A Sanga Special, a Zaheer masterclass, Gilly Goes Gonzo, and Malinga strikes, Yuvraj does Australia, and Rp's Swing Wins the Awards.





Cricinfo names award winners
Cricinfo staff
January 30, 2008

	Kumar Sangakkara's 192 came out on top of all the Test innings of 2007 in the Cricinfo Awards © Getty Images

Three Indians, two Sri Lankans and an Australian have been named as the winners in the inaugural Cricinfo Awards, which recognise the outstanding batting and bowling performances in all three forms of the game during 2007.
Kumar Sangakkara, Sri Lanka's No. 3, takes the Test batting prize for his 192 against Australia in Hobart. "I have always thought that he is a class player, and he proved that on the tour of Australia. His 192 in the second Test was a magnificent innings," said Ian Chappell, one of the jury members who voted on the awards.
The Test bowling award went to Zaheer Khan for his 5 for 75 in the second Test against England at Trent Bridge. It proved the decisive performance of the series as India went on to claim the contest 1-0 after Zaheer inspired them to victory at Trent Bridge. Geoff Boycott, another jury member, was full of praise for the effort: "It was a really gritty performance by Zaheer Khan, and the Indians will thank him for the memorable victory at Trent Bridge, and that allowed India to go on and win an exciting series".
Ramiz Raja said it was spell of immense skill from Zaheer and built huge pressure on England. "What was eye catching about the spell was the use of the crease and the angle that he developed to remain on top of the opposition. It was a masterclass from Zaheer Khan and he richly deserves the award"
Adam Gilchrist, fresh from announcing his retirement, takes away the one-day batting title for his monumental 149 in the World Cup final against Sri Lanka. With the ball, the prize goes to Lasith Malinga, the Sri Lanka quick bowler, for his electric display against South Africa when he claimed four wickets in four balls to almost pull off a remarkable victory in Guyana.
Twenty20 took the world by storm in 2007 and both of its prizes go to members of the India side that claimed the ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa. Yuvraj Singh takes the batting honour for his destructive 70 off 30 balls against Australia in the semi-final in Durban - during a tournament where he also struck six sixes in an over off England's Stuart Broad.
Twenty20 isn't meant to be a game for the bowlers but there were some memorable efforts during the year and RP Singh, the left-arm swing bowler, came out top of the list for his decisive 4 for 13 against South Africa in Durban.
"Cricket awards are commonplace, but to us at Cricinfo they are a logical and inevitable extension of what we are about," Sambit Bal, editor of Cricinfo said. "We cover every ball bowled in cricket, and we see ourselves as cricket's global voice. We have in our ranks some of the finest cricket writers and keenest cricket minds drawn from all over the world.
"The Cricinfo Awards are a celebration of the best performances in the calendar year 2007, and even though they carry no monetary rewards, we are confident that cricketers will value the acclaim."
The lists of nominees, announced in December 2007, were compiled by Cricinfo's global staff. The winners were selected by a jury put together by Cricinfo for this purpose, which consisted of Geoffrey Boycott, Ian Chappell, Daryll Cullinan, Tony Greig, Michael Holding, David Lloyd, Sanjay Manjrekar, Ramiz Raja and Ravi Shastri. The final selection was based on a ranking of the performances by the jury, with the players who fetched the most points winning the respective awards. In the event of a tie, the player with the most top nominations was selected as the winner by the jury.
List of winners
Test batting - Kumar Sangakkara (SL): 192, Australia v Sri Lanka, 2nd Test, Hobart
Test bowling - Zaheer Khan (Ind): 5 for 75, England v India, 2nd Test, Trent Bridge
ODI batting - Adam Gilchrist (Aus): 149, Australia v Sri Lanka, World Cup final, Barbados
ODI bowling - Lasith Malinga (SL): 4 for 54, Sri Lanka v South Africa, World Cup, Guyana
Twenty20 batting - Yuvraj Singh (Ind): 70, India v Australia, World Twenty20 semi-final, Durban
Twenty20 bowling - RP Singh (Ind): 4 for 13, India v South Africa, World Twenty20, Durban
© Cricinfo


