LONDON, June 29: Cricket's world governing body the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday unveiled plans to introduce an annual awards ceremony for outstanding players and teams.
The inaugural event will take place at Alexandra Palace on Sept 7 with the ICC awarding prizes for the Cricketer of the Year, Test Player of the Year, One-Day International Player of the Year and Emerging Player of the Year.
A voting panel of up to 50 people is being put together for the individual categories. Other awards will be given to Test Team of the Year and One-Day International Team of the Year.
There will also be a special Spirit of Cricket award for an international team chosen by captains and match referees. Players from all 10 Test nations, plus Kenya and the United States - which is launching a new summer league - are expected to attend the ceremony as they will be in England preparing for the ICC Champions Trophy, starting on Sept 10.
ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said the awards would be a unique opportunity to recognise individual and team performance over the past year. "The establishment of the ICC Awards is a significant and important initiative for international cricket, and for the players in particular," said Speed.
"The ICC Awards will no doubt generate a great deal of interest, discussion and debate in the cricket community about nominations and selections, and that is something we certainly welcome as a positive story for cricket.
"With seven different awards, cricketers in both forms of the game can be duly recognised for their performances," he added. Australian captain Ricky Ponting welcomed the idea of an Oscars-style ceremony.
"I think it's great world cricket now has an awards ceremony with genuine meaning," said Ponting. England skipper Michael Vaughan admitted he was excited about the inaugural event which is supported by the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA).
"This is a good idea and I'm sure that it will become a fixture in the international cricket calendar," said Vaughan. The individual awards are:
