England win the Spirit of Cricket Award

The England cricket team were named as the recipients of the Spirit of Cricket Award at the ICC Awards celebration in Sydney on Tuesday.

The Spirit of Cricket Award was presented to the Full Member team which, in the opinion of the Emirates Elite Panel of Umpires and Referees and the captains of the ten Test teams, has best conducted itself on the field within the spirit of the game.

This Spirit is described in the preamble to the Laws of Cricket:

"Cricket is a game that owes much of its unique appeal to the fact that it should be played not only within its Laws but also within the Spirit of the Game. Any action which is seen to abuse this spirit causes injury to the game itself."

The preamble goes on to say:

"The Spirit of the Game involves RESPECT for:
* Your opponents
* Your own captain and team
* The role of the umpires
* The game's traditional values"

ICC President Ehsan Mani said: "On behalf of the ICC I wish to congratulate England for winning the Spirit of Cricket Award.

"Michael Vaughan's side has enjoyed considerable success on the field during the voting period and this award shows they have done so by upholding the traditional values of the game."

England were the second recipients of the Award after it was won by New Zealand in 2004.

The Spirit of Cricket Award was one of eight individual and team honours handed out during the ICC Awards, presented by Hyundai in association with FICA.

The event, held at the Four Seasons Hotel, recognises cricket's star performers over a 12-month period.

Voting for the Spirit of Cricket was completed by each of the ICC's 10 Full member captains, the eight members of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires and the seven members of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Referees (all those on the panel during the voting period)

Each cast a single vote for their choice of team that best exemplified the Spirit of Cricket during the voting period.

The voting period for the award was from 1 August 2004 to 31 July 2005.

The Spirit of Cricket Award was presented by ICC President Ehsan Mani.

The trophy, produced by Swarovski, features a crystal cricket ball studded with over 4200 Swarovski crystal chantons, cusped in a hand which extends from an aluminium base. The hand represents the theme of "breaking through" in pursuit of excellence.

The trophy features a clear crystal ball, weighs 1.2 kilograms, is 30 centimetres high and 11 centimetres in width.