Virat Kohli nominated for ICC Cricketer of the Year award

Virat Kohli has been rewarded for his consistency with the bat with two nominations in the ICC Awards 2012 which includes ICC Cricketer of the Year and ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year Awards.

He is the only Indian cricketer to have two nominations, whereas other Indians to be nominated under various categories are MS Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar.

While Dhoni and Gambhir are nominated along with Kohli for the ODI Cricketer of the Year Award, Tendulkar has been nominated for the People's Choice Award, an honour he had won in 2010. This award will be chosen by cricket fans around the world who will get a chance to vote for their favourite player online from a short-list of five cricketers.

Five cricketers - Kumar Sangakkara, Sachin Tendulkar, Vernon Philander, Jacques Kallis and James Anderson - were selected by the ICC selection panel and released to the public for voting earlier this month. They were chosen on the basis of some innovative parameters, such as innovation, dynamism, strength in decision-making, performing well under pressure and executing a plan to distinction.

Apart from Kohli, other cricketers, who have been nominated for the ICC Cricketer of The Year Award, are: Saeed Ajmal (Pak), Hashim Amla (SA), Stuart Broad (Eng), Michael Clarke (Aus), Alastair Cook (Eng), Vernon Philander (SA), Kumar Sangakkara (SL), Stafanie Taylor (WI).

For the ODI Cricketer of the Year Award, the nominees are: Shahid Afridi (Pak),  Saeed Ajmal (Pak), Michael Clarke (Aus), Alastair Cook (Eng), MS Dhoni (Ind), Steven Finn (Eng), Gautam Gambhir (Ind), Shakib Al Hasan (Bang), Virat Kohli (Ind), Lasith Malinga (SL), Brendon McCullum (NZ), Morne Morkel (SA), Sunil Narine (WI), Kumar Sangakkara (SL), Brendan Taylor (Zim), Shane Watson (Aus).

Sadly no Indian cricketer has made it to the nomination for Test Cricketer of The Year Award, courtesy their dismal show in England and Australia. Back to back 0-4 series defeats meant, India was out of contention for any Test honour this year.

Nevertheless, the contenders for the Test honour are:  Saeed Ajmal (Pak), Hashim Amla (SA), Stuart Broad (Eng), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI), Michael Clarke (Aus), Alastair Cook (Eng), Jacques Kallis (SA), Vernon Philander (SA), Matt Prior (Eng), Marlon Samuels (WI), Kumar Sangakkara (SL), Dale Steyn (SA), AB de Villiers (SA).

This year's ICC Awards includes 11 individual prizes and also features the selection of the Test and ODI Teams of the Year.

This year's five nominees for the Spirit of Cricket Award are nominated due to: "An action, moment, gesture or decision on the field of play of International cricket during the specified voting period which best reflects the Spirit of Cricket".  The nominees include South Africa's Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers, Pakistan's Mohammad Hafeez, West Indies' Kieron Pollard and New Zealand's Daniel Vettori.

The David Shepherd Trophy for ICC Umpire of the Year is voted on by the captains and the match referees based on the umpires' performance statistics.

There is also an ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year award again this year. To qualify for that award a player must be under the age of 26 and have played fewer than five Tests and/or 10 ODIs and five T20Is at the start of the voting period.

The ICC Associate and Affiliate Cricketer of the Year award serves to recognise and reward the efforts in all international matches of the outstanding cricketers from the teams outside the ICC Full Members. This year, Ireland boasts the most number of nominees once again, this time with six names on the list, while Netherlands, Afghanistan, UAE and Canada have one each.

Based on the period between 4 August 2011 and 6 August 2012, the LG ICC Awards 2012 will take into account performances by players and officials in a remarkable period for the game.

That period includes such high-profile events as the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier 2012 held in the UAE, the ICC Women's World Cup Qualifier in Bangladesh in 2011, various rounds of the ICC Intercontinental Cup, as well as numerous Pepsi ICC World Cricket League and Championship fixtures, plus several bilateral Test and ODI series.

The ICC Awards ceremony is now in its ninth year and this year it will be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Previous ceremonies were held in London (2004 and 2011), Sydney (2005), Mumbai (2006), Johannesburg (2007 and 2009), Dubai (2008) and Bengaluru (2010).

