Wednesday, 29th August 2007 at 12:05 pm

Pollock, Kallis up for world award

The selectors (headed by Sunil Gavasker) will pare down the list early in September, and the actual winner will be named at a gala dinner just before the Twenty20 World Cup kicks off; for now, we have the shortlist of 12 names put forward as nominations for International Cricketer of the Year. No space for Dwayne Leverock, Hamilton Masakadza or Habibul Bashar; there are two South Africans on the list, though, Shaun Pollock and Jacques Kallis both making the initial dozen.

A little solace for Kallis, then, after what’s been a tough few weeks for the all-rounder; and for Pollock as well, who (as clandestinely as possible) downgraded Pollock’s national contract from A+ status earlier this year. Either man would be a worthy winner, but there’s plenty of competition amongst the other ten contenders…

Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden and Mike Hussey headline the Australian quartet, all having made buckets of runs in the last 12 months, with Glenn McGrath chasing a final salute from retirement. Kevin Pietersen’s emergence as a Test player can’t be disputed, distasteful as him winning would be. Mahela Jayawardene, flourishing as Sri Lankan skipper, and Kumar Sangakkara have also been in fluent touch at the crease, while Murali remains undisputed as international cricket’s premier spinner.

The other two hopefuls are Mohammed Yousuf, the biggest name to join the rebel Indian league, and idiosyncratic West Indian Shiv Chanderpaul, outstanding recently against England, and now racking up runs in the County Championship. Ten outstanding cricketers, certainly, but South Africa’s two contenders aren’t bad either; Feverpitcher would love to see Kallis take it, on the eve of the tournament he wasn’t deemed good enough to play in.