Proteas' spinner Paul Harris claims award

Also named were Gulam Bodi, Justin Kemp, Charl Langeveldt and Morne van Wyk.

The award was a late birthday present for Harris, who turned 29 on Friday. The tall Titans left-arm bowler made a highly impressive entry into Test cricket when he played in home series against India and Pakistan last season. Both teams contained renowned players of spin bowling but Harris claimed 11 wickets in four matches at an average of 28.54.

Harris confirmed his ability when he took 12 wickets – the most by any bowler from either side - in the recent two-Test series against Pakistan. The series was played after the selection period for the Mutual & Federal Cricketers of the Year.

All five nominees were first-time winners of the award in line with a new policy that players will only be recognised once by the Mutual & Federal Annual.

Titans batsman Bodi was recognised for his outstanding achievement in finally earning international one-day colours more than six years after missing out on a tour of the West Indies because of injury.

Bodi, 28, was selected as a wrist spinner in 2000/01 but was injured the day before he was due to depart for the Caribbean. In recent seasons he has shone with the bat, making his international debut as a batsman against Zimbabwe in August. He was also included in South Africa’s squad for the inaugural World Twenty20 in September.

The big-hitting Kemp, who was appointed vice-captain of the Proteas’ one-day team for the recent tournament in Pakistan, confirmed his reputation as one of the most exciting batsmen in the world game during the past year. Among several fine performances was a thrilling, match-winning maiden one-day international century against India in Cape Town.

Swing bowler Langeveldt was a consistent performer for the Proteas in one-day internationals and was joint leading wicket-taker for South Africa during the Cricket World Cup in the West Indies with 14 wickets at 25.78, including five for 39 in the win against Sri Lanka, who went on to reach the final.

Van Wyk was honoured for his outstanding run-scoring efforts for the Eagles in domestic cricket. He was the leading run-scorer in both the MTN Domestic Championship and the Standard Bank Pro20 and topped the averages in the SuperSport Series. His feats earned him a recall to the national one-day team for the tour of Ireland.

Editor Colin Bryden said there was a change of emphasis in this year’s awards to take account of the official end-of-season awards function.

Bryden said that during the previous 13 years the Mutual & Federal Annual had selected the outstanding players of the preceding year, largely because of their achievements at international level.

The introduction of an official Cricket South Africa awards function, sponsored by Mutual & Federal, had led to the change of criteria.

“The top echelon of players are now recognised at the official awards ceremony, with the likes of Shaun Pollock, Ashwell Prince, Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher taking the main honours at the function in May,” said Bryden. “As a result, there is now an opportunity for the Mutual & Federal Annual to honour a wider variety of players.”

Bryden said the emphasis in the Mutual & Federal Annual would now be on recognising players once in their careers.

Although outstanding achievements in the past year would take priority, Bryden said the new criteria would make it possible to honour players who had given consistent service to the game over a number of years.

Bryden said it remained a difficult task to narrow the choice down to five players, with many fine performances having been produced during an exceptionally busy period for South African cricket.