Smith and Perry recognised at ICC awards

Australian cricket stars Steve Smith and Ellyse Perry have been recognised for their dominant performances for their country, awarded the ICC male and female cricketer of the past decade on Monday night.

Star all-rounder Perry was unveiled as the winner of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award for ICC Female Cricketer of the Decade, while also claiming both the ODI and T20I Cricketer of the Decade gongs.

Perry came out on top in a pool of six nominees for the major award that also included teammate Meg Lanning, New Zealand's Suzie Bates, England's Sarah Taylor, India's Mithali Raj and West Indies' Stafanie Taylor; recognised for a decade of dominance that saw her score 4,349 runs and take 213 wickets in 179 matches across all formats.

Smith was named the ICC Men's Test Cricketer of the Decade, while India superstar Virat Kohli took out the Sir Garfield Sobers Award for ICC Male Cricketer of the Decade, while also winning the men's ODI Cricketer of the Decade award, and Adelaide Strikers' Afghanistan import Rashid Khan was named the best men's T20I player of the past 10 years.

31 year old Smith averaged 65 over the qualification period, having made his debut in Test cricket as a leg-spinning all-rounder in 2010.

Eventaully recast as a top order batsman Smith has made 26 centuries in 75 Test matches, winning the award from a field that included England pair James Anderson and Joe Root, India captain Kohli, Sri Lanka's Rangana Herath, Pakistan's Yasir Shah and New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson.

Judges looked at performances between January 1, 2011 and October 7, 2020 when selecting the nominees and winners, and players needed to have made international appearances in the relevant format for at least five years throughout that period.

Winners were selected by a voting committee comprising prominent cricket journalists and broadcasters from around the world, including Alison Mitchell, Ian Bishop, Natalie Germanos and Peter Lalor, while fans also accounted for 10 per cent of the vote.

The individual awards followed Sunday's unveiling of the best teams of the decade.

IMAGE: Telegraph India.