Four SA cricketers up for awards

FOUR South Africans have been nominated for the annual ESPNcricinfo awards. The awards celebrate the best individual performances in 2011 by batsmen and bowlers in test cricket and one-day internationals.

The four are:

• Jacques Kallis for his 109 not out in the drawn match against India in the New Year's test at Newlands;
• Graeme Smith for his 101 not out in the victory over Australia in the first test at Newlands last November;
• Dale Steyn's five for 75 against India in the New Year's test at Newlands and also his five for 50 against India in the World Cup; as well as
• Vernon Philander's five for 15 in the win against Australia during the first test at Newlands last November.

The other nominations are:

Test match batting - Ian Bell (England), Sachin Tendulkar (India), Kevin Pietersen (England), Rahul Dravid (India, two nominations), Michael Clarke (Australia), David Warner (Australia) and Thilan Samaraweera (Sri Lanka).

Test bowling - James Anderson (England), Stuart Broad (England), Nathan Lyon (Australia), Junaid Khan (Pakistan), R Ashwin (India), Shane Watson (Australia), Pat Cummins (Australia) and Doug Bracewell (New Zealand).

ODI batting - Shane Watson (Australia), Andrew Strauss (England), Ross Taylor (New Zealand), Kevin O'Brien (Ireland), Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka), Gautam Gambhir (India), MS Dhoni (India), Malcolm Waller (Zimbabwe), Ricky Ponting (Australia) and Virender Sehwag (India).

ODI bowling: Mitchell Johnson (Australia), Shahid Afridi (Pakistan), Tim Southee (New Zealand), Wahab Riaz (Pakistan), Tim Bresnan (England), Stuart Broad (England), Munaf Patel (India), Shahid Afridi (Pakistan) and Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka).

Readers of The Times-Sowetan-The Herald-Daily Dispatch can have their say on this year's ESPNcricinfo awards in the Reader's Choice Award. Visit espncricinfo.com to vote on the best cricket performances of the year.