The winners: Tests
Cricinfo staff
January 30, 2008

Sangakkara's 192 gave Australia a serious scare © Getty Images

Kumar Sangakkara: 192 v Australia
Second innings, Hobart
Scorecard
The Australian juggernaut barely missed the big names who retired after last year's Ashes, as it crushed Sri Lanka in the first Test and set a seemingly impossible target of 507 in the second in Hobart. Six of Sri Lanka's top nine batsmen scored fewer than five, but Sangakkara's glorious 192, which contained 27 fours and one six, ensured the match wasn't all one-way traffic. Ably assisted by Marvan Atapattu at the start of the long haul, Sangakkara guided the visitors to 247 for 3 at the end of the fourth day. Despite a collapse early the next morning when Sri Lanka lost five wickets for 25, Sangakkara gave Australia a few nervous moments with an audacious assault that only ended with an unfortunate umpiring call shortly before lunch.
Sangakkara refused singles off the first few balls of overs, and then when the field came in, reverted to one-day mode with some clean strikes over the off side. There were a few streaky shots too - thick edges flew to vacant spaces and not everything came off the middle - but it was a courageous fightback from a Sri Lanka outfit that desperately needed some spark.
It is hard to predict how close Sri Lanka would have come to the record score they needed to win had Sangakkara stayed at the crease, but the way he was playing he just might have got them home. He could have given up once Lee and Mitchell Johnson sparked the early crashes, but instead he simply altered his game plan and formed a 74-run stand with Lasith Malinga.
Sadly for the visitors Sangakkara was denied his third double-century for 2007 when he tried to hook Stuart Clark and the ball flew off his shoulder to Ricky Ponting at slip. Rudi Koertzen agreed with the Australians that there was some bat involved, but Sangakkara, and the replays, knew that was not the case. It was a disappointing finish to a superb display.
In the end Sangakkara's assault did not affect the outcome of the game, but it let him register the highest score by a Sri Lankan in a Test in Australia, beating Aravanda de Silva's 167 in 1989-90, and the highest score in a Test at the Bellerive Oval, passing Michael Slater's 168 in 1993-94. It also took Sangakkara to 677 runs for the 2007 calendar year, at a phenomenal average of 225.66. And he wasn't finished there: 291 runs at 72.72 in two Tests against England followed.

Swing exhibition: Zaheer does for Strauss at Trent Bridge © Getty Images

Zaheer Khan: 5 for 75 v England
Second innings, Trent Bridge
Scorecard
Arguments rage on about jelly-aches, beamers, shoulder-barging and on-field chatter, but no one could dispute the Man-of-the-Match award at Trent Bridge. Zaheer Khan swung the Test India's way on the first day before settling the issue on the fourth with a spell reminiscent of some of the great left-arm masters of the past.
Trailing by 283 on first innings, England needed plenty of runs in the second to save the game, but Zaheer ensured they wouldn't get them. He found his match-winning touch, swinging the ball either way, from both over and round the wicket, troubling both right-handers and left, and making them hop with his sharp angle, back of a length. He exploited Alastair Cook's weakness against the ball that jags back, tempted Andrew Strauss into flashing loosely, and hustled Michael Vaughan from round the wicket.
The freakish dismissal of Vaughan, who dragged one from his pads onto the stumps, opened the floodgates. Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell were then prised out with incisive swingers. Zaheer finished with his best match figures, a fitting reward for one of the better spells in recent memory.
For the first time in a series, he was the bowler India had expected him to be since 2000, when he bowled Steve Waugh with a scorching yorker in the Champions Trophy. His show-stopping exhibition of swing bowling was reminiscent of Wasim Akram and he was fittingly named Man of the Series, which India won 1-0, their first series win in England for 21 years.
For the nominees in Test batting, click here
For the nominees in Test bowling, click here

