Steve Smith named ICC Cricketer of the Year 2015

This content was originally posted in 7DAYS UAE website at: Steve Smith named ICC Cricketer of the Year 2015   Steve Smith has become the fourth Australia player and 11th player overall to win the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy after being named as the ICC Cricketer of the Year 2015. Smith was also adjudged the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year, which has made him only the seventh cricketer after Dravid (2004), Kallis (2005), Ponting (2006), Sangakkara (2012), Clarke (2013) and Johnson (2014) to bag the two coveted prizes in the same year. During the voting period, which ran from September 18, 2014 to September 13, 2015, the 26-year-old from New South Wales finished as the leading run-scorer in Tests with 1,734 runs in 25 innings of 13 matches at an average of 82.57. This included seven centuries and six half-centuries. In June, Smith became the second youngest batsman after Tendulkar to achieve the number-one ranking in the ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen after scoring 199 and 54 not out against the West Indies in the Kingston Test. In 26 One-Day Internationals, Smith scored 1,249 runs at an average of just under 60 with four centuries and eight half-centuries. He was a member of the Australia side which won the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 in Australia and New Zealand earlier this year. Earlier this month, Smith was also named in the ICC Test and ODI Teams of the Year, which were picked by the ICC selection panel that was headed by former India captain and Chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee Anil Kumble. Reacting to the news, a delighted Smith said: “Given that there are so many great players around the world, I’m incredibly honoured to receive these awards. While team success is always my number-one motivation, awards like this are very special. I’m thrilled and very proud to receive them. “I will look back on 2015 with mixed feelings. Winning the ICC Cricket World Cup at home was a career highlight, and being appointed captain is a great honour, but the disappointment of losing the Ashes remains. “To be the best team that we can be, we have to become better at winning away from home, and that remains our motivation heading into 2016. “I’d like to thank my teammates and my family for their support over the year. I’d also like to thank the voting panel for this recognition, which is very humbling.” South Africa’s ODI captain AB de Villiers has been named as the ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year for the second successive year. He had also won this award in 2010. In the voting period, de Villiers scored 1,265 runs in 20 innings at an average of just over 79 and a strike-rate of 128.4. He hit two centuries and nine half-centuries. Earlier this month, de Villiers was named as the captain of the ICC ODI Team of the Year. De Villiers said: “It is an honour to be named as the ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year for 2015. It’s certainly been a memorable year with many highlights but a lot of disappointments as well. “If I was to look back, the century I scored against the West Indies at the Wanderers will probably go down as the most memorable knocks of the year. In saying that, centuries count for nothing if the team isn’t winning, so hopefully in the future I can contribute to many more Proteas wins.” De Villiers’ team-mate and South Africa’s T20I captain Faf du Plessis has won the ICC T20I Performance of the Year award for his 56-ball 119 against the West Indies in the second T20I in Johannesburg on 11 January 2015. Du Plessis had clubbed 11 fours and five sixes in his swashbuckling innings. Australia women’s captain Meg Lanning has been named as the ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year, while West Indies women’s captain Stafanie Taylor has won her maiden ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year award. The full list of ICC Award 2015 winners  ICC Cricketer of the Year (Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy): Steve Smith (Australia) ICC Test Cricketer of the Year: Steve Smith (Australia) ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year: AB de Villiers (South Africa) ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year: Meg Lanning (Australia) ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year: Stafanie Taylor (West Indies) ICC T20I Performance of the Year: Faf du Plessis (South Africa) (119, 56 balls, 11×4, 5×6 – 2nd T20I vs West Indies, 11 January 2015, Johannesburg) ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year: Josh Hazlewood (Australia) ICC Associate/Affiliate Cricketer of the Year: Khurram Khan (UAE) ICC Spirit of Cricket Award: Brendon McCullum (New Zealand) ICC Umpire of the Year (David Shepherd Trophy): Richard Kettleborough Read the original story at: Steve Smith named ICC Cricketer of the Year 2015