A pleasant evening in Colombo was made even better by the LG ICC Cricket Awards ceremony. Hosts of the evening were former Australian batsman Michael Slater and English TV presenter Sarah- Jane Mee.
EMERGING PLAYER OF THE YEAR
The first Award of the evening was given to Sunil Narine for the emerging player of the year and this young man from Trinidad and Tobago was praised by one and all for his brilliance with the ball in the recent past. The off-spinner played in three Tests for the West Indies, claiming 12 wickets at an average 31.50, while in the 15 ODIs he played in he claimed 28 wickets at an average of 18.82.
SPIRIT OF THE CRICKET AWARD
The Spirit Of The Cricket Award was given to Daniel Vettori and this was award was presented by Yuvraj Singh. Daniel Vettori has been a great ambassador of the game and he has played the game in its true spirit , another well deserved Award i must say.
THE ASSOCIATE AND AFFILIATE CRICKETER OF THE YEAR
This Award was followed by The ICC Associate and Affiliate cricketer of the year , which was given to the young Irish spinner George Dockrell who performed well throughout the year and took 43 scalps in all formats (including T20, ODI and Intercontinental Cup)
BEST INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE IN T20
Young exciting batsman from South Africa, Richard Levi won the Award for best individual performance in T20 for his blistering knock of 117* against New Zealand.
UMPIRE OF THE YEAR
Kumar Dharmasena of Sri Lanka was given the award for Best Umpire of the year. This was a bit of surprise as more people were expecting either Asad Rauf or Simon Taufel to win this award.
ODI CRICKETER OF THE YEAR
India's Virat Kohli won theICC ODI Cricketer of the year award for his consistent performance over the last 12 months during which he amassed runs all over the world and against almost all the countries India played.
During the last one year, Kohli played 31 ODIs and scored 1733 runs at an outstanding average of 66.65, including eight hundreds and six half-centuries.
His highest score was 183, against Pakistan in the Asia Cup.
SANGA'S HAT-TRICK
Star of the evening wasFormer Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara who walked away with three awards at the the ceremony
->LG People's Choice Award
-> ICC Test Cricketer of the Year Award and
-> ICC Cricketer of the Year Award.
Sangakkara won the LG People's Choice second year in a row. This award is chosen by cricket fans around the world who vote for their favourite player. Sangakkara also swept the top honour by winning the most coveted the ICC Cricketer of the Year Award.
HALL OF FAME
West Indian Legend Brian Lara and English Woman Cricketer Enid Bakewell were introduced into The ICC Hall Of Fame. West Indies's Lara became 67th male member of Hall Of Fame , while England's Bakewell became the third woman to be inducted.
WOMEN's CRICKET
Stefanie Taylor of West Indies won the ICC Women's Cricketer of the year Award and English wicket keeper batsman Sarah Taylor won the ICC Women's T20 Cricketer of the year.
All in all it was a great evening where Cricketers from all over the world attended the ceremony and players were rewarded for their good performances throughout the year.
Madhav Ashwani Sharma