JOHANNESBURG Zimbabwe has been nominated for the Spirit of Cricket Award next week, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said, adding nomination was in recognition of the strides Zimbabwe has made to return to Test cricket.Other nominees for the LG ICC awards are India, New Zealand and Sri Lanka.
Zimbabwe is on the verge of returning to Test cricket after maintaining form in the ICC Intercontinental Cup, which is a tier lower than Test cricket.
Zimbabwe lost its berth in Test cricket in 2005 after a loss of form following the resignation of a number of senior players after differences with ZC leadership. Some of the senior players have returned much to the improvement of the teams fortunes in One Day internationals.
Meanwhile, Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag of India, Hashim Amla of South Africa and England s Graeme Swann have all been short-listed for the top honour at the LG ICC Awards 2010.
In addition, Tendulkar, Sehwag and Amla are also short-listed for the Test Player of the Year alongside South Africa s Dale Steyn at the seventh annual LG ICC Awards, presented in association with the Federation of International Cricketers Associations (FICA).
Tendulkar is also in contention for the ODI Player of the Year award as he is short-listed in that category with Australia duo of Shane Watson and Ryan Harris as well as South Africa s AB de Villiers.
Nominated for the Twenty20 International Performance of the Year award are New Zealand s Brendon McCullum, Australia s Michael Hussey, Sri Lanka s Mahela Jayawardena and South Africa s Ryan McLaren.
This years LG ICC Awards includes nine individual prizes, including the new LG Peoples Choice Award and also features the selection of the Test and ODI Teams of the Year and the award to the side that has adhered most to the Spirit of Cricket.
A five-man ICC selection panel chaired by former West Indies captain and current chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee Clive Lloyd made the nominations.
The panel also includes former players such as India s Ravi Shastri, Matthew Hayden of Australia, Angus Fraser of England and Zimbabwe s Duncan Fletcher.
The short-lists were created after the individual player awards were voted for by an academy of 25 highly credentialed cricket personalities from around the world.
The academy includes a host of former players, respected members of the media as well as representatives of the Emirates Elite Panels of ICC Umpires and ICC Match Referees, ICC spokesperson, James Fitzgerald said.
Post published in: Cricket