Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson has won the prestigious ICC Cricketer of the Year award.
Johnson, the Australia fast bowler who terrorised England in last winter’s Ashes series, scooped the most prestigious award - ahead of Sri Lanka duo Kumar Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews and South Africa’s AB de Villiers - and also the Test Player of the Year.
There was consolation for De Villiers - he picked up the ODI Cricketer of the Year after another stellar year for the Proteas. He beat his team-mates Quinton de Kock and Dale Steyn, plus India batsman Virat Kohli to the award.
England’s Gary Ballance was named the Emerging Cricketer of the Year, Sarah Taylor the Women’s ODI Player of the Year and Katherine Brunt won the ICC Spirit of Cricket award.
Ballance won the Emerging Cricketer award after a superb first season in international cricket. The Yorkshire left-hander scored three Test centuries in the summer and has become England’s new rock at No 3 in the batting line-up in place of Jonathan Trott.
He beat England team-mate Ben Stokes and New Zealand duo Corey Anderson and Jimmy Neesham to the award.