© Cricinfo

The Cricinfo Awards The winners: ODIs Cricinfo staff January 30, 2008 Squash-ball-powered Gilchrist goes for broke in the World Cup final © Getty Images Adam Gilchrist: 149 v Sri Lanka World Cup, Bridgetown Scorecard Although the World Cup final is remembered for its farcical finish in near darkness, earlier in the day Gilchrist had lit up the occasion with his 104-ball 149. Having scored fifties in the previous two World Cup finals, Gilchrist decided it was time to raise it a notch and stormed to the fore, demonstrating an eye for the big occasion that is the preserve of few. This was his third scene-stealer in consecutive World Cup finals. Against Pakistan at Lord's in 1999, he cracked 54 from 36 balls; four years later against India at Johannesburg, he made 57 from 48. But nothing quite compared to this. Once the sun had come out and Gilchrist had gauged the pace and bounce of a rock-hard, true surface, there was no reining him - or Australia - in. His 149 was the biggest score ever made in a World Cup final, beating the mark of 140 set by his captain, Ricky Ponting, four years before, and it was launched in a stand of 172 for the first wicket with Matthew Hayden. By the time of Hayden's dismissal for 38, Gilchrist was already sitting pretty on 119, having faced almost five overs more than his partner. Gilchrist set the tone by clubbing Chaminda Vaas for four and six in the second over. He was untroubled by Lasith Malinga - the deadliest weapon in the Sri Lankan armoury - who opted for accuracy over explosiveness. Gilchrist had raced to 31 off 30 balls when Dilhara Fernando dropped a tough catch off his own bowling. Gilchrist made him pay for the miss by hitting two fours and a six off the next three balls. He brought up his 15th ODI hundred from just 72 balls, with a drilled four over long-off, and thereafter heaved through the line with impunity, trusting his eye, the surface and the fact that the fight had gone out of his opponents. He later revealed that he had slipped a squash ball into his left glove so his bottom hand wouldn't be overly dominant. It worked, and how. Four-fer: Malinga gets Ntini in Guyana © Getty Images Lasith Malinga: 4 for 54 v South Africa World Cup, Providence Scorecard An extraordinary spell of fast bowling from Lasith Malinga, where he strung together a devastating sequence of four wickets in four balls, threatened to produce the greatest one-day heist of them all before South Africa scrambled to a dramatic one-wicket victory in a heart-stopping Super Eights clash in Guyana. Malinga's captain, Mahela Jayawardene, brought him back into the attack when a perfectly crafted South African chase was 10 runs away away from fruition. South Africa needed a meagre four runs to win with five wickets in hand when Malinga struck, finishing batsmen off as if swatting flies. With the old ball in hand, he bowled at more than 140kph, and crucially produced reverse swing, ensuring that the length which had earlier been so easy to score off suddenly became almost unplayable. He fooled Shaun Pollock with a beauty of a slower ball before hurrying Andrew Hall with a juddering yorker that Hall sent looping up to cover. The first ball of Malinga's next over produced the hat-trick, the fifth in World Cups, when the set Jacques Kallis nicked to the wicketkeeper. Then a brute of a yorker zoomed through Makhaya Ntini. No bowler in one-day history had ever managed four in four - the closest had been Saqlain Mushtaq, who took four in five - and Malinga took Sri Lanka to the brink of an outrageous daylight robbery. The atmosphere rose to fever pitch: three runs to get, the last pair in the middle. Robin Peterson and Charl Langeveldt survived a nervy four deliveries before Vaas came on for the next over, a maiden. Malinga was back for a final shot. Jayawardene told him: "We were nowhere in the game, you've got us here. Just enjoy yourself." Malinga's brilliance, though, was not enough for Sri Lanka. Two balls in, it was over, as Robin Peterson edged one past slip and then knocked down the stumps at the non-striker's end in delirium. Adjudicators awarded the Man-of-the-Match to Langeveldt, who had taken five, then Malinga, and then both jointly. "Malinga was incredible," said Graeme Smith. "He made me age a bit." For the list of ODI batting nominees, click here For the list of ODI bowling nominees, click here © Cricinfo

The winners: Twenty20
Cricinfo staff
January 30, 2008

Singh when you're winning: Yuvraj rolls the highlights reel against Australia © Getty Images

