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Johannesburg: South African captain Graeme Smith's inspirational leadership and prolific batting in the season gone by fetched him the twin honours of 'Cricketer of the Year' and 'Test Cricketer of the Year' at the country's annual cricket awards.
In a glittering ceremony on Tuesday night, the other major winners were AB de Villiers (One-Day International Cricketer of the Year and Fans' Cricketer of the Year) and JP Duminy (Pro20 Cricketer of the Year, SA Players' Player of the Year, and KFC Taste the Action Performance winner).
Smith had an outstanding year both as leader and player. He led the Proteas to away Test victories over both England and Australia -- something that had never been achieved before -- in the space of six months.
Under Smith, South Africa also dethroned Australia as the number one ODI combination in the world.
As a player he was the leading runs scorer in Test cricket in the calendar year of 2008, becoming the first South African to score more than 1 600 runs in a 12-month period.
He also played one of the most memorable Test innings of all time when an unbeaten 154 at Edgbaston helped the Proteas clinch the series against England.
It was one of the top-10 fourth innings scores of all time in a successful chase.
His century at Perth also laid the foundation for the Proteas' epic 414 runs chase in the first Test in Australia.
These two victories are two of South Africa's four highest successful run chases of all time, the 414 being only three runs shy of the world record.
Meanwhile, De Villiers also had a wonderful year with the bat, averaging 63 in Australia and 60 at home.
In other awards, Roelof van der Merwe managed to beat off the challenge from Wayne Parnell and Lonwabo Tsotsobe to bag the 'Newcomer of the Year' title.
Van der Merwe was a story of remarkable success. He made his debut in the Standard Bank International Pro20 and never looked back after a man-of-the-match debut that earned him a permanent place in the ODI squad as well.
The awards covered the period from the start of the tour of England up to the end of the home series against Australia and thus do no include the recent ICC World Twenty20.
Cricket South Africa CEO Gerald Majola said the awards were a reflection of how well the team had performed.
"These awards mark a golden era in the history of South African cricket. It is most fitting that the SA Cricketer of the Year award goes to Graeme Smith, who led the Proteas to their best season ever," Majola said in a statement.
"The awards also take note of an impressive crop of young stars whose outstanding achievements on the international stage have ensured the continued success of the Proteas," he said.
The 2009 SA Cricket Awards Winners:
South Africa team
Domestic
Operations
