ICC Awards 2007

Ponting retains Cricketer of the Year award

Cricinfo staff

September 10, 2007

Ricky Ponting accepts the major award © Getty Images

Australia's Ricky Ponting was named ICC Cricketer of the Year for the second year running at the ICC Awards in Johannesburg.

Ponting was the winner after the ballots from the 56-member ICC Awards Voting Academy were tallied, adding the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy to the award for Captain of the Year, won earlier in the evening.

Ponting was also named on both the ICC ODI and Test Teams of the Year which were chosen by a five-man ICC selection panel led by former India captain Sunil Gavaskar and also including Chris Cairns, the former New Zealand allrounder, ex-South Africa batsman Gary Kirsten, Iqbal Qasim, the former Pakistan left-arm spinner, and ex-England captain Alec Stewart.

On winning the award, Ponting said: "It's more of an eventful night that I thought it would be and I am honoured. It's a great thrill for me and something I am very proud of. It's a great achievement and something I will probably look back on this in years to come with a lot of pride.

"I am the first player to win this award twice in a row and maybe if I keep my head down there might be more around the corner. I was happy with the way I have gone about things during the past year and I think we have lifted ourselves to a new level as a team. It has been an unbelievable 12 months of cricket and we should all be very proud with what we have achieved."

Ponting received the award from ICC president Ray Mali as the finale to the prestigious awards ceremony. "These awards are about excellence and I can think of few cricketers who have demonstrated genuine excellence through their careers more than Ricky Ponting," Mali said.

"He has a huge amount of natural talent but through hard work, desire and dedication he is making the most of that ability. And as a captain he has been remarkably successful in all forms of the game. He is a deserving winner of this award and the fact that he has won it for the second year running shows the level of consistency that he is putting in time after time for his country."

© Cricinfo

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