JOIN USThough disappointed that none of his team-mates were considered worthy of individual nominations, Smith said the Proteas strive for collective recognition.
“It is not individual recognition that drives us. We are driven by what we want to achieve as a team and have had an amazing couple of years,” Smith said in a pre-event press conference in Potchefstroom.
“It is a little disappointing that not a single South African made the shortlist in any category because we are the number one team in both Test and ODI cricket,” he added.
Smith said being left out of the nominations list would motivate the team to do better.
“That shows the strength of the team and perhaps the lack of ICC award nominations could be a motivating factor,” Smith said.
South Africa will open their Champions Trophy campaign on September 22 against Sri Lanka in Centurion.
Majola fumes
Meanwhile, an outraged Cricket South Africa CEO Gerald Majola has questioned the credibility of the list, saying he can’t figure out the selection criteria.
“To me, it looks like the only way to get on these nomination lists is to play the Ashes,” Majola fumed.
“Unfortunately, our players don’t play for England or Australia. That seems to be the criteria to select these awards. I don’t know what the criteria are for these nominations but I simply can’t believe that this has happened to South African players,” the CSA chief told a website.