Mahela, Ajantha in line for cricket’s top awards

Chris Dhambarage

Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardena and mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis are among the top contenders for the prestigious awards in the fifth edition of the International Cricket Council (ICC) awards ceremony which will take place on September 10 in Dubai.

This annual event of course was earlier scheduled to be staged in Lahore, Pakistan ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy but with the tournament being postponed the event will now be held in Dubai where the ICC has its headquarters. Skipper Jayawardena who won the captain of the year award in 2006 has been short listed for two top awards - the cricketer of the year and test player of the year awards respectively.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul of the West Indies, South African captain Graeme Smith and his teammate Dale Steyn are also in line for this prestigious prize. In addition South African all rounder Jacques Kallis is a further nominee in the test category.

None of the four players short listed for the Cricketer of the Year Award has previously lifted the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy and there is certain to be a new name to join the roll-call of winners.

Some of the outstanding players who have secured the game’s top individual honour in the past are Rahul Dravid of India (2004), England’s Andrew Flintoff and Jacques Kallis of South Africa (joint winners in 2005) and Australian captain Ricky Ponting (back-to-back winner in 2006 and 2007).

In addition Ajantha Mendis has being short listed for the emerging player of the year award along with England all rounder Stuart Broad, India’s Ishant Sharma and South African fast bowler Morne Mokel.

This year’s ICC awards also includes eight individual prizes including a new one for the Twenty20 International Performance of the Year.

The ICC awards will also features the selection of the test and one day international teams of the year and the award to the side that has supported most to the Spirit of Cricket which Sri Lanka had the honour of winning during last years ceremony held in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Based on the 12 months between August 9th 2007 and August 12th 2008, the ICC awards ceremony will take into account performances by players and officials in a remarkable period for the game that includes the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa.

Meanwhile Sri Lanka›s former opening batsman Sidath Wettimuny was named in the five man ICC selection panel which will be chaired by the West Indies legend Clive Lloyd.

The nominations for seven of the awards will be made by this selection panel which also includes former Australia captain Greg Chappell, recently retired South Africa all-rounder Shaun Pollock and former Bangladesh batsman Athar Ali Khan.

This panel will also select the ICC Test and one day international teams of the year. The Spirit of Cricket Award will be voted on by all the international captains as well as all members of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires and Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees.

The shortlists for the ICC Awards 2008 are as follows:

Cricketer of the Year: Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Mahela Jayawardena, Graeme Smith, Dale Steyn

Test Player of the Year: Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Mahela Jayawardena, Jacques Kallis, Dale Steyn

ODI Player of the Year: Nathan Bracken, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Mohammad Yousuf

Emerging Player of the Year: Stuart Broad, Ajantha Mendis, Morne Morkel, Ishant Sharma

Twenty20 International Performance of the Year: Chris Gayle, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Brett Lee, Yuvraj Singh

Spirit of Cricket: Bangladesh, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, West Indies.