Ponting retains Cricketer of Year

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In a year of spectacular success for Australia it was only fitting that Ricky Ponting dominated the awards night in Johannesburg. He was named Player of the Year for the second year in a row, and he also won the Captain of the Year award and was named in both the ODI and the Test teams of the year. His efforts with the bat were outstanding - 576 runs in five Tests at an average of 82.28, an ODI average of 51.52 during the period August 9, 2006 to August 8, 2007 - while as captain he won the three huge series over the last year: the Ashes, the Champions Trophy and the World Cup. Ponting couldn't have asked for much more, reports Cricinfo.
Mohammad Yousuf, whose international career is in doubt after he signed up for the ICL, took the Test Player of the Year award, beating off stiff competition from Muttiah Muralitharan, Kevin Pietersen and Ricky Ponting. Yousuf wasn't in Johannesburg to collect his award, and it remains to be seen if it is his final honour as a Pakistan cricketer.
After being out of the ODI team for 14 months, Matthew Hayden returned in style, scoring 1368 runs in 25 one-day innings to win the ODI Player of the Year award. The other nominees for the award were Jacques Kallis, Glenn McGrath and Ricky Ponting. Hayden had an especially prolific World Cup, scoring three centuries and averaging more than 73 in the Caribbean earlier this year.
ICC Test Team of the Year: Matthew Hayden, Michael Vaughan, Ricky Ponting (capt), Mohammad Yousuf, Kevin Pietersen, Michael Hussey, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Stuart Clark, Makhaya Ntini, Mohammad Asif, Muttiah Muralitharan. 12th man: Zaheer Khan.
ICC ODI Team of the Year: Matthew Hayden, Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting (capt), Kevin Pietersen, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher (wk), Chaminda Vaas, Shane Bond, Muttiah Muralitharan, Glenn McGrath. 12th man: Michael Hussey