Sanga, Mahela, Herath & Malinga nominated for ICC Awards of the Decade

Kumar Sangakkara has been nominated for the Sir Garfield Sobers Award for ‘ICC Male Cricketer of the Decade’ while fellow Sri Lankan cricketing legends Mahela Jayawardena, Rangana Herath and Lasith Malinga have also been nominated under various categories in the ICC Awards of The Decade.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has released the nominees for the ‘Awards of the Decade’. The apex cricketing body has included the names of several talismanic players who ruled the game in the last decade i.e. 2010-2019. 

Former Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara featured in the top category- ’Player of the Decade’– as well as in the ODI category. Sri Lanka has two nominees in the ODI category.

He is nominated for the ‘Sir Garfield Sobers Award for ICC Male Cricketer of the Decade’, which will go to the best overall performer in men’s international cricket (Tests, ODIs and T20Is) during the performance period.

Sangakkara is also nominated for the award ‘ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Decade’ – the best overall performer in men’s ODI cricket during the performance period.

Sri Lanka pacer and current T20 captain Lasith Malinga is also nominated for the ‘ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Decade’ award in addition to ‘ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Decade’ – the best overall performer in men’s T20I cricket during the performance period.

Meanwhile Sri Lankan spinner Rangana Herath is in the fray for the ICC Men’s Test Player of the Decade category. He took 363 wickets between 2010 and 2018.

Former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene is nominated for the “ICC Spirit of Cricket Award of the Decade” – awarded for an action, moment, gesture, or decision on the field of play in international cricket during the performance period which best reflects the Spirit of Cricket.

Jayawardene, who won the Spirit of Cricket award at the ICC Awards 2013, is nominated for the category alongside other past winners of the award within that decade. 

India’s Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma along with Australia’s woman all-rounder Ellyse Perry are the ones with most nominations across various categories.

ICC said it opens fan voting on Wednesday for the special edition of the ICC Awards of the Decade, celebrating and rewarding top performances of the decade in cricket for both men and women.

Fans can vote online on icc-cricket.com/awards for their favourite cricketers (both men and women) across various categories.

The ICC Awards of The Decade will recognise the best players across cricket over the past 10 years, and the for the first time the fans’ voice will be heard in selecting the winners across categories including the Sir Garfield Sobers and Rachael Heyhoe Flint Awards, which celebrate the best overall player from the men’s and women’s game over the past decade. The ICC said fan vote will make up 10% of the voting, while votes from an expert panel will make up the remaining 90%.

Fans will provide 100% of the vote for the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award of the Decade, from a list of the past winners since 2011.

The nominees for each of the categories have been determined by the Awards Nominations Committee according to on-field performances and overall achievements for at least five years during the period.

Award winners will be announced next month and will culminate in a special ICC Awards of the Decade digital show, to be broadcast on the ICC digital channels and will take into account the fans’ votes as well as those by a global panel of journalists and broadcasters.

The complete list of nominees for the ICC Awards of the Decade are as follows:

Sir Garfield Sobers Award for ICC Male Cricketer of the Decade 

R Ashwin (India)
Virat Kohli (India)
Joe Root (England)
Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)
Steve Smith (Australia)
AB de Villiers (South Africa)
Kane Williamson (New Zealand)

Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award for ICC Female Cricketer of the Decade 

Suzie Bates (New Zealand)
Meg Lanning (Australia)
Ellyse Perry (Australia)
Mithali Raj (India)
Sarah Taylor (England)
Stafanie Taylor (West Indies)

ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Decade 

James Anderson (England)
Rangana Herath (Sri Lanka)
Virat Kohli (India)
Joe Root (England)
Yasir Shah (Pakistan)
Steve Smith (Australia)
Kane Williamson (New Zealand)

ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Decade 

MS Dhoni (India)
Virat Kohli (India)
Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka)
Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)
Rohit Sharma (India)
Mitchell Starc (Australia)
AB de Villiers (South Africa)

ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Decade 

Suzie Bates (New Zealand)
Jhulan Goswami (India)
Meg Lanning (Australia)
Ellyse Perry (Australia)
Mithali Raj (India)
Stafanie Taylor (West Indies)

ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Decade 

Aaron Finch (Australia)
Chris Gayle (West Indies)
Rashid Khan (Afghanistan)
Virat Kohli (India)
Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka)
Rohit Sharma (India)
Imran Tahir (South Africa)

ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Decade 

Sophie Devine (New Zealand)
Deandra Dottin (West Indies)
Alyssa Healy (Australia)
Meg Lanning (Australia)
Ellyse Perry (Australia)
Anya Shrubsole (England)

ICC Men’s Associate Cricketer of the Decade 

Richie Berrington (Scotland)
Peter Borren (Netherlands)
Kyle Coetzer (Scotland)
Paras Khadka (Nepal)
Calum MacLeod (Scotland)
Assad Vala (PNG)

ICC Women’s Associate Cricketer of the Decade 

Kathryn Bryce (Scotland)
Sarah Bryce (Scotland)
Natthakan Chantham (Thailand)
Sterre Kalis (Netherlands)
Chanida Sutthiruang (Thailand)
Sornnorin Tippoch (Thailand)

ICC Spirit of Cricket Award of the Decade 

2011 Winner – MS Dhoni (India)
2012 Winner – Daniel Vettori (New Zealand)
2013 Winner – Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka)
2014 Winner – Katherine Brunt (England)
2015 Winner – Brendon McCullum (New Zealand)
2016 Winner – Misbah-ul-Haq (Pakistan)
2017 Winner – Anya Shrubsole (England)
2018 Winner – Kane Williamson (New Zealand)
2019 Winner – Virat Kohli (India)