The honours keep coming for BLACKCAPS captain Brendon McCullum.
McCullum has today been awarded the 2015 ICC Spirit of Cricket Award at the sport’s annual worldwide honours night “after inspiring his side to play the game in its true spirit”.
Noted the ICC, “This was clearly evident throughout the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 and, in particular, in the semi-final, where McCullum showed humility and exemplary sportsmanship by inviting A.B. de Villiers and his side to the New Zealand’s dressing-room after a closely fought match.”
McCullum said that he was very humbled to have been singled out.
“The team has loved how the New Zealand public and cricket fans from around the world have responded to the way we’ve played our cricket in the last 12 months.
“I think the Spirit of Cricket is hugely important and I feel extremely honoured to have received the award. It does take buy-in from the entire team though, and the rest of the BLACKCAPS squad needs to be recognised for this as well.”
It’s not the first time a BLACKCAP has been singled out for this award, with former BLACKCAPS captain Daniel Vettori having received the honour in 2012, the first time it had been awarded to an individual.
In 2004, 2009 and 2010, the award was bestowed on the BLACKCAPS team as a whole and is cherished by players as one deeply rooted in the traditions of the game that they hold dear.
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 Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year – Meg Lanning (Australia)
ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year – Stafanie Taylor (West Indies)
ICC T20I Performance of the Year – Faf du Plessis (South Africa) (119, 56 balls, 11x4, 5x6 – 2nd T20I v West Indies, 11 January 2015, Johannesburg)
ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year – Josh Hazlewood (Australia)
ICC Associate/Affiliate Cricketer of the Year – Khurram Khan (UAE)
ICC Spirit of Cricket Award – Brendon McCullum (New Zealand)
ICC Umpire of the Year (David Shepherd Trophy) – Richard Kettleborough
