Cricketers of the year 2009/2010

The longlists for the annual ICC Awards have just been announced. These are meant to recognise cricketing achievements in the period between 24th August 2009 and 10th August 2010. Some of the relevant stats for that period are here: Test batting, Test bowling, ODI batting, ODI bowling.

The winners won't be announced until October but in the meantime here are my suggestions. I've ignored a couple of categories about which I don't know much (Women's Cricketer of the Year and Umpire of the Year) and also invented a couple of my own (T20I Cricketer of the Year, Test and ODI Performances of the Year).

T20I performance of the year
Mike Hussey 60*(24), World T20 SF v Pak, Gros Islet

ODI performance of the year
Sachin Tendulkar 200*(147), 2nd ODI v SA, Gwalior

Test performance of the year
Dale Steyn 7/51 and 3/57, 1st Test v Ind, Nagpur

Associate player of the year
Mohammad Shahzad (Afghanistan)

Emerging player of the year
Mohammad Amir

T20I player of the year
Kevin Pietersen

ODI player of the year
Shane Watson

Test player of the year
Virender Sehwag

Cricketer of the year
Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin managed 1978 more international runs (and 9 more hundreds) than I did during the qualification period, but I have way better ties.

Smells like teen spirit

(A version of this article appeared on Cricinfo's "Inbox" blog in January 2010)

Pakistan’s Mohammad Amir should bring a smile to the faces of cricket fans in the decade ahead

Six months ago, I was watching from the lower tier of the Grandstand at Lord’s as Mohammad Amir ran in to bowl the first ball of the ICC World Twenty20 Final. I nervously reminded my brother, who was sitting next to me, that I had earlier picked out Pakistan as the team most likely to halt Sri Lanka’s march towards victory. I knew that unlike the other semi-finalists (South Africa and West Indies), Pakistan were used to facing Sri Lanka’s unorthodox bowling attack, and although Sri Lanka had come out on top when the two sides met in the group stages, I was wary that Shahid Afridi’s sensational catch against New Zealand had sparked the kind of hot streak that always makes Pakistan a dangerous proposition at the business end of big tournaments.

But if I was nervous, how did Mohammad Amir feel? The left arm quick was just 17 and his international career barely two weeks old. Here he was in a major final at Lord’s. The outfield was a lush, brilliant green, but the stands were even greener, thanks to the masses of flag-waving, klaxon-sounding, Zindabad-shouting, Pakistan fans. Over in Pakistan itself, a nation deprived of international cricket after the Lahore attacks was no doubt in front of its TV sets, while up in the Sky Sports commentary box, Amir’s mentor Wasim Akram was at the microphone. On strike, awaiting Amir’s first ball was the Player of the Tournament, Tillakaratne Dilshan, who up until then had sliced, diced and daringly Dilscooped anything that had been served up to him.

How would the teenager begin?