The ICC Awards

When Graeme Swann was omitted from the ICC’s initial shortlist for cricketer of the year, one should have realised that the awards were never going to be good for English cricket. And so it was.

After having just watched them, I am thoroughly disappointed. Out of the nine awards given (excluding the award for umpire of the year), only one went to an Englishmen - congratulations Steven Finn. The rest were divided up between a couple for New Zealand, one for a South African, one for an Australian, one for a Dutchman and three for the Indians. While you may well argue that the West Indies, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan got nothing (the latter hardly being a surprise - oh, the irony if they had won the Spirit of Cricket award!), England have been a team on the up. Having had, I think you would agree, a pretty good twelve months. 2009 and 2010 have seen them regain the ashes, get to the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy, draw a test match series and win a ODI series in South Africa, become world Twenty20 Champions, beat Bangladesh both home and away and beat Pakistan in all formats. Taking all this into consideration then, I was shocked not only by the lack of awards handed out to Englishmen, but also by the lack of nominations.

Undeniably, Indian cricket has also had a very good twelve months. They are the number one test team in the world and the brilliance of Tendulkar can never be in question (his double hundred in that ODI against South Africa was sublime). Yet, I think the ICC could have recognised the improvement of the English team and the emergence/improvement of some of our players more than they did. The fact that Eoin Morgan was not picked for the ICC ODI squad, nor a contender for the emerging player of the year, is baffling. Likewise, for Strauss. I think he was mentioned once, as a candidate for the peoples choice award (whatever that is!). Also, considering England are world Twenty20 champions, surely at least one of our players should have been nominated for Twenty20 performance of the year? Yet, the greatest travesty of all is the fact that Graeme Swann received nothing, nought, zilch. He has been a star for England - by far our best bowler of 2009/2010 - and with Murali retried, undoubtedly the best Off Spinner in the world.

Held in India, presented by a former Indian player and dominated by Indian successes, the ICC awards are looking increasingly biased. This is something the ICC needs to address. Here’s hoping that next year English talent is properly recognised.

Who won what at the ICC awards:

Cricketer of the Year (winning the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy) - Sachin Tendulkar (Ind)

Women's Cricketer of the Year - Shelley Nitschke (Aus)

Test Player of the Year - Virender Sehwag (Ind)

ODI Player of the Year - AB de Villiers (SA)

Emerging Player of the Year - Steven Finn (Eng)

Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year - Ryan ten Doeschate (Ned)

Twenty20 International Performance of the Year - Brendon McCullum (NZ)

Spirit of Cricket - New Zealand

People’s Choice Award - Sachin Tendulkar (Ind)

Umpire of the Year (winning the David Shepherd Trophy) - Aleem Dar (PAK)