New Zealand wins ICC Spirit of Cricket Award

The New Zealand cricket team was named as the recipients of the Spirit of Cricket Award at the LG ICC Awards celebration in Johannesburg tonight.

It is the second time New Zealand has won this award (the first being in 2004) which is presented to the team which, in the opinion of the Emirates Elite Panels of ICC Umpires and Match Referees and the 10 Full Member captains has best conducted itself on the field within the spirit of the game.

The award was presented to New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori by Haroon Lorgat, the chief executive of the ICC.

Upon receiving the award on behalf of his team Vettori said: “I think most teams within world cricket aspire to the intangible notion of the Spirit of Cricket. It’s not easy to define but I think when you get out on the field of play most guys know where that line is and most play the game in the right way.

“If we can couple the Spirit of Cricket award with the ICC Champions Trophy then we will be very happy indeed.”

This Spirit is described in the preamble to the Laws of Cricket: “Cricket is a game that owes much of its unique appeal to the fact that it should be played not only within its Laws but also within the Spirit of the Game. Any action which is seen to abuse this spirit causes injury to the game itself.”

The preamble goes on to say: “The Spirit of the Game involves respect for:

Your opponents
Your own captain and team
The role of the umpires
The game’s traditional values

The award has previously been won twice by Sri Lanka (2007 and 2008), England won it in 2005 and 2006 while New Zealand took the honour at the inaugural ICC Awards in 2004.

New Zealand was one of several teams that demonstrated the Spirit of Cricket to great effect over the past 12 months and it narrowly defeated Australia, England and Sri Lanka to win this award.

The Spirit of Cricket Award was one of 11 individual and team honours handed out during the LG ICC Awards in association with FICA. The event, held at The Sandton Sun Convention Centre, Johannesburg recognises cricket’s star performers over a 12-month period.

Based on the period between 13 August 2008 and 24 August 2009, the LG ICC Awards take into account performances by players and officials in a remarkable period for the game.

That period includes such high-profile events as the ICC World Twenty20 2009 in England, the ICC Women’s World Cup 2009 in Australia and the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2009 in South Africa, as well as several bilateral Test and ODI series.

The LG ICC Awards ceremony is now in its sixth year and this year is being held in Johannesburg to coincide with the ICC Champions Trophy 2009. Previous ceremonies were held in London (2004), Sydney (2005), Mumbai (2006), Johannesburg (2007) and Dubai (2008).