CaribWorldNews, DUBAI, UAE, Thurs. Sept. 11, 2008: The West Indies Cricket Board has congratulated West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul on receiving a top honor by the International Cricket Council.

The Guyanese-born batsman was presented with the Cricketer of the Year award at a prestigious LG ICC Awards, held at a glittering ceremony in Dubai Tuesday night. Chanderpaul was also named in the ICC World Test Team of the Year, as chosen by a panel of some of the greats of the game. The award comes following the 34-year-old`s outstanding year with the bat.

During the voting period, Chanderpaul played eight Test matches – scoring 819 runs at an average of 91.00, including three centuries and six half-centuries. He is currently ranked No. 1 in the ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen and is sixth in the rankings for ODI batsmen. His brilliance overflowed into the One-Day format. He played 13 One-Day Internationals during that time, finishing top of the averages with 74.75 having scored 598 runs – including a century and five half-centuries.

President of the West Indies Cricket Board, Dr. Julian Hunte, congratulated Chanderpaul on his honor, insisting the award is truly deserving. `Shivnarine Chanderpaul should be admired for his dedication and commitment to West Indies cricket. He is a valuable member of West Indies team and I can think of no one playing in world cricket at the moment who is more deserving of this award,` he said in a statement yesterday.

congrats to 'gad' well deserved

hey Nippy

In the meantime Chanders team , Durham, won the County Championships. Congrats.