LG ICC Awards 2012

Long-lists of nominees (in alphabetical order; each category will be reduced to a short-list in due course)

Individual Awards

ICC Cricketer of the Year (Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy) - Male or Female
Saeed Ajmal (Pak)
Hashim Amla (SA)
Stuart Broad (Eng)
Michael Clarke (Aus)
Alastair Cook (Eng)
Virat Kohli (Ind)
Vernon Philander (SA)
Kumar Sangakkara (SL)
Stafanie Taylor (WI)

ICC Test Cricketer of the Year
Saeed Ajmal (Pak)
Hashim Amla (SA)
Stuart Broad (Eng)
Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI)
Michael Clarke (Aus)
Alastair Cook (Eng)
Jacques Kallis (SA)
Vernon Philander (SA)
Matt Prior (Eng)
Marlon Samuels (WI)
Kumar Sangakkara (SL)
Dale Steyn (SA)
AB de Villiers (SA)

ICC Men's ODI Cricketer of the Year
Shahid Afridi (Pak)
Saeed Ajmal (Pak)
Michael Clarke (Aus)
Alastair Cook (Eng)
MS Dhoni (Ind)
Steven Finn (Eng)
Gautam Gambhir (Ind)
Shakib Al Hasan (Bang)
Virat Kohli (Ind)
Lasith Malinga (SL)
Brendon McCullum (NZ)
Morne Morkel (SA)
Sunil Narine (WI)
Kumar Sangakkara (SL)
Brendan Taylor (Zim)
Shane Watson (Aus)

ICC Women's ODI Cricketer of the Year
Jess Cameron (Aus)
Shanel Daley (WI)
Lydia Greenaway (Eng)
Anisa Mohammed (WI)
Mithali Raj (Ind)
Sarah Taylor (Eng)
Stafanie Taylor (WI)


ICC Women's T20I Cricketer of the Year
Jess Cameron (Aus)
Shanel Daley (WI)
Alyssa Healy (Aus)
Anisa Mohammed (WI)
Mithali Raj (Ind)
Lisa Sthalekar (Aus)
Sarah Taylor (Eng)
Stafanie Taylor (WI)

ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year
Trent Boult (NZ)
Doug Bracewell (NZ)
Dinesh Chandimal (SL)
Pat Cummins (Aus)
Nasir Hossain (Bang)
Junaid Khan (Pak)
Nathan Lyon (Aus)
Tino Mawoyo (Zim)
Sunil Narine (WI)
James Pattinson (Aus)
Lahiru Thirimanne (SL)
Matthew Wade (Aus)

ICC Associate and Affiliate Cricketer of the Year
Shaiman Anwar (UAE)
Peter Borren (Neth)
George Dockrell (Ire)
Trent Johnston (Ire)
Ed Joyce (Ire)
John Mooney (Ire)
Kevin O'Brien (Ire)
Hiran Patel (Can)
Paul Stirling (Ire)
Dawlat Zadran (Afg)

ICC Men's Twenty20 International Performance of the Year
Ravi Bopara (Eng) - 3.4-0-10-4 v West Indies, The Oval, 23 September 2011
Tillakaratne Dilshan (SL) - 104no (57b, 12x4, 5x6) v Australia, Pallekele, 6 August 2011
Chris Gayle (WI) - 85no (52b, 7x4, 5x6) v New Zealand, Lauderhill, 30 June 2012
Martin Guptill (NZ) - 91no (54b, 5x4, 6x6) v Zimbabwe, Auckland, 11 February 2012
Mohammad Hafeez (Pak) - 2.2-0-10-4 v Zimbabwe, Harare, 16 September 2011
Alex Hales (Eng) - 99 (68b, 6x4, 4x6) v West Indies, Nottingham, 24 June 2012
Richard Levi (SA) - 117no (51b, 5x4. 13x6) v New Zealand, Auckland, 22 February 2012
Brendon McCullum (NZ) - 81no (46b, 5x4, 6x6) v Zimbabwe, Harare, 15 October 2011
Ajantha Mendis (SL) - 4-1-16-6 v Australia, Pallekele, 8 August 2011
Sunil Narine (WI) - 4-0-12-4 v New Zealand, Lauderhill, 1 July 2012
Elias Sunny (Bang) - 4-1-13-5 v Ireland, Belfast, 18 July 2012

ICC Spirit of Cricket Award
Mohammad Hafeez (Pak)
Jacques Kallis (SA)
Kieron Pollard (WI)
Daniel Vettori (NZ)
AB de Villiers (SA)

ICC Umpire of the Year (David Shepherd Trophy)
Billy Bowden
Aleem Dar
Steve Davis
Kumar Dharmasena
Billy Doctrove
Marais Erasmus
Ian Gould
Tony Hill
Richard Kettleborough
Nigel Llong
Asad Rauf
Simon Taufel
Rod Tucker

LG People's Choice Award
James Anderson (Eng)
Jacques Kallis (SA)
Vernon Philander (SA)
Kumar Sangakkara (SL)
Sachin Tendulkar (Ind)