NEWS
Follow UsNew Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell, whose runs as an opener played a key part in the Kiwis reaching the final of the 2021 T20 World Cup, has received the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award (2021) for his gesture in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup against England in Abu Dhabi.
The said incident happened in the second innings of the first semi-final between England and New Zealand. Chasing 167, the Kiwis needed 34 off the final three overs, with Mitchell and Jimmy Neesham trying to take the Black Caps over the line. A single was on offer for New Zealand on the first ball of the 18th over, which Neesham pushed beyond the bowler and towards the deep fielder, but Mitchell declined the run as he felt that he obstructed the bowler.
The honest gesture has landed the 30-year-old all-rounder the ‘ICC Spirit of Cricket’ award for the calendar year 2021.
Commenting on receiving the honour and reflecting on that moment, Daryl Mitchell, said: “It is a real honour to receive the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award and it was absolutely amazing to be part of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup that happened in UAE last year. Reflecting back, it was a pretty tight game against England at the semi-final of the tournament with only a few overs to go, Neesh hit a single down to long-off and I think I obstructed Rashid who was trying to get to the ball.
“We pride ourselves as a team, in the way we play our cricket and I guess that’s the spirit of cricket. Personally, I felt like I got in the way, and we wanted to win but on our own terms. I guess it paid off in the long run, that we won the game.
“We want to win every game, but we don’t want to do it in a way that goes against the values of cricket. The spirit of cricket is very important. It is a platform for young cricketers to watch and learn and to get inspired to play the game and go about winning it in the right way. At the end of the day, it is just a game, and it is a game that we all love, and we are very lucky to be able to do that in the right way.”
“Personally, there are more important things than winning a game of cricket and at that moment it was the right thing to do.”
Mitchell is the fourth New Zealand cricketer to win the award, following the footsteps of Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum and Kane Williamson.