James Fitzgerald - ICC

Australia captain Ricky Ponting and his Sri Lanka counterpart Mahela Jayawardena have both been nominated in four categories for this year's ICC Awards ceremony.

Eight other players - West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the Australia trio of Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey and Glenn McGrath, Muttiah Muralidaran of Sri Lanka, England's Kevin Pietersen, Shaun Pollock of South Africa and Pakistan's Mohammad Yousuf - have each been put forward for three individual honours.

All appear among the long lists of nominations for prizes at the fourth annual ICC Awards, presented in association with FICA (the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations) and this year set to take place in Johannesburg on 10 September, the day before the opening match of the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 tournament.

The nominations were made by a five-man ICC selection panel led by former India captain Sunil Gavaskar and also including Chris Cairns, the former New Zealand all-rounder, ex-South Africa batsman Gary Kirsten, Iqbal Qasim, the former Pakistan left-arm spinner, and ex-England captain Alec Stewart.

They will be voted upon by a 56-person panel made up of the 10 ICC Full Member captains, the 10 Emirates Elite umpires and eight Emirates Elite match referees and 28 former greats of the game and members of the media.

Ponting, who secured the Cricketer of the Year and Test Player of the Year awards in 2006, has once again been named among the nominees in those categories and also appears among the names for ODI Player and Captain of the Year.

2006 Captain of the Year Jayawardena has a chance of winning that award again this time and, like Ponting, is also up for consideration in three other individual categories.

This year's ICC Awards includes eight individual prizes, including a new one for the Associate ODI Player of the Year.

It 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 Emerging Player of the Year nominees include Australia fast-bowling discoveries Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson, the Bangladesh duo of Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim, New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor and the England pair of Chris Tremlett and Ravinder Bopara.

To qualify for that award a player has to be under the age of 26 and have played fewer than five Tests and/or 10 ODIs at the start of the voting period, 9 August 2006.

The Associate ODI Player of the Year Award serves to recognize and reward the efforts in ODIs of the outstanding cricketer from the six countries outside the ICC Full Members - Bermuda, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, the Netherlands and Scotland.

Each of the six countries was invited to nominate players for the award and the 18-strong long list is the result.

Based on the 12 months between 9 August 2006 and 8 August 2007, the ICC Awards - presented in association with FICA - will take into account performances by players and officials in a remarkable period for the game.

That period includes last year's ICC Champions Trophy in India, the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup in the Caribbean, a record-breaking Ashes series and a plethora of individual feats.

Announcing the nominees on Tuesday at the venue for last year's ICC Awards, the Taj Lands End Hotel in Mumbai, ICC Chief Executive Officer Malcolm Speed said he was looking forward to September's ceremony to relive a host of cricketing highlights.

"There is so much great cricket to reflect upon during the voting period," said Mr Speed.

"There was an enthralling and very competitive ICC Champions Trophy in India which ended with Australia securing that title for the first time, as well as an ICC Cricket World Cup that saw Ricky Ponting's side lift the trophy for an unprecedented third time.

"There were runs galore from the likes of Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Kevin Pietersen, Kumar Sangakkara and Mohammad Yousuf, and outstanding bowling displays by established champions such as Glenn McGrath, Muttiah Muralidaran and Shane Warne and newcomers like Shaun Tait and Monty Panesar.

"We had a record-breaking Ashes series, Test wins for India in South Africa and England, and Australia losing its place - albeit briefly - at the top of the LG ICC ODI Championship table when Graeme Smith's side reached the summit in March.

"And as well as the promise shown by Bangladesh in beating both India and South Africa during the ICC Cricket World Cup, we also had a twelfth side joining that LG ICC ODI table when Ireland tied with Zimbabwe and beat both Pakistan and Bangladesh."

The ICC Awards ceremony is now in its fourth year and this will be the first time it has been staged in South Africa. Previous ceremonies were held in London (2004), Sydney (2005) and Mumbai (2006).

The five selectors who have compiled the long lists of nominations can boast a total of 471 Test and 693 ODI caps, with almost 50,000 runs and more than 600 wickets at international level.

In first-class cricket the selectors' combined figures are even more striking, with a total of 81,803 runs and 1,691 wickets as well as 1436 catches (including 721 for Stewart, and 32 stumpings).

The selectors used their knowledge, skill and judgment to assess players' performances during the voting period of 9 August 2006 - 8 August 2007.

