 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Australia captain also wins ICC Test Cricketer of the Year award
AB De Villiers named ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year
Faf du Plessis bags ICC T20I Performance of the Year award for his 56-ball 119 against the West Indies
Australians and South Africans swept the International Cricket Council's annual awards.
Steve Smith was named Cricketer of the Year and Test Cricketer of the Year.
He is the fourth Australian and 11th overall to win the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy after being named ICC Cricketer of the Year 2015.
He follows in the footsteps of Ricky Ponting (2006 and 2007), Mitchell Johnson (2009 and 2014) and Michael Clarke (2013) who won the coveted award, instituted in 2004.
Other recipients of the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy include Rahul Dravid (2004), Andrew Flintoff and Jacques Kallis (joint-winners in 2005), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (2008), Sachin Tendulkar (2010), Jonathan Trott (2011) and Kumar Sangakkara (2012).
The top-order batsman was also adjudged Test Cricketer of the Year, which 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.
South Africa's ODI captain AB de Villiers was named the ODI Cricketer of the Year for the second time in a row.
'Winning the World Cup was a highlight, but disappointment of losing the Ashes remains'
During the voting period, which ran from September 18 2014 to September 13 2015, the 26-year-old Smith finished as the leading scorer in Tests with 1,734 runs in 13 matches, at an average of 82.57.
This included seven centuries and six half-centuries.
In 26 One-Dayers, he 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 World Cup 2015 in Australia and New Zealand earlier this year.
Earlier this month, Smith was also named in the 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."
The 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, 11x4, 5x6 – 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