New Zealand win Spirit of Cricket award

The New Zealand cricket team was named the recipient of the Spirit of Cricket Award at the ICC Awards ceremony.

It is the second time New Zealand has won this award (the first being in 2004) which is presented to the team which, in the opinion of the Elite Panels of ICC Umpires and Match Referees and the ten Full Member captains has best conducted itself on the field within the spirit of the game.

The award was presented to New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori by Haroon Lorgat, the chief executive of the ICC.

Upon receiving the award on behalf of his team Vettori said: "I think most teams within world cricket aspire to the intangible notion of the Spirit of Cricket. It's not easy to define but I think when you get out on the field of play most guys know where that line is and most play the game in the right way.

"If we can couple the Spirit of Cricket award with the ICC Champions Trophy then we will be very happy indeed."

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

The award has previously been won twice by Sri Lanka (2007 and 2008), England won it in 2005 and 2006 while New Zealand took the honour at the inaugural ICC Awards in 2004.