Dubai: Australia’s Mitchell Johnson and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara are in line to win their second Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the ICC Cricketer of the Year after they were shortlisted for the LG ICC Awards 2014.
In the voting period between 26 August 2013 and 17 September 2014, Johnson, who won the award in 2009, claimed 59 wickets in eight Tests at an impressive average of 15.23. This included two five-wicket and one 10-wicket hauls. The left-arm fast bowler was equally impressive in 50 overs cricket when he notched up 21 wickets in 16 matches at an average of 33.04 with an economy rate of under five runs per over.
Sangakkara, who won this prestigious award in Colombo in 2012, finished as the leading run-getter during the same period with 1,502 runs in 11 Tests with four centuries and nine half-centuries. The left-hander averaged just over 75. In 26 ODIs, Sangakkara scored 1,046 in 26 matches at an average of just under 42 with three centuries and seven half-centuries.
Since the inception of the LG ICC Awards in 2004, no cricketer has won this award twice.
Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews, who was the second highest run-getter in Tests with 1,292 runs at an average of 92.28 and backed up this performance with 965 runs in 28 ODIs at an average of just under 54, and AB de Villiers, who scored 932 runs in 10 Tests at an average of 54.8 and 963 runs in 20 ODIs at an average of over 60, have also been shortlisted for the award.
If Mathews or de Villiers win this year’s award, then there will have been 12 different winners in the 11 year history of the LG ICC Awards. In 2005, Jacques Kallis and Andrew Flintoff were declared joint winners of the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy.
Johnson, Mathews and Sangakkara as well as Australia opener David Warner (1,066 runs in eight Tests) have also been shortlisted for the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year award. Sangakkara is the only player in the group to have previously won this award in 2012.
This year’s LG ICC Awards include 11 individual prizes and also feature the selection of the ICC Test and ODI Teams of the Year.
The individual player awards were shortlisted by an academy** of highly credentialed cricket personalities from around the world, after the long-list nominations were made by a five-person ICC selection panel* led by former India captain and Chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee Anil Kumble.
For the ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year award, Quinton de Kock, de Villiers, Virat Kohli and Dale Steyn have been shortlisted. De Villiers won this award in 2010, while Kohli won it in 2012.
For the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year award, two former winners have been shortlisted. These are England’s women’s captain Charlotte Edwards, winner in 2008, and two-time winner Stafanie Taylor of the West Indies. They are joined by India captain and number-one ranked batter Mithali Raj and England wicketkeeper/batter Sarah Taylor.
England duo of Gary Ballance and Ben Stokes, and New Zealand’s pair of Corey Anderson and Jimmy Neeshan have been shortlisted for the ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year award. 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, which is 26 August 2013.
There will be a new winner of the ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year after the previous two awards were won by England’s Sarah Taylor. The players shortlisted this year are: Charlotte Edwards of England, Meg Lanning of Australia, India’s Mithali Raj and West Indies’ Stafanie Taylor.
Alex Hales’s 116 not out against Sri Lanka in the ICC World Twenty20 Bangladesh 2014, Aaron Finch’s 156 against England and Rangana Herath’s figures of 3.3-2-3-5 against New Zealand in the ICC World Twenty20 Bangladesh 2014 have earned them nominations for the ICC Twenty20 International Performance of the Year award.
Two Afghanistan and two Scotland players have been shortlisted for the ICC Associate and Affiliate Cricketer of the Year award. These are Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nabi and Samiullah Shenwari, and the Scotland duo Calum MacLeod and Preston Mommsen.
Overall, seven cricketers have been nominated for two awards each. These include: AB de Villiers, Charlotte Edwards, Mitchell Johnson, Angelo Mathews, Mithali Raj, Kumar Sangakkara and Stafanie Taylor.
Based on the 13 months between 26 August 2013 and 17 September 2014, the LG ICC Awards 2014 will take into account performances by players in what has been a remarkable period for the game.
That period includes the ICC World Twenty20 Bangladesh 2014, ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier New Zealand 2014, ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier UAE 2013, various rounds of the ICC Intercontinental Cup, numerous Pepsi ICC World Cricket League and Championship fixtures, ICC Women’s Championship and several bilateral Test, ODI and T20I series.
This year marks the 11th year of the LG ICC Awards, and the winners will be announced via a media release on 14 November, while a special TV show will be broadcast on 15 November. The show will recap the last year in world cricket and will feature interviews with many nominees and winners.
LG ICC Awards 2014
Shortlist of nominees – Individual Awards
Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Cricketer of the Year
AB de Villiers (SA)
Mitchell Johnson (Aus)
Angelo Mathews (SL)
Kumar Sangakkara (SL)
ICC Test Cricketer of the Year
Mitchell Johnson (Aus)
Angelo Mathews (SL)
Kumar Sangakkara (SL)
David Warner (Aus)
ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year
Quinton de Kock (SA)
AB de Villiers (SA)
Virat Kohli (Ind)
Dale Steyn (SA)
ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year
Charlotte Edwards (Eng)
Mithali Raj (Ind)
Sarah Taylor (Eng)
Stafanie Taylor (WI)
ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year
Corey Anderson (NZ)
Gary Ballance (Eng)
Jimmy Neesham (NZ)
Ben Stokes (Eng)
ICC Associate and Affiliate Cricketer of the Year
Calum MacLeod (Scot)
Preston Mommsen (Scot)
Mohammad Nabi (Afg)
Samiullah Shenwari (Afg)
ICC Twenty20 International Performance of the Year
Alex Hales (Eng) - 116 not out (64b, 11x4, 6x6) v Sri Lanka (WT20), 27 Mar 2014
Aaron Finch (Aus) -156 (63b, 11x4, 14x6) v England, 29 August 2013
Rangana Herath (SL) - 3.3-2-3-5 v NZ (WT20), 31 Mar 2014
ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year
Charlotte Edwards (Eng)
Meg Lanning (Aus)
Mithali Raj (Ind)
Stafanie Taylor (WI)
David Shepherd Trophy for ICC Umpire of the Year
All 12 members of the ICC Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires have been nominated