Yuvraj Singh: 70 off 30 balls v Australia
World Twenty20, Durban
Scorecard
India's young side had made a slow start against Australia in the World Twenty20 semi-final, losing their second wicket on 41 at the end of the eighth over. Even in 50-over cricket such a start would qualify as not more than reasonable, but it soon became clear that India were playing to a plan: see off the early overs without losing too many wickets, and have plenty of batsmen in hand for later.
All that planning needed good execution, though, and India found their man for the moment in Yuvraj, yet again, well rested after clobbering Stuart Broad for six sixes a few days earlier. He had been in the zone against England, and the forced one-match break due to tendonitis did nothing to disrupt his rhythm. He started with a swivelled pulled six over midwicket off the second ball he faced, from Stuart Clark, the best bowler in the tournament.
From there, he simply flowed. Adam Gilchrist brought back Brett Lee, but Yuvraj responded with a sensational pick-up shot over square leg for six, taking India to 60 for 2 at the halfway stage, marginally better than the 57 for 3 they had at the same stage in their previous game, against South Africa.
Andrew Symonds came on and was flicked for four and pulled for six in a 19-run over. Neither Nathan Bracken's slower variations nor Clark's steadiness could stem the tide, as Yuvraj played sumptuous shots over cover.
Another massive pull for six off Clark took him to 50 from just 20 balls, in an over that went for 21. The return of Mitchell Johnson proved just as expensive, with Robin Uthappa (with whom Yuvraj added 84 in 6.3 overs) slamming a straight six and then powering another over midwicket.
Yuvraj's shots were struck with so much grace and skill, and so little effort, that it is difficult to pick the best one. His entire innings was a highlights reel, and the way he dismantled Clark was breathtaking. When asked about his arm after the match, Yuvraj extended it completely - there was still a strap around his elbow - grinned, and said, "It's fine. There's no problem." The shots earlier had indicated as much.

Morkel misses, RP hits © AFP

RP Singh: 4 for 13 v South Africa
World Twenty20, Durban
Scorecard
It was supposed to be a tournament tailormade for batsmen, but RP Singh's success was just another shining example of how well medium-pacers did in the inaugural World Twenty20. In the final group match, India began their defence of 153 against South Africa in a must-win scenario dismally, with Sreesanth conceding 11 runs off the first over.
RP Singh, however, was sensational and provided India the much-needed cutting edge against a formidable South African batting line-up. He made the perfect start, trapping Herschelle Gibbs leg-before with a gem of an inswinger, and two balls later induced an edge from Graeme Smith that was taken splendidly by Dinesh Karthik at slip.
In his third over, one ball after Justin Kemp was run out, Singh produced a vicious yorker - arguably the ball of the tournament - that swung into Shaun Pollock's leg stump, leaving South Africa in tatters at 31 for 5.
With their hopes of winning fading fast, South Africa's chances of making the semi-finals depended on whether they could reach 126 to qualify on net run-rate. Singh put paid to those as well by bowling Albie Morkel for 36 in the penultimate over to finish with 4 for 13.
Singh's performance, especially his ability to move the ball both ways and get disconcerting bounce, showed once again just how much he had developed over a period of about six months. Four for 13 in four overs represents outstanding returns, and the figures didn't flatter the way he bowled.
After the match he said the wicket at Kingsmead assisted fast bowlers and inspired him to go out and have a crack at the South African batsmen.
He was inspired, that's for sure, and he continued his success in the semi-final against Australia and superbly in the final against Pakistan as well, snapping up 3 for 26.
For a list of the Twenty20 batting nominees, click here
For a list of the Twenty20 batting nominees, click here
© Cricinfo

The Statsguru Awards
Cricinfo staff
January 30, 2008
The Statsguru Awards are based purely on numbers, from Tests and ODIs in 2007. However, they go beyond the usual stats - runs scored, wickets taken, batting averages and such - and are based instead on more detailed data analyses of performances.
Which batsman played more consistently than any other over the entire year? Which bowler performed at his best against top-order batsmen? Who relished tail-end wickets the most? The results are all based entirely on quantitative analyses of performance throughout the year, which makes these awards definitive and distinctive. Read on to find out more.

Hayden turned in domineering performances in Tests and ODIs both ... he was even the best finisher in the 50-overs game © Getty Images

MAIN AWARDS

Most valuable player of the year - Batting
Matthew Hayden: Test index 71.50, ODI index 101.48. Total 172.98
The result was based on a batsman's performance against the list of top bowlers of the year, which was calculated in the following manner:

Tests: Top ten averages among those who took at least 20 wickets in 2007.
ODIs: Top ten bowling index (average multiplied by economy-rate) among bowlers who took at least 20 wickets in 2007.

