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AB thrilled with ICC accolade

Johannesburg - AB de Villiers has expressed delight at being included in the ICC Test team of the year along with three other Proteas.

Jacques Kallis, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn have been named in the 2011 ICC test Team of Year. This is Steyn’s fourth successive year in the team, while Amla and Kallis make an appearance for the second consecutive year. De Villiers broke the record for the highest South Africa test score with his unbeaten 278 in Abu Dhabi and is delighted with his inclusion.

“It’s an honour and a privilege, but more importantly it means a lot to be included in a team with so many talented and respected cricketers,” said de Villiers. “This past season was very special for me, especially my record-breaking score against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi. The Proteas have a group of world-class cricketers that continue to produce outstanding performances and this is also just reward for them.”

The Chairman of the LG ICC Awards selection panel, Clive Lloyd, said: “The selection was a difficult process with so many outstanding performances available to look back on. All the top performers during the voting period were discussed at length and various combinations were considered.

“While selecting the squad, the selectors didn’t rely only on statistics only but took into account all other factors like the opposition, pitch conditions, match situation etc. But when you have only 12 places to fill from a big group of world-class players, there will always be a few who will miss out.

“In the panel’s expert opinion, it has selected the best team based on performances over the past 12 months.”

In another boost for the Proteas, three players made the final shortlist of nominations for their respective ICC Awards.

Kallis is nominated in the final shortlist for the ICC test Cricketer of the Year and the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award, this for walking on two occasions during the ICC World Cup after clarifying with the opposition fielder if they had caught the ball cleanly.

Hashim Amla’s pursuit of accolades continued with his nomination for the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the ICC Cricketer of the Year and ICC ODI Player of the Year. He is nominated together with Alistair Cook, Sachin Tendulkar and Jonathan Trott for the former award.

JP Duminy’s 96 not out against Zimbabwe in Kimberley has earned him a nomination for the ICC T20 International Performance of the Year. This is the highest score for South Africa in International T20’s and was a special knock for Duminy.

“It was definitely one of the better T20 knocks of my career and one that I would like to better in the seasons to come,” said Duminy.

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