Dravid in hunt for best captain's award, misses 3 others

Mumbai, Oct 22: Team India captain Rahul Dravid was the biggest casualty with his name scratched from three categories as ICC today pruned the long-list of its annual award and announced the shortlist for cricket's version of Oscar to be held here on November 3.

Dravid, who featured in the long-lists for Test Player of the Year, ODI Player of the Year, Cricketer of the Year and Captain of the Year categories, can now hope for the best skipper's award only after failing to make it to the shortlists in three other categories.

Along with Dravid, Irfan Pathan also failed to make it to the shortlist in the ODI Player of the Year section, which has the lone Indian representation in Yuvraj Singh.

There is no Indian representation in the Test Player of the Year, Emerging Player of the Year and the best of them all, the Cricketer of the Year categories.

The pruning also saw Neetu David missing the cut in the inaugural Women Cricketer of the Year category where Anjum Chopra carries the tri-colour.

Meanwhile, Australian captain Ricky Ponting has been shortlisted in no fewer than four categories of the awards.

The 31-year-old Tasmanian has had an outstanding year with the bat, dominating at both Test and ODI level, and is included in shortlists of four for Player of the Year in both those forms of the game. He is also potentially in line for overall Player of the Year and Captain of the Year, making the short-list in those categories as well.

Muttiah Muralitharan from Sri Lanka and Pakistan's Mohammed Yousuf have also been shortlisted for the Test Player of the Year Award while Ponting's team-mate Mike Hussey is in the running for ODI Player of the Year as well as the top accolade.

In total, there are seven players on the shortlists for the top three individual awards, which will be presented at a gala evening Taj Land's End Hotel here on November 3.

The best Test player will be one of Ponting, Yousuf, Muralitharan or Shane Warne and the best ODI player will be chosen from Hussey, Ponting, Yuvraj Singh and Mahela Jayawardene.

The shortlists were announced after the votes were submitted by members of the voting Academy. The 50 Academy members were asked to vote for players nominated by a Selection Panel chaired by Sunil Gavaskar. The ICC Awards are presented by Hyundai in association with the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations.

In addition to the three main men's individual award and Captain of the Year, for the first time there is an award for the Women's Player of the Year, as well as Emerging Player of the Year, Umpire of the Year and the Spirit of Cricket Award. The shortlist for female players was selected by a panel of leading figures from the women's game.

The shortlists were announced at the Cricket Club of India here by ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed, who said that he was delighted that the ICC was continuing to honour top players for the entertainment they provide for millions of people who follow the game.

''The past year has been another exciting one for cricket fans around the world and these players have contributed hugely to our enjoyment. This is the third annual ICC Awards night and it promises to be a fantastic evening with some very tough decisions to be announced.

''It is also a pleasure that for the first time we will be presenting the award for the Women's Player of the Year. Now that the women's game is under the auspices of ICC it is important that we acknowledge the marvellous contribution that female players are making,'' Mr Speed added.

Short-list: Player of the Year: Michael Hussey (Australia), Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka), Ricky Ponting (Australia), Mohammed Yousuf (Pakistan) Test Player of the Year: Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka), Ricky Ponting (Australia), Shane Warne (Australia), Mohammed Yousuf (Pakistan) ODI Player of the Year: Michael Hussey (Australia), Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka), Ricky Ponting (Australia), Yuvraj Singh (India) Women's Player of the Year: Karen Rolton (Australia), Anjum Chopra (India), Katherine Brunt (England) Emerging Player of the Year: Alistair Cook (England), Mohammed Asif (Pakistan), Ian Bell (England), Monty Panesar (England) Captain of the Year: Rahul Dravid (India), Michael Vaughan (England), Ricky Ponting (Australia), Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka) Spirit of Cricket Award: India, England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka Umpire of the Year: Aleem Dar, Rudi Koertzen, Simon Taufel

UNI