A batsman's average against these bowlers in Tests was his Test index, while the ODI index was calculated by multiplying the batsman's average by the number of runs scored per ball against these bowlers.
Against the best Test bowlers, Hayden averaged 71.50 (Zaheer Khan and Muttiah Muralitharan were the only bowlers among the top ten to dismiss him). In ODIs, he dominated even more, averaging 118 against them at a rate of 5.16 per over for an ODI index of 101.48. Add the two, and his total was a healthy 172.98
Most valuable player of the year - Bowling
Shoaib Akhtar: Test index 42.50, ODI index 11.84. Total 54.34
The result was based on bowlers' performance against the list of top batsmen of the year, which was calculated in the following manner:
Tests: Top 15 averages among batsmen who scored at least 300 runs in 2007. ODIs: Top 20 ODI indexes (average multiplied by number of runs scored per ball) among batsmen who scored at least 750 runs in 2007.
The bowlers' average against these batsmen in Tests was their Test index, while the ODI index was calculated by multiplying the bowlers' average by the number of runs conceded per ball against these batsmen.
Shoaib didn't play in all of Pakistan's matches through the year, but when he did, he was lethal. In Tests he dismissed the top batsmen four times (Sourav Ganguly twice, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Jacques Kallis once each) at an average of 42.50, while in ODIs he was even more effective, dismissing Dhoni (three times), Ganguly (twice), Sachin Tendulkar, Kallis and Graeme Smith, at an average of 17.12 and an economy-rate of 4.15 runs per over.
Most consistent batsman of the year - Tests
Shivnarine Chanderpaul: Consistency index 2.79
With six successive Test innings of 50-plus in 2007, Shivnarine Chanderpaul was the most consistent batsman of the year. He spoilt it slightly by scoring just 8 in his last innings of 2007, but he still finished with a batting average of 111.60. His standard deviation for the year - which measures the average distance from the mean - was just 40.05, which gave him a consistency index of 2.79 (average divided by standard deviation). Kallis and Kumar Sangakkara were the other two batsmen in contention, but neither stood a chance against Chanderpaul. Kallis averaged 86.42 with an SD of 50.15 (consistency index 1.72), while Sangakkara averaged 138.28, but thanks to two single-digit scores, his SD was a high 80.97 (consistency index 1.71).
Best bowler against top order - Tests
Brett Lee: Average 19.20 against top order
With a cut-off of at least 10 top-order wickets*, Brett Lee snuck ahead of two other worthy contenders. He took 20 top-order wickets at an average of 19.20. Stuart Clark followed him with 14 wickets at 22, while Dale Steyn bagged third place, with 29 top-order wickets at 22.34 each.
*Top order is defined as batsmen who have batted in the top seven in at least 50% of their innings over their career. A bowler's average against the top order was calculated by dividing the runs conceded against these batsmen by the number of such wickets.
Best ODI batsman of the year
Ricky Ponting: Batting Index 72.10
In what was a glorious year both for him and his team, Ricky Ponting scored a whopping 1288 runs* in the year, including four hundreds and eight half-centuries. He averaged 80.50, at a strike-rate of 89.56 runs per 100 balls, for an ODI batting index of 72.10. He was well ahead of second-placed Andrew Symonds, who averaged 61 at a strike-rate of 103.25 (ODI index 62.98) and Matthew Hayden (average 60.48, strike-rate 89.57, ODI index 54.17). That the top three were all Australians indicates just how dominant they were in 2007.
*Doesn't include runs scored against the non-Test-playing teams. Cut-off: 750 runs against Test-playing teams in 2007.
Best ODI bowler of the year
Shane Bond - Bowling index 13.87
In the 17 ODIs* he played in 2007, Shane Bond took 30 wickets at an average of 20.40 and an economy-rate of 4.08. His Bowling Index of 13.87 wins him the best ODI bowler of the year, ahead of Chaminda Vaas, who averaged 23.38 at an economy-rate of 3.75. Dilhara Fernando was in third place, while Glenn McGrath was the best Australian, with an average of 21.74, and an economy-rate of 4.69.
*Doesn't include wickets against the non-Test-playing teams. Bowling Index = bowling average multiplied by runs conceded per ball. Cut-off: 600 balls bowled.

Tight till the last: Shaun Pollock was the bowler with the best ODI economy-rate, and the lowest percentage of boundaries conceded © Cricinfo Ltd

OTHER AWARDS


Test batting
(cut-off: 500 runs, unless mentioned otherwise)

Batting pairs of the year(cut-off: at least 5 innings)
Opening: Matthew Hayden and Phil Jaques batted together only five times, but they made it count almost each time, scoring 418 runs at an average of 83.60 per partnership, with four 50-plus stands. Wasim Jaffer and Dinesh Karthik were next, with 744 runs at an average of 57.23
Other pairs: On the nine occasions they batted together, Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis put together 930 runs, with four century stands, at an average of 116.25. They edged ahead of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, who were almost as prolific, scoring 703 runs from seven innings at an average of 100.42.

