Prayers come first for Pakistan's Yousuf

The Pakistan batsman Mohammad Yousuf will not be attending the ICC's annual awards in Dubai as it affects his prayer routine.

KARACHI // The Pakistan batsman Mohammad Yousuf will not be attending the International Cricket Council's annual awards function in Dubai tomorrow as it would affect his prayer routine. Yousuf, a Muslim, asked to be excused from international duty during the month of Ramadan. He has been nominated for the One-day International Player of the Year award by the ICC and is the only Pakistani in the reckoning for an award. "I cannot go for the awards because it would come in the way of my evening prayers," he said. "For me, Ramadan is a month of fasting and being totally involved in religious activities. It means being detached from worldly pursuits."

There will be a new name on the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy this year after Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Mahela Jayawardene, Dale Steyn and Graeme Smith were nominated for the ICC's Cricketer of the Year award. The West Indies batsman Chanderpaul, the Sri Lanka captain Jayawardene and the South Africa paceman Steyn are also nominated for Test Player of the Year. The Proteas skipper Graeme Smith completes the quartet for the Cricketer of the Year title, while teammate Jacques Kallis is up for the Test gong. This year's ceremony sees the introduction of a new Twenty20 International Performance of the Year award, which will be contested by the India one-day skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, his team-mate Yuvraj Singh, Australia's Brett Lee and the West Indies opener Chris Gayle. [e-mail]