Nominees
Australians, Malinga dominate shortlists
ESPNcricinfo Awards 2014 Test batting nominees: The fastest hundred, and a fighting triple
Australian players lead the nominations for the eighth annual ESPNcricinfo Awards. The awards honour performances across the three international formats in 2014.
Lasith Malinga of Sri Lanka, still perhaps the most effective death-overs bowler in world cricket, has two performances nominated on the ODI bowling shortlist, and one for T20 bowling.
Shaun Marsh, Michael Clarke, David Warner, Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris feature on the Test performance shortlists for their match-winning contributions in the Centurion and Cape Town Tests against South Africa at the start of the year. Though Steven Smith hit a rich vein of Test form at the end of the year, it is on the ODI batting shortlist that he earns a nomination, alongside James Faulkner, whose 69 not out against England in Brisbane stole for his side a game they looked certain to lose. Glenn Maxwell figures on both T20 shortlists.
As in previous years, the jury for the awards features former players (among them Rahul Dravid, Graeme Smith, Martin Crowe, Michael Holding, Ian Chappell), and ESPNcricinfo senior editors and writers.
Pakistan's landmark series win against Australia in the UAE produced a raft of impressive performances, of which Misbah-ul-Haq's record-breaking hundred, the fastest in Tests, and Younis Khan's 106 in Dubai (one of two hundreds he made in the match) appear on the Test batting shortlist.
Ishant Sharma's 7 for 74 at Lord's, which earned India their first win at the ground in nearly 30 years is on the Test bowling shortlist, as is James Anderson's 5 for 53 in Southampton in the next Test, which turned the series England's way.
Three Australians and three Indians feature on the ODI batting shortlist - including, inevitably, Rohit Sharma, who made the largest score in a one-day international. Batting and bowling displays from the Asia Cup are prominent on the ODI shortlists, while the T20 ones are dominated by performances in the World T20, also played in Bangladesh in 2014 - including Malinga's stifling, if wicketless, spell in the final against India.
Malinga is among those who have won ESPNcricinfo Awards in the past to earn a nomination for 2014, as are Mitchell Johnson, Dale Steyn and Shahid Afridi. The winners for 2014 will be announced early in February 2015.
TEST - BRENDON McCULLUM , ISHANTH SHARMA or JOHNSON ODI - LASITH MALINGA T20 - RANGANA HERATH (the one player who deserves the award badly,what a magnificent performance at the world cup..thats the spell which brought world cup for the SRI LANKANS)
Binny in Odi bowlers list of nominees!!! no nomination for Vijay!!! does the jury select players based on consistency or best performance in one match!!!!
Binny in Odi bowlers list of nominees!!! no nomination for Vijay!!! does the jury select players based on consistency or best performance in one match!!!!
Totally agree... Brendon's 302 was one of the most amazing innings ever played though against a club-level bowling attack. He repeated that against Pakistan and SL and surely has to be the leading contender for Test batting award!
McCullum's 302 and Johnson's 7/68 for the tests. You are welcome cricinfo, I give you the winners for free.
One of McCullum's innings has to win the test batting award surely. His 302 was one of the all time great rearguard innings in the history of cricket. His 202 or whatever against Pakistan was one of the most ridiculous innings in which it blew what looked like a normal game right out of the water.
My Choice:
TEST - Brendon McCullum, Ishant Sharma ODi - Rohit Sharma, Lasith Malinga T20 - Daren Sammy, Rangana Herath
What about McCullums 300 to save the series for NZ? SURELY that has to be there?
Odi performance of Rohit against SL of 264 runs and T20 Performance of Herath against NZ 3/5 are exceptional performances. In other categories there might be some competitions.