Best batsman versus top ten bowlers of the year (cut off: 150 runs against top 10 bowlers)
Mohammad Yousuf: average 118.50 (237 runs, dismissed twice)
Mohammad Yousuf had a relatively quiet 2007 compared to his outstanding 2006, but among the top bowlers of the year, only two - Makhaya Ntini and Dale Steyn - managed to dismiss him. Yousuf, though, managed to score plenty against them, averaging 118.50 against the top ten bowlers of the year (the bowlers with the best averages among those who took at least 20 wickets in 2007).
Most runs in boundaries
Kamran Akmal: 336 out of 563 runs (59.68)
Kamran Akmal pipped Wasim Jaffer to the post: Jaffer scored 58.47% of his runs in boundaries (490 out of 838), while Rahul Dravid was third with a percentage of 57.76.
Highest percentage of team runs scored
Jacques Kallis: 1210 out of 4861 (24.89)
Kallis proved once again how crucial he is to South Africa's cause, scoring nearly a quarter of the team's runs. Three other batsmen gave him a run for his money: Mahela Jayawardene (22.46), Kumar Sangakkara (22.14) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (22.07).
Most runs in wins
Jacques Kallis: 844 runs at 93.77
Kallis featured in six Test wins for South Africa, scoring nearly 850 runs in those matches. Sangakkara was next, with 672 runs in four victories, followed by Amla (575 in six wins).
Off-side king
Kamran Akmal: 66.25% runs on the off side
Akmal finished marginally ahead of Sourav Ganguly, who scored 62.97% of his runs on the off side.
On-side king
Graeme Smith: 61.84% runs on the on side
Smith was the only player to score more than 60% of his runs on the on side. Paul Collingwood was next with 56.81% leg-side runs.
Bowled or lbw most times
Paul Collingwood: 10 times in nine Tests
Of the 19 times that Collingwood was dismissed in Tests in 2007, he was bowled or lbw ten times. Ian Bell, Alastair Cook, Graeme Smith and Sachin Tendulkar all fell to those modes of dismissals eight times.


ODI batting

(Cut off: 750 runs in 2007 unless mentioned otherwise; only includes runs scored against the Test-playing teams)
Highest strike-rate
Adam Gilchrist: 103.77 (797 runs from 768 balls)
Adam Gilchrist and Andrew Symonds were the only two batsmen to have a strike-rate of more than 100, but Gilchrist went ahead by a whisker - Symonds finished with a scoring rate of 103.25 per 100 balls.
Lowest strike-rate
Shivnarine Chanderpaul: 68.76 (810 runs from 1178 balls)
Shivnarine Chanderpaul was the only batsman to have a strike-rate of less than 70 in the year. Sourav Ganguly was next, with a rate of 72.59
Batting pairs of the year
(cut-off: 10 innings)
Opening: With 587 runs in 11 innings at an average of 58.70, South Africa's AB de Villiers and Graeme Smith took the top spot. In second place was the Indian pair of Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar (979 runs at 54.38).
Other pairs: The Australians took the top two places here. Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke led the way, with 708 partnership runs at an average of 78.66, but they were only marginally ahead of Ponting and Matthew Hayden (average 78.16).

Chanderpaul was the world's most consistent Test batsman in 2007, and he scored more than 18% of his team's runs, but he also had the year's lowest strike-rate in ODIs © Getty Images

