By Adrian Meredith
VICTORIA, Australia (TheSportsNext) September 15, 2012: The LGICCawards were held in Sri Lankan capital city of Colombo on Saturday evening and I found them to be the most inaccurate ones ever. So, I am going to do my own. So here we go:
One Day Internationals:
Batsman of the year:
Virat Kohli - 1733 runs avg 66.65 strike rate 92.77 against Australia, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, West Indies and England. 21 of the 31 games were away games.
Hashim Amla - 754 runs avg 68.54 strike rate 88.49 against Australia, England, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. 8 of the 13 games were away games.
Winner:
The winner is: Virat Kohli. Runner up is Hashim Amla.
Comments: Virat Kohli had an amazing year, where at one point he scored 4 centuries in a row, scored at more than a run a ball. Hashim Amla isn't far behind but Amla didn't score quite as quickly and, while Amla had a higher average he didn't play quite as many games. (Note: I agree with the ICC here)
Bowler of the year:
Saeed Ajmal - 47 wickets avg 19.87 economy 4.06 against Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. 11 of the 26 games were away games - but the other 15 were neutral. 10 of the 26 were against Sri Lanka.
Mohammad Hafeez - 25 wickets avg 32.84 and also scored 851 runs avg 31.51
Winner:
Saeed Ajmal
Comments: Saeed Ajmal wasn't far behind either, though he had easier opponents.
Tests:
Batsman of the year:
Hashim Amla - 1049 runs avg 65.56 against Australia, England, Sri Lanka and New Zealand - away against England and New Zealand.
Kumar Sangakkara - 1444 runs avg 60.16 against Australia, England, Pakistan and South Africa - away against South Africa
Bowler of the year:
Vernon Philander - 63 wickets avg 15.96 against Australia, England, Sri Lanka and New Zealand - away against England and New Zealand. Also scored 211 runs avg 19.18 with a top score of 61.
Saeed Ajmal - 72 wickets avg 24.29 against Bangladesh, England, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe - away against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.
The winner is: Vernon Philander. Runner up is Hashim Amla.
Comments:Philander had an amazing start to his test career, making his test debut and immediately taking bucket loads of wickets, against top opposition too - 3 of his opponents in Australia, England and Sri Lanka are in the top 4 in tests, with his own team South Africa the other one. He also had to play away against England, which is probably the toughest away series at the moment - while playing away in New Zealand isn't far behind as far as home ground advantage is concerned. Philander is the fastest ever to 50 wickets and had the best ever start to a test bowling career - moving to 2nd on the test bowling rankings after just one year.
Overall:
Batsman:
Kumar Sangakkara - scored 1444 runs at 60.16 in tests, 1457 at 42.85 SR 76.88 in ODIs and 90 runs at 18.00 SR 132.35 in T20s.
Hashim Amla - scored 1049 runs at 65.56 in tests, 754 at 68.54 SR 88.49 in ODIs and 145 runs at 24.16 SR 133.02 in T20s.
Virat Kohli - scored 627 runs at 52.25 in tests, 1733 at 66.65 SR 92.77 in ODIs and 210 runs at 35.00 SR 135.48 in T20s.
Bowlers:
Vernon Philander - 63 wickets avg 15.96 and scored 211 runs avg 19.18 in tests. Didn't play ODIs or T20s.
Saeed Ajmal - 72 wickets avg 24.29 in tests, 47 wickets avg 19.87 economy 4.06 in ODIs, 17 wickets avg 13.70 economy 5.06 in T20s.
The winner is: Saeed Ajmal. Runner up is Hashim Amla.
Comments: It is a close one between Amla and Ajmal, and both had claims to the title. Certainly, Amla was the outstanding batsman while Ajmal was, overall, the outstanding bowler - as evidenced by his moving up from outside the top 10 to be 3rd in tests, and 1st in both ODIs and T20s on the rankings. Ajmal's record speaks for itself as he was just about unstoppable in all 3 formats consistently in all conditions. Amla was unlucky not to get an award, having been 2nd best behind Philander in tests and 2nd behind Kohli in ODIs, and now is 2nd behind Ajmal overall. Virat Kohli also warrants mention as, while he didn't play many tests, he nonetheless scored very heavily and was probably 3rd overall. But the award ultimately goes to Saeed Ajmal, who is just so consistent in all 3 formats and simply the weight of wickets gives it to him. Amla may have won the award if he hadn't missed so many matches through injury - or if he had done a bit better in T20s.
Overall comments: The fact that my winner, Saeed Ajmal, didn't even make the short list is shameful. The fact that Sangakkara was only the 3rd best test player - behind both Philander and Amla - yet got the award is shameful. The fact that in all three formats Amla was a better batsman than Sangakkara - by miles in ODIs - just highlights how incorrect it was to give the award to Sangakkara. No offence to Sangakkara, who had a decent year - averaging slightly higher than his overall record in tests. Sangakkara is ranked number 1 in tests; but he was ranked 3rd the year before so it wasn't a huge leap. Ajmal, in comparison, leapt up the rankings, meaning that his last year was much better than Sangakkara's.
Any way you look at it, the ICC got this one terribly wrong. Philander was an easy choice for test player of the year, and, while it was close for the overall award, I felt that Saeed Ajmal just pipped Hashim Amla. 3rd best was Virat Kohli - not Sangakkara. Sangakkara was probably 4th, with Philander overall the 5th best.
The only reason I can think to justify giving it to Sangakkara is that he played a lot more matches than the others, scoring more runs overall - though not at as high an average. This is a very silly reason to give him the award though.
The only award I agreed with was Virat Kohli's for ODI player of the year award. But that one was so obvious that they would have been lynched if he didn't get it. Sangakkara should have won the people's choice award - and that is it. He didn't deserve either the test or the overall award.
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