The long lists they have come up with will be voted upon by the ICC voting academy. For the Spirit of Cricket Award, the ICC voting academy can select from any of the 16 teams that play ODI cricket - the ten ICC Full Members and six Associates.

The nominations for Umpire of the Year are made by ICC management.

In the light of all the action from the 12 months under consideration, Mr Speed admitted he was relieved it was not his job to pick the winners in each category.

"I do not envy the task of the ICC voting academy," he said.

"For each of those 56 people (in the academy) to pick their top three performers in each category will be really tough.

"I certainly would not like to try and predict a winner or even a favourite for any of the awards this year," he added.

The long lists will be reduced to final shortlists on or around 4 September.

The five ICC selectors will also choose the Test and ODI Teams of the Year.

For the Women's Cricketer of the Year, each ICC Member that played international cricket during the voting period is eligible to nominate two players.

The resultant list is then voted upon by an academy of 17 leading former players and influential figures in the women's game including members of the media.

Further details and announcements will be made as the date for this year's ICC Awards draws nearer.

The ICC wishes to thank its commercial partners for the ICC Awards, LG and Swarovski (manufacturers of each ICC Award), and its broadcast partner ESPN STAR Sports.

ICC Awards 2007

Long List of Nominees - Individual Awards (each category to be reduced to a shortlist on or around 4 September)

Test Player
Mohammad Asif (Pak), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI), Stuart Clark (Aus), Matthew Hayden (Aus), Michael Hussey (Aus), Mahela Jayawardena (SL), Zaheer Khan (Ind), Anil Kumble (Ind), Brian Lara (WI), Glenn McGrath (Aus), Muttiah Muralidaran (SL), Makhaya Ntini (SA), Monty Panesar (Eng), Kevin Pietersen (Eng), Shaun Pollock (SA), Ricky Ponting (Aus), Kumar Sangakkara (SL) Ryan Sidebottom (Eng), Shane Warne (Aus), Mohammad Yousuf (Pak).

ODI Player
Shane Bond (NZ), Mark Boucher (SA) Nathan Bracken (Aus), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI), Stuart Clark (Aus), Michael Clarke (Aus), Matthew Hayden (Aus), Michael Hussey (Aus), Mahela Jayawardena (SL), Jacques Kallis (SA), Brett Lee (Aus), Glenn McGrath (Aus), Muttiah Muralidaran (SL), Jacob Oram (NZ), Kevin Pietersen (Eng), Shaun Pollock (SA), Ricky Ponting (Aus), Yuvraj Singh (Ind), Mohammed Yousuf (Pak).

Emerging Player
Ravinder Bopara (Eng), Shakib Al Hasan (Bang), Mitchell Johnson (Aus), Mushfiqur Rahim (Bang), Shaun Tait (Aus), Ross Taylor (NZ), Chris Tremlett (Eng).

Cricketer of the Year
Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI), Matthew Hayden (Aus), Michael Hussey (Aus), Mahela Jayawardena (SL), Jacques Kallis (SA), Glenn McGrath (Aus), Muttiah Muralidaran (SL), Kevin Pietersen (Eng), Ricky Ponting (Aus), Kumar Sangakkara (SL), Mohammed Yousuf (Pak).

Captain of the Year
Mahela Jayawardene (SL), Ricky Ponting (Aus).

Associate ODI Player of the Year
Ashish Bagai (Can), Andre Botha (Ire), John Davison (Can), Trent Johnston (Ire), Dwayne Leverock (Ber), Kyle McCallan (Ire), Tanmay Mishra (Ken), Eoin Morgan (Ire), Ashif Mulla (Can), Niall O'Brien (Ire), Thomas Odoyo (Ken), Peter Ongondo (Ken), Irving Romaine (Ber), Abdool Samad (Can), Ryan Ten Doeschate (Neth), Steve Tikolo (Ken), Hiren Varaiya (Ken), Ryan Watson (Sco).

Umpire of the Year
Mark Benson, Steve Bucknor, Daryl Harper, Simon Taufel.

Women's Cricketer of the Year
Caitriona Beggs (Ire), Holly Colvin (Eng), Rumeli Dhar (Ind), Maria Fahey (NZ), Jhulan Goswami (Ind), Ashlyn Kilowan (SA), Johmari Logtenberg (SA), Urooj Mumtaz Khan (Pak), Shelley Nitschke (Aus), Rebecca Rolls (NZ), Sajida Shah (Pak), Lisa Sthalekar (Aus), Claire Taylor (Eng).

© ICC