Most runs scored in boundaries
Sanath Jayasuriya: 64.13% (506 out of 789)
This was a list dominated by openers. Sanath Jayasuriya struck 86 fours and 27 sixes, making it 506 runs in boundaries out of 789 overall. Adam Gilchrist was in second place with a percentage of 62.74 (95 fours and 20 sixes in an aggregate of 797), while Sachin Tendulkar and AB de Villiers occupied the next two spots.
Lowest dot ball %
Mahendra Singh Dhoni: 46.86% (500 out of 1067)
Mahendra Singh Dhoni was the only batsman to finish with a dot-ball percentage of less than 50. Ricky Ponting, who was second, played 720 dot balls out of 1438 (50.07%). Mohammad Yousuf was only fractionally behind, with a dot-ball percentage of 50.08.
Highest dot ball %
Upul Tharanga: 64.57% (596 out of 923)
Not surprisingly, the openers dominate this list as well. Sourav Ganguly is in second place with a dot-ball percentage of 62.57, while Sachin Tendulkar is next with 59.64.
Highest % of team runs scored
Matthew Hayden: 20.05% (1512 out of 7543)
Matthew Hayden was easily the leader of this pack, being the only batsman with a contribution of greater than 20%. Mohammad Yousuf was next with a percentage of 18.58 (908 out of 4888), while Shivnarine Chanderpaul scored 18.35% of West Indies' runs.
Most runs in wins(cut-off: 400 runs in wins)
AB de Villiers: 21.28% (780 out of 3666)
South Africa's AB de Villiers won this one by a whisker - his contribution of 21.28% of his team's runs in wins was marginally ahead of Ricky Ponting's contribution of 21.03% (1120 out of 5326 runs)
Best finisher (batting index in the last ten overs)(cut off: 100 runs in the last ten overs)
Matthew Hayden: batting index (ave x strike rate) 286.91
Matthew Hayden is an unlikely winner in this category, for you wouldn't expect an opener to be batting often in the last ten overs, but Hayden did it more than once in 2007. He scored 129 runs from 58 deliveries in the last ten overs of ODIs, and was dismissed just once. That gave him an average of 129, and a strike rate of 2.22 runs per ball. Multiply the two and the result is a whopping 286.91, which is more than twice what second-placed Mohammad Yousuf managed (121.73).
Best on the off side / leg side
Off Side: Sourav Ganguly: 59.84%
Not unexpectedly, Sourav Ganguly swept this one, with Ian Bell (55.98%) and Sachin Tendulkar (51.32%) the only other batsmen with more than 50% runs scored on the off side.
On side: Paul Collingwood: 60.74%
England's ODI captain won this one by a handsome margin, with Matthew Hayden (57.91) and Herschelle Gibbs (57.20) taking the next two places.

Test bowling

Best strike-rate(cut off: 600 balls) Dale Steyn: 29.66 balls per wicket (44 wickets in 1305 deliveries)
In what was a battle of two of the fastest bowlers around, Dale Steyn struck at a slightly quicker rate: he needed less than 30 balls per wicket. Brett Lee's 28 wickets came in 987 deliveries, a strike-rate of 35.25.
Tail specialist - dismissing last four cheaply (cut off: 10 wickets of batsmen from Nos. 8-11)
Muttiah Muralitharan: average 3.26 (19 wickets for 65 runs)
Muttiah Muralitharan's wizardry was too much for the tail, while Dale Steyn's 15 for 81 (average 5.40) puts him in second place.
Highest number of bowled and lbw dismissals
Anil Kumble: 25 (12 bowled, 13 lbw)
Kumble's accuracy and change of pace helped him to 25 bowled and lbw dismissals in 2007. Monty Panesar was next with 20 (eight bowled, 12 lbw), while Dale Steyn had 19 (9 bowled, 10 lbw).

ODI bowling
(cut off: 600 balls; only includes numbers against the Test-playing teams unless mentioned otherwise)

Best economy-rate
Shaun Pollock: 3.53 runs per over
Medium-pacers took the top two spots in this one. Pollock was on top, and Chaminda Vaas followed with an economy-rate of 3.76. These two were the only bowlers to have a sub-four economy rate in 2007.

Brett Lee is chuffed the stats prove he's the best bowler against top order batsmen in Tests © Getty Images

Best dot-ball percentage
Chaminda Vaas: 70.96%
Chaminda Vaas narrowly beat Shane Bond here. Bond had a dot-ball percentage of 70.02.
Lowest percentage of boundaries conceded (as percentage of balls bowled)
Shaun Pollock: 6.22%
Of the 1303 balls that Pollock bowled, he only conceded 72 fours and nine sixes. Vaas finished second with 7.11%.
Worst economy-rate
Elton Chigumbura: 5.93 runs per over
Chigumbura conceded 686 runs in 694 deliveries, which gives him the worst economy-rate for the year. New Zealand's Mark Gillespie was only marginally behind, with 5.84, while RP Singh (5.65) was in third place.
Most no-balls and wides (includes all teams)
Anderson Cummins: 79 extra balls (22 no-balls, 57 wides) out of 624 balls - 12.66%
Canada's Anderson Cummins was well ahead of the rest of the pack. In second place was Australia's Shaun Tait, who bowled six no-balls and 67 wides in 849 deliveries (8.60%).

