Australia’s dominance of world cricket, never mind the Ashes blip, shone through at the Hyundai ICC awards on Friday.
Ricky Ponting gets two awards while Dravid is named skipper of the ICC Test Team of the Year
MUMBAI: Australia’s dominance of world cricket, never mind the Ashes blip, shone through at the Hyundai ICC awards on Friday. With a Champions Trophy final against the West Indies less than 48 hours away, Australian skipper Ricky Ponting got a shot in the arm, winning both the Player of the Year and Test Player of the Year awards.
However, Ponting missed out on the Captain of the Year award, a beaming Mahela Jayawardene picking up that trophy.
Jayawardene seemed pleasantly surprised. “I have taken over the reins only 6-8 months ago. Ponting has been really consistent and so was Dravid,” Jayawardene said. He surely was not complaining.
Even as Jayawardene was answering questions on how he as stand-in skipper was only warming the seat for Marvan Atapattu, news filtered in that he was named skipper of Sri Lanka till the World Cup. Rahul Dravid, nominated in the same category, didn’t hide his disappointment. It had nothing to do with him missing out on the award.
The Indian skipper had reason to cheer after being named skipper of the ICC Test Team of the Year. But the anguish found its way through. “I am very disappointed that we are not in the final of the Champions Trophy that is being played in India. The tension, nervousness, feeling of anticipation is all missing today. It would have all been there if we were playing the final,” Dravid revealed candidly.
There was little else to cheer for India. Middle-order mainstay Yuvraj Singh hobbled on his injured knee but it was Australia’s Michael Hussey, with an amazing average of over 80, who walked away with the ICC ODI Player of the Year award. Anjum Chopra missed out on the Women’s Player of the Year award. Interestingly, India wicket-keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni found a place as an opener in the ODI Team of the Year.
The Ashes defeat had little bearing on fortunes at the awards, as five of the playing XI in the Test Team of the Year were Australians. Three of them, including Adam Gilchrist, found a mention in the ODI team of the year, which also includes Yuvraj Singh and Irfan Pathan. There was consolation for England team when they won the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award.
Player of the Year Award
Ricky Ponting (Australia)
Test Player of the Year Award
Ricky Ponting (Australia)
ODI Player of the Year
Michael Hussey (Australia)
Women's Player of the Year
Karen Rolton (Australia)
Emerging Player of the Year
Ian Bell (England)
Captain of the Year Award
Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka)
Spirit of Cricket Award
England
Umpire of the Year Award
Simon Taufel
The World ODI Team of the Year (in batting order)
Adam Gilchrist (Aus, wicketkeeper)
MS Dhoni (Ind)
Ricky Ponting (Aus)
Mahela Jayawardene (SL, captain)
Yuvraj Singh (Ind)
Michael Hussey (Aus)
Andrew Flintoff (Eng)
Irfan Pathan (Ind)
Brett Lee (Aus)
Shane Bond (NZ)
Muttiah Muralidaran (SL)
12th man: Andrew Symonds (Aus)
The World Test Team of the Year (in batting order)
Matthew Hayden (Aus)
Michael Hussey (Aus)
Ricky Ponting (Aus)
Rahul Dravid (Ind, captain)
Mohammed Yousuf (Pak)
Kumar Sangakkara (SL, wicketkeeper)
Andrew Flintoff (Eng)
Shane Warne (Aus)
Makhaya Ntini (SA)
Muttiah Muralidaran (SL)
Glenn McGrath (Aus)
12th man: Brett Lee (Aus)
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