ICC Cricketer of the Year 2015: Steve Smith wins Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy…

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.

During the voting period, which ran from 18 September 2014 to 13 September 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.

South Africa’s ODI captain AB de Villiers has been named as the ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year for the second successive year. He had also won this award in 2010. In the voting period, de Villiers scored 1,265 runs in 20 innings at an average of just over 79 and a strike-rate of 128.4.

He hit two centuries and nine half-centuries. Earlier this month, de Villiers was named as the captain of the ICC ODI Team of the Year.

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has won the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award for inspiring his side to play the game in its true spirit.

This was clearly evident throughout the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, and in particular in the semi-final where McCullum showed humility and exemplary sportsmanship by inviting de Villiers and his side to the New Zealand’s dressing room after a closely-fought match.

Richard Kettleborough of the Elite Panel of ICC Umpires has won his third successive David Shepherd Trophy for the ICC Umpire of the Year. He is the third umpire to a complete a hat-trick of titles after Simon Taufel (2004 to 2008) and Aleem Dar (2009-2011).

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, 11×4, 5×6 – 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