ICC awards lack credibility: SA

Outraged by the exclusion of South African players from the ICC annual awards nominations,Cricket South Africa CEO Gerald Majola....

Outraged by the exclusion of South African players from the ICC annual awards nominations,Cricket South Africa CEO Gerald Majola has questioned the credibility of the list,saying he cant figure out the selection criteria.

To me,it looks like the only way to get on these nomination lists is to play the Ashes, Majola said. Unfortunately,our players dont play for England or Australia. That seems to be the criteria to select these awards. I dont know what the criteria are for these nominations but I simply cant believe that this has happened to South African players, the CSA chief told Cricinfo.

My personal opinion is that this doesnt lend credibility to this years awards,for sure. To rub salt on our wounds,the awards ceremony is being held in our country, he added. None of the South African cricketers were picked for the final nominations,dominated by Indians,Englishmen and Sri Lankans. The awards would be given out at here on October 1.

Majola said the selection panel for the awards nominees seems to have completely ignored South Africas excellent Test and one-day performance last year,during which they also became the worlds number one side in both forms of the game. Former pacer Allan Donald,who was a part of the selection panel,said he had nominated a couple of South African players and was surprised to see none in the final list. I am surprised to see that there is no one from South Africa in the final list, he said.

The nominations for the individual awards were voted by a five-member ICC panel headed by Clive Lloyd,the ICCs cricket committee chairman. The panel included Anil Kumble,Mudassar Nazar,Bob Taylor and Stephen Fleming.

Motivated to win CT

Meanwhile,South African skipper Graeme Smith has said his team would look to get over the disappointment of being ignored for the nominations by lifting the Champions Trophy.

Smith said the team strived for collective recognition. It is not individual recognition that drives us. We are driven by what we want to achieve as a team and have had an amazing couple of years, Smith said. It is a little disappointing that not a single South African made the shortlist in any category because we are the number one team in both Test and ODI cricket, he added.

Story continues below this ad

Smith said being left out of the nominations list would motivate the team to do better. That shows the strength of the team and perhaps the lack of ICC award nominations could be a motivating factor, Smith said.