Pakistan’s ace spinner Saeed Ajmal, who currently stands on third spot both in tests and one-day ranking, failed to get short-listed in the final nominations for ICC test player of the year and cricketer of the year award which were announced here in Colombo. Ajmal, who has represented Pakistan in 23 tests has taken 122 wickets, 72 of them during 2011-12 which is the most by any international player. However Ajmal was included in the ICC test team of the year. However, Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara got nominated in four categories for the International Cricket Council awards, including player of the year. The 34-year-old batsman-wicketkeeper will compete with South Africans Hashim Amla and Vernon Philander and Australian Test captain Michael Clarke for the Garfield Sobers Trophy. All four have also been nominated for the Test cricketer of the year, while Sangakkara also features in the shortlist for the one-day and people’s awards. The winners will be announced in Colombo on September 15. Sangakkara’s rivals for the one-day cricketer of the year include team-mate Lasith Malinga, and Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virat Kohli of India. An independent 32-person panel comprising former players and representatives from the media, match referees and umpires drew up the shortlists. Cricketers receiving the highest number of votes from the panel will be adjudged the winners. Performances over a 12-month period that ended on August 6, 2012 were taken into account. Doug Bracewell of New Zealand, Sri Lanka’s Dinesh Chandimal, Sunil Narine of the West Indies and Australia’s James Pattinson were nominated for the emerging cricketer of the year award.
South Africans dominate ICC Test team: Australian captain Michael Clarke was on Thursday selected skipper of an International Cricket Council Test team of the year dominated by South Africans. South African fast bowler Dale Steyn figures in the team for the fifth year in a row, with team-mates Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis and Vernon Philander also making the grade. A fifth South African, AB de Villiers, was named 12th man. The team, picked by a five-member panel and taking into account performances in a 12-month period that ended on August 6, was announced by the world governing body in Colombo. Amla, Kallis and Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara were picked for the third successive year, while the England duo of Alastair Cook and Stuart Broad appear for the second year in a row. Former West Indies skipper Clive Lloyd, who chaired the panel, said it was a tough job picking the side. “The team has a strong batting line-up, while the bowlers are a tough combination of pace and spin who could dismiss any line-up on any surface,” Lloyd said in an ICC statement. “The selectors did utilise a vast amount of statistics from the period under observation, but we also took into account all other factors like the opposition, pitch conditions, match situation etc. “But when you have only 12 places to fill from a big group of world-class players, there will always be a few who will miss out.” ICC chief executive David Richardson, who announced the line-up, added: “Those selected can be justifiably proud of their achievements and are well deserving of the recognition they receive as great cricketers of their era. “The quality of Test cricket played over the course of the year has been exceptional and I did not envy the selectors in their task of selecting the best. “Congratulations to those who have made it. They make a formidable team.”
ICC Test team of the year: Alastair Cook (ENG), Hashim Amla (RSA), Kumar Sangakkara (SRI), Jacques Kallis (RSA), Michael Clarke (AUS – capt), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WIS), Matt Prior (ENG – wicketkeeper), Stuart Broad (ENG), Saeed Ajmal (PAK), Vernon Philander (RSA), Dale Steyn (RSA). 12th man: AB de Villiers (RSA)
