Australia captain Steve Smith was declared ICC Cricketer of the Year and the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year for 2015 while South Africa batsman AB de Villiers was named the ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year.
Smith scored an astonishing 1,734 runs at an average of 82.57 with seven 100s to his name. The 26-year-old right-hander kept the Award in Australia for the third straight year after Mitchell Johnson and Michael Clarke won the same award in 2014 and 2013. He also scored 1,249 runs in 25 One-day Internationals with the help of four centuries.
AB De Villiers, South Africa’s ODI captain, also won the ICC ODI cricketer of the Year award in 2010. He scored 1,265 runs at an average of close to 80 with the 31-year-old’s quickfire 162 against West Indies in Sydney, during ODI World cup, erasing all existing records and creating unbeatable record.
South African batsman Faf du Plessis won the award for ‘Best Twenty20 performance of 2015’ for his quickfire 56-ball 119 against West Indies.
Australian pace bowler Josh Hazlewood was named the Emerging Player of 2015 while the Spirit of Cricket Award went to New Zealand dashing captain Brendon McCullum, who led his team to the final of the ODI World Cup.
Here is the full list of ICC Award 2015 winners:
ICC Cricketer of the Year (Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy) – Steve Smith (Australia)
ICC Test Cricketer of the Year – Steve Smith (Australia)
ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year – AB de Villiers (South Africa)
ICC T20I Performance of the Year – Faf du Plessis (South Africa) (119, 56 balls)
ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year – Josh Hazlewood (Australia)
ICC Spirit of Cricket Award – Brendon McCullum (New Zealand)
ICC Associate/Affiliate Cricketer of the Year – Khurram Khan (UAE)
ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year – Meg Lanning (Australia)
ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year – Stafanie Taylor (West Indies)
ICC Umpire of the Year (David Shepherd Trophy) – Richard Kettleborough