Jacques Kallis, the South Africa allrounder, has been named the Leading Cricketer in the World for 2007, as the 145th edition of the Wisden Cricketer's Almanack prepares to hit the bookshelves.
Kallis becomes the fifth recipient of the award, which was introduced in 2004, after Australians Ricky Ponting and Shane Warne, Andrew Flintoff of England and, last year, Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka. The Almanack, which is published today, awarded Kallis the prize for his 1210 Test runs at 86.42; last year and 20 wickets at 25.75.
Meanwhile, Ian Bell, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ottis Gibson, Ryan Sidebottom and Zaheer Khan were named as the five Cricketers of the Year for their achievements in the English season in 2007. Bell arrived in both Tests and one-dayers, revealing genuine class; Gibson revelled in the autumn of his career with an outstanding season for Durham, culminating in 10 for 47 against Hampshire while Zaheer and Sidebottom led the left-armer's renaissance. Chanderpaul stood head and shoulders above any of his West Indian peers, averaging 148 in the three Tests against England.
