Ponting, Muralitharan, Sidebottom...?

A rather baffling decision has been made by the ICC for their annual awards night next month. On the long list of 20 candidates for Test Player of the Year are the likes of Ponting, Hussey, Yousuf, Warne, Muralitharan etc. All quite understandable. Pietersen gets a mention, naturally, and so does Monty Panesar, with rather less merit but nonetheless he has developed into a fine Test bowler if not quite yet of the top drawer. The list goes on: Jayawardena, McGrath, Hayden, Sidebottom...

Sidebottom? Ryan Sidebottom? Surely some mistake? His haul of 24 wickets at an average of 26 this summer is pretty good, but why does he get on the list when the likes of Kallis, Younus Khan and Shane Bond miss out?

"Ponting, Muralitharan, Sidebottom" has the same ring as Del-boy Trotter's "New York, Paris, Peckham" slogan, but good luck to him. It would be a victory for unfashionable bowlers over big names everywhere.

And he wants it: just look at how he dealt with Dwayne Bravo when he heard the West Indian was in the running for a nomination.