ICC Men’s Player of the Decade nominees announced

The ICC have announced the seven finalists for the Player of the Decade award, with Englishman Joe Root the sole representative from the UK.

Root has been an ever present in the England team since his debut in 2012,  helping England win the World Cup in dramatic fashion in 2019 and currently being ranked in the top-ten in both Test and ODI batting in the ICC Player Rankings.

Among the other nominees, Oceania have two nominees in Steve Smith and Kane Williamson.

Smith made his debut for Australia back in 2010 and has consistently been rated as the top-ranked Test batsmen in the world, however his time isn’t without controversy, being banned from all international and domestic cricket in Australia for one year due to the Ball-Tampering scandal.

Meanwhile, Williamson has been playing for New Zealand since 2010, being named Player of the Tournament for the 2019 World Cup while also the highest scoring captain in a single World Cup, making 578 runs in 10 matches.

India also have two players up for the award, with Virat Kohli and R Ashwin representing the country.

Kohli has been ever present in the Indian team since 2008, while being the top-ranked ODI batsman in the world and is currently second in Test rankings with 886 points.

Ashwin on the other hand has been with the side since 2010, becoming the  ICC Cricketer of the Year in 2016.

Rounding out the top seven is Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara and South Africa’s AB de Villers.

Sangakkara played for Sri Lanka over a 15 year period, starting in 2000 before retiring in 2015. At his retirement, he was the second-highest run-scorer in ODI cricket and sixth-highest run scorer in Test cricket.

Finally, de Villers played in an instrumental role for South Africa from 2004-2018, being named ICC ODI Player of the Year three times across his career.