Sehwag named Best Test Player De Villiers gets one-day awardBANGALORE, India: India's record-breaking batsman Sachin Tendulkar was Wednesday named the player of the year at the International Cricket Council's annual awards function. Tendulkar, 37, was picked over Hashim Amla of South Africa, teammate Virender Sehwag and Graeme Swann of England to win his first-ever ICC award. The master batsman, who became the seventh recipient of the Garfield Sobers Trophy, also took the People's Choice award in a grand double at a glittering ceremony in the southern Indian city of Bangalore. “To win both of these awards tonight is special and it's the game's way of appreciating someone's performance,” said Tendulkar. “It feels great to have two trophies in front of me and I am feeling very proud and happy.” During the 12-month voting period of August, 2009 to August 2010, Tendulkar scored 1,064 runs in 10 Tests with six centuries at an average of 81.84. He also made 914 runs in 17 One-Day Internationals, including the first-ever double century in the history of the limited-overs game, against South Africa in Gwalior earlier this year. Tendulkar, however, lost out in two other major categories as Sehwag picked up the Test player of the year award, while South Africa's AB de Villiers was adjudged the one-day player of the year. The awards were decided by the ICC's 25-member voting academy that included former players, members of the media and representatives of the elite panel of referees and umpires. Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was chosen to lead the ICC's Test team of the year that included Sehwag, Kumar Sangakkara, Swann, Tendulkar, Amla, Simon Katich, Dale Steyn, Jacques Kallis, James Anderson and Doug Bollinger. Australia's Ricky Ponting was picked to captain the one-day team of the year that included Tendulkar, Shane Watson, Michael Hussey, de Villiers, Paul Collingwood, Dhoni, Daniel Vettori, Stuart Broad, Bollinger and Ryan Harris. New Zealand batsman Brendon McCullum's 116 not out off 56 balls against Australia in Christchurch in February was adjudged the best performance in Twenty20 internationals. Lanky England seamer Steven Finn was named the emerging player of the year, while Dutchman Ryan ten Doeschate won the Associate player of the year award. New Zealand took the Spirit of Cricket award for the second time in row, while Pakistani official Aleem Dar was voted the umpire of the year for the second year in succession. Australian all-rounder Shelley Nitschke was named the woman cricketer of the year. Cricket in Games Cricket should be included in the Commonwealth Games and Olympics to help the game grow around the world, West Indies cricketing great Viv Richards said Wednesday. Richards, at the Delhi Games as an ambassador for the 25-member Antigua and Barbuda delegation, said the Twenty20 competition was tailor-made for multi-sports events. “Twenty20 definitely should be in,” he told Reuters. “That's the version, it will be the best salesman for cricket as it is short and entertaining. “We can't accommodate the longer version. The same way rugby was introduced in the Commonwealth Games,” he added.
