Dubai: The International Cricket Council’s Awards ceremony is coming to India for the second time since its inception six years ago with Bangalore set to host the prestigious event on October 6.
The seventh edition of LG ICC Awards ceremony, which is to be staged in association with Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA), is returning to India after Mumbai hosted it in 2006.
This year, the ICC has introduced a new category in People’s Choice Award which will be chosen by cricket fans around the world on-line from a shortlist of five cricketers.
The names of five cricketers will be selected by an ICC selection panel on the basis of some innovative parameters and posted on www.icc-cricket.com on August 23. The cricket fans will have an opportunity to vote for a player of their choice online until September 10, the ICC said in a statement.The other seven individual awards are for Cricketer of the Year, Test Player of the Year, ODI Player of the Year, Emerging Player, Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year, Twenty20 International Performance of the Year, Women’s Cricketer of the Year, Umpire of the Year, Spirit of Cricket.
The nominations for the seven awards will be made by a five-man selection panel chaired by former West Indies captain and Chairman of ICC Cricket Committee Clive Lloyd.The panel also includes former India captain Ravi Shastri, former England fast bowler Angus Fraser, ex-Zimbabwe batsman and England coach Duncan Fletcher and former Australia opener Matthew Hayden. This panel will also select the ICC Test and ODI teams of the year.
The winners of the seven individual awards will be voted upon by a 25 strong panel of renowned former players, members of the media and an elite umpire and elite match referee.
The nominations for Women’s Cricketer of the Year Award will be decided by a separate 25-person voting panel featuring former players and other experts on the women’s game.
The Spirit of Cricket Award will be voted on by all Full Member international captains as well as all members of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires and Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees while the Full Member captains and elite match referees will vote on the Umpire of the Year Award.
ICC President Sharad Pawar said he was “looking forward to attending what will be his first major event since taking over the ICC Presidency in July”.
“It is a great honour for India to host the prestigious LG ICC Awards for the second time since its inception in 2004. The Awards are being decided at the end of some excellent and thrilling series, including two hugely successful ICC global events in ICC Champions Trophy 2009 and ICC World Twenty20 2010 and there are quite a few superlative performances to consider,” he said.
PTI
First Published: Friday, August 20, 2010, 15:46