Philander is South African Cricketer of the Year

All-rounder Vernon Philander swept Cricket South Africa's Gala Awards, bagging three top awards, including the 'Cricketer of the Year' honour at the Sandton Convention Centre here.

Philander was also named the 'Test Cricketer of the Year' and to put an extra cherry on the top, he also won in the national popularity stakes by fans who made him CSA Fans' Cricketer of the Year with their online votes.

By being named South African Cricketer of the Year, the 26-year-old joins the elite company of Jacques Kallis (twice), Makhaya Ntini (twice), Shaun Pollock, Dale Steyn, Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla who are previous winners of South Africa's most prestigious cricketing award.

There were two dual international winners on the night. AB de Villiers was named One-Day International Cricketer of the Year and SA Players' Player of the Year, and Richard Levi, was named CSA International T20 Cricketer of the Year and also bagged the KFC "So Good" Award for his world record century against New Zealand in the same format.

The other international award went to Marchant de Lange, who took 7/81 on his Test match debut against Sri Lanka and also bowled a memorable final over to take 2/2 and clinch the T20 series against New Zealand.

In the domestic professional category the three main awards went to Dean Elgar (CSA 1-Day Cup Cricketer of the Year), Farhaan Behardien (MiWay T20 Cricketer of the Year) and Alviro Petersen (SuperSport Series Cricketer of the Year).