Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting has been crowned the ICC Player of the Year at an awards ceremony in Mumbai.
.jpg)
Ponting also took out the honour for Test Player of the Year as well as being selected in the Test and one-day teams of the year.
It caps a spectacular year for the 31-year-old who led his side to 11 victories from 12 Tests during the 2005/06 season as well as winning 15 of 20 one-day internationals.
During the voting period of August 1 2005 to August 8 2006, Ponting played 16 Tests and 20 ODIs. In Tests he scored 1791 runs at an average of 68.88.
"It has been a satisfying year personally and also for the rest of the team," Ponting said.
"For me to be a part of the success has been great for me."
Ponting also paid tribute to team-mate Mike Hussey, who took out One-Day International Player of the Year and also won selection in the world Test and one-day sides.
The swashbuckling West Australian averaged 64 in the one-day arena last season and 75 in Test format.
"To see Mike (Hussey) win an award and so many other Australians to be nominated indicates that the team is doing well at the moment. It's a great night for Australian cricket," Ponting said.
Hussey expressed his surprise at being presented with the one-day gong.
"I'm very, very shock and honoured," he said.
"I can't believe it - I need to pinch myself."
"Being a little older when I broke through to the team I definitely haven't taken anything for granted. I play each game as if it's my last but I just love playing cricket for Australia."
Ponting said captaining his country was one of his greatest achievements and could not help but look ahead to the upcoming Ashes series, which begins in Brisbane on November 23.
"To captain Australia is something I love and never take for granted. We had to show a lot of character immediately after (losing) the Ashes and since then we have managed to do that," he said.
"We have set a new standard for ourselves, we've worked hard and thankfully it's paying off for us at the moment. I think we learned a lot from that Ashes series and we are a better team for that so I think we will be a very difficult side to beat this summer."
The world teams of the year were dominated by Australians, with Ponting and Hussey being joined in the Test team by Matthew Hayden, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee (12th man).
Adam Gilchrist was named opener and wicketkeeper in the one-day team, alongside Ponting, Hussey, Lee and Andrew Symonds (12th man).
Karen Rolton capped a fantastic year by winning the inaugural Women's Player of the Year award. The 31-year-old averaged almost 50 with the bat and took career-best one-day figures of 4/29 in front of her home fans in Adelaide.
Rolton acknowledged that the ICC award would help women's cricket grow and develop.
"I think it's great for women's cricket. It's fantastic that the ICC has included a women's aware this year and it is greatly appreciated. We are trying to progress women's cricket and this certainly helps," she said.
In other awards, English batsman Ian Bell won the Emerging Player of the Year, while Sri Lankan Mahela Jayawardene was named Captain of the Year.
England won the Spirit of Cricket award, with Australian Simon Taufel being named Umpire of the Year.
The ICC awards recognise individual and team excellence over a 12-month period and were judged by a panel of cricketing greats, umpires, match referees and members of the media.
2005/06 ICC Awards:
Player of the year: Ricky Ponting (Australia)
Test player of the year: Ricky Ponting (Australia)
ODI player of the year: Michael Hussey (Australia)
Women's player of the year: Karen Rolton (Australia)
Emerging player of the year: Ian Bell (England)
Captain of the year: Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka)
Spirit of cricket award: England
Umpire of the year: Simon Taufel
World ODI team of the year (in batting order):
Adam Gilchrist (Australia, wicket-keeper)
Mahendra Dhoni (India)
Ricky Ponting (Australia)
Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka, captain)
Yuvraj Singh (India)
Michael Hussey (Australia)
Andrew Flintoff (England)
Irfan Pathan (India)
Brett Lee (Australia)
Shane Bond (New Zealand)
Muttiah Muralidaran (Sri Lanka)
12th man: Andrew Symonds (Australia)
Test team of the year (in batting order):
Matthew Hayden (Australia)
Michael Hussey (Australia)
Ricky Ponting (Australia)
Rahul Dravid (India, captain)
Mohammed Yousuf (Pakistan)
Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka, wicket-keeper)
Andrew Flintoff (England)
Shane Warne (Australia)
Makhaya Ntini (South Africa)
Muttiah Muralidaran (Sri Lanka)
Glenn McGrath (Australia)
12th man: Brett Lee (Australia)
