Eight of England’s Ashes winners were nominated for the International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricketer of the Year award in a ‘long list’ of candidates announced Wednesday.
Pakistan’s skipper Misbahul Haq, spinner Saeed Ajmal, and opener Mohammad Hafeez were also among the nominees for different categories.
Andrew Strauss, the England captain, led the way and he was joined among the contenders by fellow opener Alastair Cook, who scored 766 runs at 127.66 during the 3-1 Test series win in Australia. Also included in the 17-man list were England’s Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Chris Tremlett and James Anderson. Australia had just the one nomination in either the Cricketer of the Year or Test Player of the Year categories — all-rounder Shane Watson. Meanwhile Trott was also one of five nominees for the People’s Choice Award — alongside India’s World Cup-winning skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara, West Indies’ Chris Gayle and South Africa’s Hashim Amla — which will be chosen by fans from around the world. The award-winners will be named at a ceremony in London on September 12. If England win the ongoing third Test against India at Edgbaston they will rise to the top of the ICC’s Test Championship table and replace India at the summit of the five-day game. India have just the three nominess for player of the year.
Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and injured paceman Zaheer Khan are all contenders for the Sir Garfield Sobers award, while they are joined by bowlers Ishant Sharma and Harbhajan Singh in the Test category.
India won the World Cup on home soil in April and this is reflected in their seven nominations for the One-Day International Player of the Year award including captain Dhoni.
The long lists were selected by a five-man ICC Panel chaired by former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd, with performances considered in the period between August 11, 2010 to August 3, 2011.
ICC award nominees
Cricketer of the Year (Sir Garfield
Sobers Trophy): Hashim Amla (RSA), James
Anderson (ENG), Ian Bell (ENG), Stuart Broad (ENG), Alastair Cook (ENG), Rahul Dravid (IND), Jacques Kallis (RSA), Zaheer Khan (IND), Misbah-ul-Haq (PAK), Kumar Sangakkara (SRI), Andrew Strauss (ENG), Graeme Swann (ENG), Sachin Tendulkar (IND), Chris Tremlett (ENG), Jonathan Trott (ENG), AB de
Villiers (RSA), Shane Watson (AUS)
Test Player of the Year: Hashim Amla (RSA), James
Anderson (ENG), Ian Bell (ENG), Stuart Broad (ENG), Alastair Cook (ENG), Rahul Dravid (IND), Jacques Kallis (RSA), Zaheer Khan (IND), Misbah-ul-Haq (PAK), Kevin Pietersen (ENG), Ishant Sharma (IND), Harbhajan Singh (IND), Dale Steyn (RSA), Graeme Swann (ENG), Sachin Tendulkar (IND), Chris Tremlett (ENG), Jonathan Trott (ENG),
AB de Villiers (RSA), Shane Watson (AUS)
ODI Player of the Year: Hashim Amla (RSA), Michael Clarke (AUS), MS Dhoni (IND), Gautam Gambhir (IND), Mohammed Hafeez (PAK), Mahela Jayawardene (SRI), Zaheer Khan (IND), Virat Kohli (IND), Lasith Malinga (SRI), Munaf Patel (IND), Saeed Ajmal (PAK), Shakib Al Hasan (BAN), Kumar Sangakkara (SRI), Virender Sehwag (IND), Yuvraj Singh (IND), Tim
Southee (NZL), Dale Steyn (RSA), Graeme Swann (ENG), Jonathan Trott (ENG), AB de
Villiers (RSA),
Shane Watson (AUS).
