Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson has been nominated for the International Cricket Council's Cricketer of the Year award.
Johnson, who became Australia's pace spearhead last summer before losing his way for a time during the recently-completed Ashes campaign, is one of 14 nominees for the award that takes in the period from August 13, 2008 to August 24 this year.
Also nominated were West Indian Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Sri Lankans Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Thilan Samaraweera, South African pair Graeme Smith and AB de Villiers, Englishmen Andrew Strauss and Graham Onions, Indian trio MS Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir and Harbhajan Singh, New Zealander Daniel Vettori and Saqib Al Hasan from Bangladesh.
Johnson has also been nominated for the Test player of the Year award alongside team-mates Michael Clarke and Peter Siddle, while Mike Hussey is also among the ODI Player of the Year award nominees and Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus and Phil Hughes are in contention for the Emerging Player award.
David Warner's explosive 89 from 43 runs on debut in the Twenty20 arena in Melbourne in January earned him a nomination for the Twenty20 International Performance of the Year award and David Hussey is also in the hunt courtesy of his 88 from 48 balls and 2-21 in South Africa in March.
There are three Australian contenders for the Women's Cricketer of the Year award, Shelley Nitschke, Karen Rolton and Lisa Sthalekar the nominees, and Australians Steve Davis, Daryl Harper and Simon Taufel are up for the Umpire of the Year gong.
With the major cricketing nations of the world to assemble in South Africa later this month for the ICC Champions Trophy, the long list of contenders will be revised to short lists ahead of the awards ceremony in Johannesburg on October 1.
"The LG ICC Awards are an opportunity for the ICC and FICA (Federation of International Cricketers' Associations) to acknowledge and celebrate the remarkable performances of the world's top players," said ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat.
"It is also a chance for followers of our great sport to reflect on some of the great cricketing feats they have witnessed over the past year."
"This will be the sixth time the awards have been handed out and yet again there are so many great performances to recall. Selecting the winners will no doubt test our selectors and voting academy."
Cricketer of the Year:
Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI), Tillakaratne Dilshan (SL), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Ind), Gautam Gambhir (Ind), Saqib Al Hasan (Ban), Mitchell Johnson (Aus), Graham Onions (Eng), Thilan Samaraweera (SL), Kumar Sangakkara (SL), Harbhajan Singh (Ind), Graeme Smith (SA), Andrew Strauss (Eng), Daniel Vettori (NZ), AB de Villiers (SA)
Test Player of the Year:
Stuart Broad (Eng), Michael Clarke (Aus), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Ind), Tillakaratne Dilshan (SL), Gautam Gambhir (Ind), Saqib Al Hasan (Ban), Mitchell Johnson (Aus), VVS Laxman (Ind), Jesse Ryder (NZ), Thilan Samaraweera (SL), Ramnaresh Sarwan (WI), Peter Siddle (Aus), Harbhajan Singh (Ind), Graeme Smith (SA), Dale Steyn (SA), Andrew Strauss (Eng), Graeme Swann (Eng), Daniel Vettori (NZ), AB de Villiers (SA)
ODI Player of the Year:
Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Ind), Andrew Flintoff (Eng), Chris Gayle (WI), Umar Gul (Pak), Martin Guptill (NZ), Michael Hussey (Aus), Nuwan Kulasekara (SL), Ajantha Mendis (SL), Muttiah Muralidaran (SL), Yuvraj Singh (Ind), Virender Sehwag (Ind), Thilan Thushara (SL)
Emerging Player:
Martin Guptill (NZ), Ben Hilfenhaus (Aus), Philip Hughes (Aus), Amit Mishra (Ind), Graham Onions (Eng)m Kemar Roach (WI), Jesse Ryder (NZ), Peter Siddle (Aus)
Twenty20 International Performance of the Year:
Shahid Afridi (Pak) (WT20) – took 4-11 against the Netherlands at Lord’s on 9 June; scored 51 off 34 balls and took 2-16 against South Africa during the semi-final in Nottingham on 18 June; and took 1-20 and scored 54 not out off 40 balls against Sri Lanka in the final at Lord's on 21 June
Saeed Ajmal (Pak) – took 4-19 against Ireland at the Oval during the WT20 on 15 June
Dwayne Bravo (WI) – took 4-38 and scored 66 not out off 36 balls against India during the WT20 at Lord’s on 12 June
Alex Cusack (Ire) – took 4-18 against Sri Lanka during the WT20 at Lord’s on 14 June
Tillakaratne Dilshan (SL) has been nominated for two performances – he scored 96 not out off 57 balls against the West Indies in the semi-final of the WT20 at The Oval on 19 June; he previously scored 74 in 47 balls, also against the West Indies during the WT20 at Nottingham on 10 June
Chris Gayle (WI) – hit 88 off 50 balls against Australia during the WT20 at The Oval on 6 June
Umar Gul (Pak) has been nominated for two performances – took 4-8 against Australia in Dubai on 7 May and took 5-6 against New Zealand during the WT20 at The Oval on 13 June
David Hussey (Aus) – scored 88 not out off 48 balls and took 2-21 against South Africa in Johannesburg on 27 March
Sanath Jayasuriya (SL) – hit 81 off 47 balls against the West Indies during the WT20 in Nottingham on 10 June
Zaheer Khan (Ind) – took 4-19 against Ireland during the WT20 in Nottingham on 10 June
Ajantha Mendis (SL) – had figures of 4-15 against Zimbabwe at King City on 10 October
Wayne Parnell (SA) – took 4-13 against the West Indies during the WT20 at The Oval on 13 June
Abdur Razzak (Ban) – took 4-16 against South Africa in Johannesburg on 5 November
David Warner (Aus) – hit 89 off 43 balls against South Africa in Melbourne on 11 January
Women's Cricketer of the Year:
Suzie Bates (NZ), Holly Colvin (Eng), Charlotte Edwards (Eng), Laura Marsh (Eng), Sana Mir (Pak), Shelley Nitschke (Aus), Mithali Raj (Ind), Karen Rolton (Aus), Priyanka Roy (Ind), Lisa Sthalekar (Aus), Claire Taylor (Eng), Sarah Taylor (Eng), Stafanie Taylor (WI), Haidee Tiffin (NZ), Aimee Watkins (NZ)
Umpire of the Year:
Billy Bowden, Aleem Dar, Steve Davis, Ian Gould, Tony Hill, Daryl Harper, Asad Rauf, Simon Taufel