Sunday Nov 17, 2024
Sunday Nov 17, 2024
Monday, 17 March 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The jury that decided on the award included Michael Holding, Ian Chappell, Martin Crowe, Mark Taylor, Younis Khan, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Barry Richards, John Wright and Jeff Dujon, among others.
Mitchell Johnson’s series-defining 7 for 40 in the Ashes Test in Adelaide won the Test bowling title for 2013 in the annual ESPNcricinfo Awards, over performances from Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander, James Anderson, and Johnson’s own Brisbane four-for in the Ashes opener, which kicked off a scarcely believable streak in which he took 59 wickets in eight Tests at a little over 15 runs each.
Shahid Afridi won the ODI bowling award with his 7 for 12 against West Indies - a match he also dominated with the bat, making 76 off 55 balls. It was Afridi’s second ESPNcricinfo Award; he won in the same category for 2009.
“I remember this game because I was not picked for the Champions Trophy, and that was my comeback and that was my first game in Georgetown,” Afridi said about the award, “and (I produced an) awesome performance in batting and bowling as well, so I am very happy for this.”
Indian players took the two batting prizes. Shikhar Dhawan won the Test batting award for his rollicking 187 on debut against Australia in Mohali last year. Rohit Sharma’s ODI double-century in Bangalore, also against Australia, was picked as the ODI batting performance of the year.
“It is really a special award, and it was a very special performance, and it is very close to me,” Rohit said about winning. “I am very happy that ESPN has recognised this performance of mine. Getting 200 every day is not easy. More than anything else it was a match-winning performance and it helped us win the series. It was a decider game, we wanted to win the game and win the series, so I am happy that it came at the right time and we won the series.”
The jury for the performance awards included Mark Butcher, Sanjay Manjrekar, Daryll Cullinan, Russel Arnold, Ian Bishop, Rahul Dravid, and a number of ESPNcricinfo’s senior writers. A new category, the Debutant of the Year, voted on by ESPNcricinfo users, was won by India’s Mohammed Shami, who took 17 wickets in his four Tests in 2013, and 30 ODI wickets. Shami beat the likes of Kusal Perera, Ashton Agar, Kyle Abbott, Sohail Maqsood and Jason Holder to the title.
Also new this year, the Contribution to Cricket Award went to Tarak Sinha, head coach of the Sonnet Cricket Club in Delhi, who has been involved in the development of a remarkable number of Indian Test and first-class players, among them Aakash Chopra, Ashish Nehra and Manoj Prabhakar. Sinha, who was nominated for the award by Rahul Dravid, has coached Ranji Trophy-winning Delhi and Rajasthan teams, and was the coach of the India women’s team the first time it won a Test series overseas.
South Africans AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn dominated the Statsguru Awards, which are adjudged based purely on statistical data. De Villiers won Batsman of the Year, Best Test Batsman, and Most Consistent Batsman. Steyn was the Bowler of the Year and the Best Test Bowler.
The ESPNcricinfo Awards are now in their seventh year. Past winners have included Dale Steyn, Kumar Sangakkara, Virender Sehwag and Lasith Malinga.
