Captain of the Year:

Dedicates success to entire side

Chris Dhambarage reporting from India

MUMBAI, Saturday - Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardena who was named as the Captain of the Year dedicated his success to the entire side after the International Cricket Council (ICC) Awards ceremony worked off at the Taj Lands End Hotel in Mumbai here on Friday night.

This event which was presented by Hyundai in association with the Federation of International Cricketers' Association is now in its third year and gives a chance to highlight the best in cricket over the twelve months between August 1, 2005 and August 8, 2006.

Jayawardena who inspired his team to a historic five nil one day whitewash against England recently paid tribute to his teammates and praised his team members for helping him getting the Captain of the Year award. He said that this was a reward for some real hard work during the past 12 months and the entire team need to be congratulated.

The ICC awards 2006 is a celebration of cricket and an acknowledgement of the wonderful achievements of the very best players in the world. "This award means that the team has done well. I think a captain is only as good as his team. This is really for the team work we have showed. The whole team deserves this because they have put so much of work into this" added Jayawardena who made his one day international debut against Zimbabwe in 1998.

The twenty nine year old right hander however said that he is only a stand in captain and hoped that Marvan Atapattu would return back to take over the reigns. "I am still a stand-in captain. Hopefully Marvan will be back from injury soon and I will be glad to just be there alongside him on the field."

Jayawardena who scored his maiden one day international century against England in 1999 said that he was thrilled even to be nominated for this award along with some of the other top cricketers. "It came as a surprise. It's a shock. I am really thrilled even to be nominated for this award alongside Ricky, Michael and Rahul. So to actually win it is a great feeling".

Jayawardena holds the record for the highest score by a Sri Lankan in test cricket when he scored a marathon 374 against South Africa in Colombo in July 2006 during which time he also shared a world record partnership of 624 runs with Kumar Sangakkara.

Meanwhile the world's number one team Australia swept most of the ICC awards for 2006, including the Garfield Sobers award for the Best Player of the Year which was fittingly won by their inspirational captain Ricky Ponting. Ponting, who received the Player of the Year award from Indian great Sachin Tendulkar, also clinched the ICC Test Player of the Year honours while his teammate Michael Hussey carried away the One Day Player of the Year award.

Ponting later praised his team members for lifting themselves up after having a hard inward look after losing the Ashes series against England. "The Ashes was long gone and it was important for us to move on, to lift ourselves. We had to show our courage at the first opportunity. We all looked back at ourselves and managed to play some good cricket".

The ICC president Percy Sonn took this opportunity to praise the manner in which the Indian cricket board has hosted the Champions Trophy whose summit clash between Australia and holders West Indies is scheduled for Sunday. "Our thanks to the BCCI for hosting a wonderful Champions Trophy. We are all looking forward to a most exciting final on Sunday. We would like the best team to win," he said.

The ICC Award winners:

Garfield Sobers Player of the Year: Ricky Ponting (Australia)

Captain of the year: Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka)

Test team of the year (In batting order): Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey, Ricky Ponting (all Australia), Rahul Dravid (Capt., India), Mohd Yousuf (Pakistan), Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka, wk), Andrew Flintoff (England), Shane Warne (Australia), Makhaya Ntini (South Africa), Muthiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) and Glenn McGrath (Australia).

12th man: Brett Lee (Australia).

ODI Team of the year (in batting order):

Adam Gilchrist (Australia, wk), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (India), Ricky Ponting (Australia), Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka, capt.), Yuvraj Singh (India), Michael Hussey (Australia), Andrew Flintoff (England), Irfan Pathan (India), Brett Lee (Australia), Shane Bond (New Zealand), Muthiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka).

12th man: Andrew Symonds (Australia).

ODI Player of the Year:

Michael Hussey (Australia)

Test Player of the Year:

Ricky Ponting (Australia)

Emerging Player of the Year:

Ian Bell (England)

Women's player of the Year:

Karen Rolton (Australia)

Umpire of the Year:

Simon Taufel

Spirit of the Year award:

England