Spot on with his umpiring skills, the experienced Marais Erasmus, who officiated in 20 international matches in 2021, won the Umpire of the Year award.
The International Cricket Council on Monday announced the awards for the year 2021. While Pakistan’s left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi bagged the Cricketer of the Year award in the men’s category, India’s opening batter Smriti Mandhana was felicitated with the same honour in the women’s category. (More Cricket News)
Apart from the two, the likes of Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan, South Africa’s Lizelle Lee and her compatriot Janneman Malan too had a terrific season. Check out the complete list to see who bagged what prize and their performance in the year.
ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year – Shaheen Afridi
The star Pakistan fast bowler scalped 78 wickets in 36 internationals at an average of 22.20. His best bowling figures were 6/51. Shaheen was instrumental in providing Pakistan early wickets with the new ball, with his sensational opening spell against India in T20 World Cup 2021 being one of the highlights.
ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year – Smriti Mandhana
The Indian southpaw scored 855 runs in 22 international matches at an average of 38.86. She also scored a century and five half-centuries in the year.
ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year – Joe Root
The England Test skipper had a sensational Test season with the bat. He scored 1708 runs across the 15 matches he played in the format. He led the run-scorers' chart in Tests in 2021 with utter dominance as Rohit Sharma preceded him with 906 runs. Root also hit six Test centuries in the year.
ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year – Babar Azam
The Pakistan skipper scored 405 runs in six ODIs at an average of 67.50 helped by two centuries. Notably, Babar, who led Pakistan to the semi-finals of T20 World Cup last year, has also been named the skipper of ICC’s white-ball teams of 2021.
ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year – Lizelle Lee
South Africa's Lizelle Lee scored 632 runs in 11 ODI matches at a sensational average of 90.28 with one century and five half-centuries.
ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year – Mohammad Rizwan
Pakistan opener Rizwan scored 1326 runs in 29 T20Is at an average of 73.66 with the help of one century. Apart from this, the wicketkeeper effected 24 dismissals behind the stumps.
ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year – Tammy Beaumont
The England batter scored 303 runs in 9 T20Is at an average of 33.66. Her performance included three half-centuries.
ICC Men’s Associate Cricketer of the Year – Zeeshan Maqsood
Apart from leading his side in the T20 World Cup 2021, the Oman cricket team captain scored 316 runs in 13 international matches at an average of 31.60. Meanwhile, he also scalped 21 wickets in the games he played.
ICC Women’s Associate Cricketer of the Year – Andrea-Mae Zepeda
The batter from Austria scored 361 runs in 8 T20Is at an average of 51.57 and strike-rate of 102.55.
ICC Emerging Men’s Cricketer of the Year – Janneman Malan
The right-handed batter from South Africa scored 715 runs in 17 international matches at an average of 47.66 and a strike-rate of 101.85. He hit two centuries and three fifties in the year.
ICC Emerging Women’s Cricketer of the Year – Fatima Sana
The young pacer from Pakistan took 24 wickets and scored 165 runs at an average of 16.50 across 16 international matches.
ICC Umpire of the Year – Marais Erasmus
Spot on with his umpiring skills, the experienced Marais Erasmus officiated in 20 international matches across formats in 2021.
(With inputs from ICC)