Shakib Al Hasan among International Cricket Council’s Cricketer of the Year nominees’s

Bangladesh all rounder Shakib Al Hasan has been nominated in two different categories at the LG ICC Awards 2009. Shakib, the world’s number one ranked all-rounder in ODIs is the only Bangladeshi to be included in the 14-man list for Cricketer of the Year award and is also among the 19 players nominated for the Test Player of the Year. The Awards will take place at a glittering ceremony in Johannesburg on 1 October.

Bangladesh is also featured in the Twenty20 International Performance of the Year category with left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak’s four for 16 against South Africa in 2008 making the list. The players appear among the long-lists of nominations for prizes at the sixth annual LG ICC Awards, presented in association with the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations. The long-lists were announced at a function in Mumbai today hosted by former India all-rounder Ravi Shastri and attended by current India opener Virender Sehwag – who himself is one of the players nominated for the ODI Player of the Year award – and ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat.

This year’s LG ICC Awards includes eight individual prizes and also features the selection of the Test and ODI Teams of the Year and the award to the side that has adhered most to the Spirit of Cricket.
The nominations were made by a five-man ICC selection panel chaired by former West Indies captain and current chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee Clive Lloyd. The panel also includes former players such as India’s Anil Kumble, Mudassar Nazar of Pakistan, Bob Taylor of England and New Zealand’s Stephen Fleming.

The individual player awards will be selected by an academy of 25 highly credentialed cricket personalities from around the world. The academy includes a host of former players and respected members of the media, representatives of the Emirates Elite Panels of ICC Umpires and ICC Match Referees.

The nominations from the Women’s Cricketer of the Year were decided after a committee of former players, current administrators and journalists created a long-list. The award will then be voted for by a separate 25-person voting academy.

The Spirit of Cricket Award was voted on by all international captains as well as all members of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires and Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees. The Umpire of the Year Award was voted on by the captains and the match referees based on the umpires’ performance statistics.

Based on the period between 13 August 2008 and 24 August 2009, the LG ICC Awards 2009– presented in association FICA will take into account performances by players and officials in a remarkable period for the game.

That period includes such high-profile events as the ICC World Twenty20 2009 in England, the ICC Women’s World Cup 2009 in Australia and the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2009 in South Africa, as well as several bilateral Test and ODI series.