ESPNcricinfo Awards 2014 Announced: Mitchell Johnson, Rohit Sharma, Brendon McCullum Among Winners

--Best batting and bowling performances across the three international formats of the game in 2014 picked by an eminent jury including Rahul Dravid, Ricky Ponting, Ian Chappell, Martin Crowe, Michael Holding, and ESPNcricinfo editors and writers, among others

Brendon McCullum, Mitchell Johnson, Rohit Sharma, Lasith Malinga, Alex Hales and Rangana Herath are the winners of the eighth annual ESPNcricinfo Awards for the best batting and bowling performances in Tests, ODIs and T20s in 2014.

The winners were picked by an expert jury consisting of Rahul Dravid, Ian Chappell, Ricky Ponting, Ajit Agarkar, Russel Arnold, Martin Crowe, Michael Bevan, Mark Butcher, Aakash Chopra, Daryll Cullinan, Michael Holding, Mark Nicholas, Ramiz Raja and Graeme Smith. Also part of the jury were ESPNcricinfo’s senior writers, Sambit Bal, Sharda Ugra, Sidharth Monga, Brydon Coverdale, Mohammad Isam, David Hopps, Osman Samiuddin, Jarrod Kimber, Firdose Moonda, Daniel Brettig, Andrew Fernando and George Dobell.

Winners for each category were picked from shortlists of between nine and 14 performances selected by ESPNcricinfo staff.

Brendon McCullum’s 302 against India was the first triple-hundred by a New Zealander in Tests, and came at the start of a year in which he scored 1164 Test runs.

Mitchell Johnson’s 7 for 68 against South Africa in Centurion saw him in arguably more fearsome form than he was during his Ashes-winning performances earlier in the season back home in Australia. It was Johnson’s second consecutive ESPNcricinfo Award in the category.

Rohit Sharma’s 264 against Sri Lanka was his second double-hundred in ODIs (the first won in this category at last year’s ESPNcricinfo Awards), and the third by an Indian, following Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag.

Lasith Malinga, who won in the best ODI bowling category for his 5 for 56 in the Asia Cup final against Pakistan, is also a former ESPNcricinfo Award winner.

Both winning performances in the shortest format came from the World T20: Rangana Herath’s 5 for 3 demolished New Zealand in a tournament Sri Lanka went on to win. Alex Hales won the batting award for his 116 not out against Sri Lanka, which came off 97 balls and took England to a six-wicket win.

Speaking about the awards, Sambit Bal, editor-in-chief, ESPNcricinfo, said: “2014 has been an exciting year of cricket and we saw the emergence of some real champions. We want to reward champions who made a difference to cricket through their performances over the last 12 months. Selecting these winners was a daunting task, to say the least, for all the jury members, considering the immense talent that was on display. We wish the winners all the success in the world, and hope they take the gentleman’s game to greater heights.”

For the full lists of nominees, and detailed descriptions and videos about the winning performances, log on to the ESPNcricinfo 2014 Awards site here:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/awards2014/content/site/awards2014/index.html

About ESPNcricinfo:

With 20 years of heritage, ESPNcricinfo is the world's leading digital cricket brand. Founded in 1993 and acquired by ESPN in 2007, ESPNcricinfo is committed to delivering an independent voice for comprehensive coverage of the sport and is available to cricket fans online and across mobile platforms.

In India, ESPNcricinfo is the No. 1 digital sports destination and the No. 1 cricket brand, leading all competitors in unique audience, total time spent, visits, page views and average minutes per visitor. It has an average minute audience that is nearly twice that of its nearest competitor – meaning that during any average minute of a month, nearly twice as many fans are on ESPNcricinfo as on other sports destination.

Globally, ESPNcricinfo leads its competitors in average minute audience, unique visitors, page views, average minutes per visitor, and total visits. And it continues to grow. Across online, mobile and tablet devices (web and apps) fans log up to 2 billion minutes of time spent each month with ESPNcricinfo globally, and log millions of video views.

About ESPN in Asia Pacific:

In the Asia/Pacific Rim region, ESPN operates a diverse business that includes a portfolio of television, online and mobile brands and services. Often largely known for its television businesses globally, ESPN is also the world’s leading sports digital media company, and among the leading digital content and technology brands (in any category) worldwide. Its APAC digital media assets form an important part of its global digital leadership and make it the leading digital sports publisher in both India and Australia.

ESPN International is a division of ESPN, Inc., which has grown to include ownership — in whole or in part — of 24 television networks outside of the United States, as well as a variety of additional businesses that allow ESPN to reach sports fans in countries and territories across all seven continents. ESPN International business entities include television, radio, print, internet, broadband, mobile, consumer products, and event management.

ESPN is 80 percent owned by ABC, Inc., which is an indirect subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. The Hearst Corporation holds a 20 percent interest in ESPN in whole or in part — of 24 television networks outside of the United States, as well as a variety of additional businesses that allow ESPN to reach sports fans in countries and territories across all seven continents. ESPN International business entities include television, radio, print, internet, broadband, mobile, consumer products, and event management.

ESPN is 80 percent owned by ABC, Inc., which is an indirect subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. The Hearst Corporation holds a 20 percent interest in ESPN.