Australia's Michael Hussey was named the ICC One-Day International Player of the Year at the 2006 ICC Awards, sponsored by Hyundai, in Mumbai on Friday.
The Australian left-hander played an important role in Australia's success in one-dayers since making his debut in February. He beat stiff competition from his captain, Ricky Ponting, Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene and Indian left-hander Yuvraj Singh.
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"It's a great honour. I am a bit shocked at the moment. I just don't know what to say," he said immediately after winning the top honour.
The Australian batsmen was quick to establish himself as one of the best in limited-overs cricket, playing a valuable role in batting down the order and guiding the team in the latter stages of the innings.
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"I try to play according to the situation. I enjoy batting whenever the team is in trouble. I like to come in and resurrect the innings, by building partnerships," he added.
In ODI cricket Hussey has shown he is capable of scoring quickly from the moment he arrives at the crease. He has a strike-rate of almost 100 and a one-day average above 75.
Asked how he manages to remain not out so often, he replied: "I guess I have been pretty lucky.
"The game can bring you down pretty quickly, so I try and enjoy my success at the moment."
Before this, the award was only won by Englishmen -- Andrew Flintoff (2004) and Kevin Pietersen (2005).
However, there was so some joy for England, when Ian Bell was named the ICC Emerging Player of the Year, ahead of compatriots Alistair Cook and Monty Panesar, and Pakistan pacer Mohammad Asif.
Irfan Pathan is the only other person to have won the Emerging Player of the Year Award; he was awarded the crown at the inaugural ICC Awards in 2004.
Australian women's captain Karen Rolton was honoured with the ICC Women's Player of the Year award.
The other nominations for the award were India's Anjum Chopra and England's Katherine Brunt.
The England cricket team was honoured with the Spirit of Cricket Award.
The other teams short-listed for the award were India, Sri Lanka and New Zealand.
This award recognises the international team who has done most to adhere to the Spirit of Cricket.
Roll of honour:
Captain of the year: Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka)
Women's player of the year: Karen Rolton (Australia)
Umpire of the year: Simon Taufel (Australia)
Captain of ICC's Test team of the year: Rahul Dravid (India)
Emerging player of the year: Ian Bell (England)
One-Day International player of the year: Michael Hussey (Australia)
Test player of the year: Ricky Ponting (Australia)
Player of the year: Ricky Ponting
