06 September 2004	Monday	20 Rajab 1425

LONDON, Sept 5: The International Cricket Council (ICC) is to rename its player of the year award The Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy after the legendary West Indies all-rounder.

The award will be presented as such for the first time at the annual ICC Awards ceremony in London on Wednesday.

Sobers, who was knighted for his services to cricket in 1975, said: "It is a great honour to have this award named after me." "I have been fortunate to enjoy a long association with a game that I and millions of others around the world cherish, and I appreciate this honour which has been initiated on my behalf, and I wish all those players who have been nominated as Player of the Year the very best of luck."

ICC President Ehsan Mani said that naming the Player of the Year award after Sobers would add strong meaning for the individual voted as the game's most outstanding player of the past 12 months.

"The ICC is delighted that Sir Garfield Sobers has accepted its invitation to have this perpetual trophy named in his honour," said Mr Mani. The recommendation to name the award after Sobers came from a group of three cricket legends - Richie Benaud, Sunil Gavaskar and Michael Holding - who were asked by the ICC to select an individual with whom to honour cricket's ultimate individual award. -AFP