 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.
LG ICC Awards 2009
Short-lists of nominees (in alphabetical order)
Individual Awards
Cricketer of the Year: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Ind), Gautam Gambhir (Ind), Mitchell Johnson (Aus), Andrew Strauss (Eng)
Test Player of the Year: Gautam Gambhir (Ind), Mitchell Johnson (Aus), Thilan Samaraweera (SL), Andrew Strauss (Eng)
ODI Player of the Year: Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Ind), Virender Sehwag (Ind), Yuvraj Singh (Ind)
Emerging Player: Ben Hilfenhaus (Aus), Graham Onions (Eng), Jesse Ryder (NZ), Peter Siddle (Aus)
Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year: Rizwan Cheema (Can), Ryan ten Doeschate (Ned), William Porterfield (Ire), Edgar Schiferli (Ned)
Twenty20 International Performance of the Year:
n Shahid Afridi (Pak) for scoring 51 off 34 balls and taking 2-16 against South Africa during the ICC WT20 semi-final in Nottingham on 18 June
n Tillakaratne Dilshan (SL) for scoring 96 not out off 57 balls against the West Indies in the semi-final of the ICC WT20 at The Oval on 19 June
n Chris Gayle (WI) – for hitting 88 off 50 balls against Australia during the ICC WT20 at The Oval on 6 June
n Umar Gul (Pak) for taking 5-6 against New Zealand during the ICC WT20 at The Oval on 13 June
Women’s Cricketer of the Year: Charlotte Edwards (Eng). Shelley Nitschke (Aus), Claire Taylor (Eng).
Umpire of the Year: Aleem Dar, Tony Hill, Asad Rauf, Simon Taufel
Spirit of Cricket: Australia, England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka.