Nitschke wins ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year 2010
Australia all-rounder Shelley Nitschke has been named Women's Cricketer of the Year at the LG ICC Awards ceremony in Bengaluru.
During the voting period Nitschke played eight ODIs for Australia scoring 342 runs at the top of the order at an average of 57, while the spinner also claimed 12 wickets. She also played in 10 Twenty20 Internationals amassing 265 runs and 10 wickets.
The 33-year-old took the award ahead of team-mate Ellyse Perry, West Indies' Stafanie Taylor and England's Katherine Brunt.
The accolade rounds off a successful year for Nitschke, who was part of the Australia side that was victorious at the ICC Women's World Twenty20 in the West Indies.
Accepting the award from Australia all-rounder Michael Hussey in Bengaluru, Nitschke said: "This year has been fantastic and to cap the year off with winning the ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year is brilliant.
"A huge part of increasing people's following of our has been our playing double-header matches with the men's sides and to be playing Twenty20 cricket on a global stage has also helped us immensely."
The Women's Cricketer of the Year Award was one of nine individual prizes given at this year's LG ICC Awards.
The nominations for the Women's Cricketer of the Year were decided after a committee of former players, current administrators and journalists created a long-list. This in turn was broken down into a short-list by a separate 25-person voting academy.
Based on the period between 24 August 2009 and 10 August 2010, the LG ICC Awards 2010 - presented in association with FICA - take into account performances by players and officials in a remarkable period for the game.
That period includes such high-profile events as the ICC Men's and Women's World Twenty20 2010 in West Indies, the ICC Champions Trophy 2009 in South Africa and the ICC World Cricket League Division 1 2010 in the Netherlands, as well as several bilateral Test and ODI series.
The LG ICC Awards ceremony is now in its seventh year and this year is being held in Bengaluru. Previous ceremonies were held in London (2004), Sydney (2005), Mumbai (2006), Johannesburg (2007 and 2009) and Dubai (2008).