Team Awards

Most dominant - Tests
Australia: Batting ave - Bowling ave = 39.58
Australia only lost 38 wickets for 2436 runs - that's an average of 64.11 - but took 80 wickets at an average of 24.53. The difference between the batting and bowling average was a whopping 39.58. Next in line was Sri Lanka, who despite a poor series in Australia, still managed a difference of 16.47. Bangladesh were the worst of the lot, with a difference of -60.81
Most dominant - ODIs
Australia: Batting index - bowling index = 19.82
Australia averaged 45.17 runs per wicket, and scored at 5.79 runs per over, giving them a batting index (average multiplied by runs per ball) of 43.60. Similarly their bowling index was 23.78, and the difference between the two an impressive 19.82. The next best team was South Africa, with a difference of 5.73.
Run-out specialists - ODIs
South Africa effected 27 run-outs in ODIs, but only suffered that fate ten times themselves when they were batting. The difference of 17 was easily the highest for any team in 2007. England managed to get 32 run-outs in the field, but had 24 run-outs inflicted on them when they batted.
© Cricinfo

Readers' picks
Around 950 Cricinfo readers voted on the shortlists for the jury awards, a few of them keeping their choice limited to only select categories. By and large, the voters seemed to go the same way as the judges, but for two categories: Murali Kartik's 6 for 27 against Australia was a better spell than Lasith Malinga's 4 for 54 against South Africa at the World Cup, according to the voters, and by a fair distance. The judges and voters both thought Yuvraj Singh played the best Twenty20 innings of the year, but the voters found the 58 off 16 balls against England streets better than the 70 off 30 against Australia in the semi-finals, which was the judges' choice. The innings that enjoyed the biggest majority vote was Kumar Sangakkara's 192 against Australia, with 399 out of 938 votes going in its favour.

Twenty20 batting, where voters picked Yuvraj Singh's innings in the World Twenty20 against England, was one of two categories where they differed from Cricinfo's jury © Getty Images

The top five in each category

Test batting
Kumar Sangakkara, 192 v Australia: 42.54%
Yuvraj Singh, 169 v Pakistan: 19.51%
Misbah-ul-Haq, 161 not out v India: 18.76%
Mohammad Ashraful, 129 v Sri Lanka: 13.75%
Jacques Kallis, 155 v Pakistan: 4.58%
Test bowling
Zaheer Khan, 5 for 75 v England: 26.28%
Dale Steyn, 6 for 49 v New Zealand: 23.45%
Mohammad Asif, 5 for 76 v South Africa: 16.14%
RP Singh, 5 for 59 v England: 13.41%
Dale Steyn, 5 for 56 v South Africa: 4.69%
ODI batting
Adam Gilchrist, 149 v Sri Lanka: 30.95%
Sachin Tendulkar, 97 v Pakistan: 22.84%
Mahela Jayawardene, 115 not out v New Zealand: 9.42%
Paul Collingwood, 120* v Australia: 8.12%
Craig McMillan, 117 v Australia: 7.58%
ODI bowling
Murali Kartik, 6 for 27 v Australia: 32.15%
Lasith Malinga, 4 for 54 v South Africa: 21.83%
Mashrafe Mortaza, 4 for 38 v India: 12.58%
Shane Bond, 5 for 23 v Australia: 12.26%
Glenn McGrath, 3 for 18 v South Africa: 4.41%
Twenty20 batting
Yuvraj Singh, 58 off 16 balls v England: 41.64%
Yuvraj Singh, 70 off 30 balls v Australia: 19.06%
Chris Gayle, 117 off 57 balls v South Africa: 13.42%
Misbah-ul-Haq, 66 off 52 balls v Australia: 13.01%
Mohammad Ashraful, 61 off 27 balls v West Indies: 9.48%
Twenty20 bowling
RP Singh, 4 for 13 v South Africa: 40.95%
Mohammad Asif, 4 for 18 v India: 19.50%
Sreesanth, 2 for 12 v Australia: 14.12%
Daniel Vettori, 4 for 20 v India: 12.18%
Stuart Clark, 4 for 20 v Sri Lanka: 7.11%
© Cricinfo