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England's Andrew Flintoff and South African Jacques Kallis have tied for the International Cricket Council (ICC) player of the year award.
Kallis was also named ICC Test player of the year, while Flintoff was runner-up in the one-day category.

England batsman Kevin Pietersen won the one-day and emerging player of the year awards at the ceremony in Sydney.

English success continued when Flintoff picked up the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award on behalf of the England team.

Flintoff and Kallis each received 86 votes, more than twice as many as the player who came third, for the Sir Garfield Sobers trophy awarded to the best overall player.

Pietersen and Flintoff, who was the 2004 one-day player of the year, were both picked for the 2005 one-day team, while Flintoff was the only English player to make the ICC's all-star Test team.

Performances in this summer's Ashes series counted for little as only the opening match at Lord's - which England lost by 239 runs - came within the 12-month counting period.

During the selection period, which finished at the end of July, Flintoff played 10 Tests and 16 limited-overs internationals, scoring 366 runs at 30.5 and taking 44 wickets at 24.68 in Test matches.

He scored 464 in one-dayers at a strike-rate of 93 and took 24 wickets.

Flintoff said: "This is a special moment. I stood on stage with the best players in the world, and it's a special feeling.

"I honestly didn't know what to expect. I wasn't expecting to receive anything, but to receive an award like this... I had no idea."

Kallis was a runaway winner of the Test award, polling almost three times as many votes as the runner-up, Australia fast bowler Glenn McGrath.

In Test cricket Kallis scored 1,497 runs at an average of 71.28 including six centuries, while he also took 20 wickets and held 16 catches.

In ODIs the South African scored 697 runs at 41 and took eight wickets.

During the same period, double award winner Pietersen played 21 one-day internationals and one Test.

The 25-year-old averaged 87.33 with a strike rate of 99.5 in ODIs, scoring three centuries and four half-centuries.

A delighted Pietersen said he was stunned by his double.

"These last 12 months have been a whirlwind. It's quite amazing. I honestly didn't think I was going to get these awards," he said.

ICC president Ehsan Mani paid tribute to England, who capped their stunning Ashes win against Australia by winning the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award.

"Michael Vaughan's side has enjoyed considerable success on the field during the voting period," said Mani.

"This award shows they have done so by upholding the traditional values of the game."

Australian Simon Taufel was named umpire of the year for the second year in a row.



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NOMINATIONS/WINNERS

Player of the Year

Andrew Flintoff (England) - joint winner

Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pakistan)

Jacques Kallis (South Africa) - joint winner

Adam Gilchrist (Australia)

Glenn McGrath (Australia)

Test player of the year

Adam Gilchrist (Australia)

Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pakistan)

Jacques Kallis (South Africa) - winner

Glenn McGrath (Australia)

Shane Warne (Australia)

One-day player of the year

Andrew Flintoff (England)

Adam Gilchrist (Australia)

Brett Lee (Australia)

Kevin Pietersen (England) - winner

Andrew Symonds (Australia)

Emerging player of the year

Aftab Ahmed (Bangladesh)

Ian Bell (England)

Dinesh Karthik (India)

Kevin Pietersen (England) - winner

AB de Villiers (South Africa)

Spirit of cricket

England

Umpire of the year

Simon Taufel

ICC 2005 Test all-star team

Virender Sehwag (India), Graeme Smith (South Africa), Ricky Ponting (Australia, captain), Jacques Kallis (South Africa), Brian Lara (West Indies), Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pakistan), Andrew Flintoff (England), Adam Gilchrist (Australia), Shane Warne (Australia), Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka), Glenn McGrath (Australia). 12th man: Anil Kumble (India)

ICC 2005 one-day all-star team

Marvan Atapattu (Sri Lanka, captain), Adam Gilchrist (Australia), Rahul Dravid (India), Kevin Pietersen (England), Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pakistan), Andrew Flintoff (England), Andrew Symonds (Australia), Daniel Vettori (New Zealand), Brett Lee (Australia), Naved-ul-Hasan (Pakistan), Glenn McGrath (Australia). 12th man: Jacques Kallis (South Africa)