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Cape Town - Steve Smith has become the fourth Australia player and 11th player overall to win the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy after being named as the ICC Cricketer of the Year 2015.
Smith follows in the footsteps of Ricky Ponting (2006 and 2007), Mitchell
Johnson (2009 and 2014) and Michael Clarke (2013) to lift the coveted
trophy since the inception of the awards 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 the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year, which has 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.
During the voting period, which ran from September 18, 2014 to September 13, 2015,
the 26-year-old from New South Wales finished as the leading run-scorer
in Tests with 1 734 runs in 25 innings of 13 matches at an average of
82.57.
This included seven centuries and six half-centuries.
In 26 One-Day Internationals, Smith 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 ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 in Australia and New Zealand earlier this year.
Earlier this month, Smith was also named in the ICC 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.
“To be the best team that we can be, we have to become better at winning away from home, and that remains our motivation heading into 2016.
“I’d like to thank my
team-mates and my family for their support over the year. I’d also like
to thank the voting panel for this recognition, which is very humbling.”
ICC Chief Executive David Richardson congratulated Smith, saying: “I
would like to extend my congratulations to Steve on winning the ICC
Cricketer of the Year and ICC Test Cricketer of the Year awards.
“His consistent performance during the voting period in varying
conditions and against all opposition has been exceptional. His skill
and determination to succeed at the highest level has been an
inspiration to all.
“I would also like to take this
opportunity to congratulate all the other winners, including Richard
Kettleborough for completing a hat-trick of ICC Umpire of the Year
titles. They are all well-deserved winners.”
The full list of ICC award 2015 winners is:
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
BREAKING: Steven Smith wins the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Cricketer of the Year 2015
#ICCAwards pic.twitter.com/DG7aQZYqTi
— ICC (@ICC) December 23, 2015
