Outrage in South Africa over ICC awards

Majola's views have been echoed by Mickey Arthur, the South Africa coach, who said the "very disappointing" nominations shortlist would motivate his players to perform better in the ICC Champions Trophy starting on September 22. Allan Donald, the former South Africa fast bowler and a member of the awards voting panel, admitted that he was surprised by the shortlist. Journalist Neil Manthorp, the only other South African on the 25-member panel, wrote that the honour of being on that jury had turned into an embarrassment. Cricinfo has also received angry emails from readers complaining about the omissions.

When contacted, an ICC spokesperson said that the awards nomination "is a completely independent process in which the ICC has no say whatsoever".

"To me, it looks like the only way to get on these nomination lists is to play the Ashes," Majola told Cricinfo. "Unfortunately, our players don't play for England or Australia. That seems to be the criteria to select these awards. I don't know what the criteria are for these nominations but I simply can't believe that this has happened to South African players. My personal opinion is that this doesn't lend credibility to this year's awards, for sure. To rub salt to our wounds, the awards ceremony is being held in our country.

"I am totally dismayed and disappointed. The last season was one of the best ever for South Africa and there were a lot of outstanding performances by our players. In my personal opinion, there were at least three South African players who should have figured on the shortlist. But I am not going to name them because I don't want to drag our players into this issue when they are preparing for the Champions Trophy. I haven't spoken to them about this either."

Donald revealed that he had nominated two South African players for the shortlist. "But I am surprised to see that there is no one from South Africa in the final list," he told Cricinfo.

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