Highly respected media personality and former Australian captain Richie Benaud will chair a five-man selection panel to commence the judging process for next month's ICC Awards.
Benaud joins fellow cricket legends Ian Botham, Sunil Gavaskar, Michael Holding and Barry Richards to make up the five-man selection panel for the ICC Awards.
The ICC Awards selection panel has three tasks ahead of the inaugural ceremony at London's Alexandra Palace on September 7:
(1) To develop a shortlist of players in the four individual award categories for the 50-member voting Academy to cast 3-2-1 votes for each individual award;
(2) To select the ICC Test Team of the Year; and
(3) To select the ICC One-Day International Team of the Year.
ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed said the appointment of the panel was the first and foremost step of a comprehensive selection process to judge the world's best players of the past 12 months.
"The appointment of the ICC Awards selection panel gives us the starting point from which the nomination, vote casting and tallying process can now begin," said Speed.
"The appointment of Benaud as chair of the panel consolidates the selection process and I know that he regards this as a great honour to lead an illustrious group of former champions including Botham, Gavaskar, Holding and Richards.
"The selection panel has the considerable responsibility to develop the short-list of players in contention for the four individual awards.
"This will be a challenging task, but this group of individuals has an intimate and strong connection to the game at various levels, and we have full confidence in their ability to put forward the most appropriate players for the Academy to cast votes."
Benaud acknowledged the enormity of the task ahead, but confirmed the panel's commitment to approaching it with diligence and responsibility.
"The first thing about being on a five-person panel of this kind is for us to realise what degree of difficulty lies ahead," said Benaud.
"The main problem will be in excluding players from the short-list, even though they are brilliant cricketers. It is a challenge, and one approached by Ian, Sunil, Michael, Barry and me, with considerable anticipation."
Former South African champion Barry Richards said he was honoured to be a member of the ICC Awards selection panel.
"I feel singularly honoured to be part of what I feel is a well-respected and diverse judging panel," said Richards.
"Benaud is the doyen, and every member has had vast experience in all facets of cricket and are well positioned to provide the catalyst in honouring the heroes of today."
The ICC Awards selection panel, appointed by the ICC, will receive a full information pack including match results and statistics of the leading players in each form of the game during the voting period.
Using their experience, judgment and knowledge, the panel will develop a shortlist of the outstanding players in each award category to go to the voting Academy.
Each Academy member will then cast a 3-2-1 vote (three votes being the greater value) which will be collected and totalled. The process will be monitored and approved by PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
The award winner in each category will be the player with the most number of votes. In the event of a tie, a count-back system will apply.
The results will be kept secure and confidential until announced on the night.
The ICC Awards selection panel will also convene to select the ICC Test Team of the Year, and the ICC ODI Team of the Year official ICC World XI sides.
They will be made up of the best individual players from all international teams in each form of the game.
In selecting the team, the selection panel must ensure that it is a well-balanced side, and is capable of playing a winning match.
Each World XI side will include a nominated captain and a 12th man.
Players from all Full Member countries, as well as Kenya and the United States of America, who will be in London preparing for the ICC Champions Trophy, are expected to attend the Awards ceremony on September 7.
A total of eight awards will be presented:
Individual awards: Cricketer of the Year; Test Player of the Year; One-Day International Player of the Year; Emerging Player of the Year; Umpire of the Year.
Team awards: Test Team of the Year; One-Day International Team of the Year; and Spirit of Cricket Award.
