Strauss and Taylor honoured

Andrew Strauss and Claire Taylor pose with their trophies after being named the Vodafone players of the year 2008/09

Vodafone, the official sponsor of the England cricket team, is proud to announce that Andrew Strauss and Claire Taylor have been named Vodafone players of the year 2008 / 09.

The accolade is awarded to a member of both the men's and women's England cricket teams in recognition of their consistently outstanding performances over the last summer and winter series.

Both Strauss and Taylor are previous recipients of the award.

The winner of the men's award is chosen by the cricket media and the women's award by a panel of experts, which this year included the BBC's Alison Mitchell and Sky Sports' Nick Knight.

Previous winners have included Ryan Sidebottom, Andrew Flintoff, Katherine Brunt and Charlotte Edwards.

The awards were presented at the England teams' dinner, hosted by the ECB in association with Vodafone, in the Long Room at Lord's Cricket Ground on Monday 4 May.

Strauss said: “This is the second time that I have won this award and I regard it as a great honour to be named Vodafone England player of the year.

“The last time was in 2004 and I received the award in early 2005. Let's hope that this is an omen for this extremely exciting summer ahead.

Strauss celebrates a hundred against West Indies at the Queen's Park Oval, one of many superb knocks from the England captain in the last 12 months

“Last year was memorable for me - starting with a hundred in New Zealand and I was fortunate enough to end the 12 months with two centuries in the same game in Chennai against India.

“I would like to thank Vodafone for this award and all the awards for outstanding individual achievements. I know all the England players treasure these awards."

Strauss played an integral role in England's opening Test series against New Zealand last summer.

Consistent scoring and a second Test match century at Old Trafford took his series total to 266 at an average of 66.5 which was enough to help set up a 2 - 0 series win and for Strauss to be named England's Man of the Series.

This form was replicated during the first leg of the winter tour against India, making 123 and 108 in the 1st Test Match in Chennai and so becoming only the 10th Englishman to score two centuries in the same match.

He then guided England through a challenging West Indies tour, securing victory in the One Day International Series after being appointed England captain in early January of this year.

Taylor takes the Vodafone player of the year award for a second consecutive year following a highly successful year for women's cricket which saw England emerge as champions of the 2009 ICC Women's World Cup.

Ranked the leading women's ODI batsman going into the tournament, Taylor showed her class amassing a total of 324 runs throughout the tournament including a top score of 101.

She was named the 2009 ICC Women's World Cup 'player of the tournament'.

She was later nominated for the 2009 Wisden cricketer of the year, a historic achievement and testament to her exceptional performances over the past year.

Taylor has been rewarded for leading England to success in the World Cup, where she was named 'player of the tournament' after amassing 324 runs

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Taylor said: "I'm delighted to be named the Vodafone player of the year for 2009.

“It's a huge honour to be named two years in a row when so many of the England girls have put in great performances this year.

“The last 12 months have been an amazing time to be involved in women's cricket with our unbeaten summer run and our World Cup triumph in Sydney.

“I'm looking forward to an exciting summer of cricket with the ICC Women's World Twenty20 competition in parallel with the men's and an npower Ashes and NatWest Women's one-day series against Australia.”

In addition to the player of the year awards, Vodafone also presented the 'Vodafone awards for outstanding individual achievement' to England players who have scored 100 runs, taken five wickets or five catches in a single innings.

The annual awards have been running since 2001 and mark the 12th year of Vodafone's sponsorship of the England Cricket Team.

Hosts Giles Clarke, ECB chairman, and David Collier, ECB chief executive, were joined by Vodafone's Gavin Darby, Asia Pacific & Middle East business development director, to start proceedings and the presentations were made to an audience of approximately 150 cricket dignitaries and media, gathered to recognise those players who have excelled over the past twelve months.