New Zealand opener Daryl Mitchell wins ICC Spirit of Cricket Award for 2021 for his gesture in T20 World Cup

New Zealand batter Daryl Mitchell has been named the recipient of the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award after his gesture in the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup semi-final against England in Abu Dhabi.

Mitchell won the award for refusing to take a single in the high-pressure T20 World Cup semi-final against England in Abu Dhabi on November 10, 2021. Mitchell has now become the fourth New Zealand player to win the award, following in the footsteps of Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum and Kane Williamson.

“It’s an honour to receive the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award,” Mitchell said. “To be part of that T20 World Cup in UAE was an amazing experience, and to receive an award like this is pretty cool.

“It’s something that we pride ourselves on as New Zealanders, the way we go about playing our cricket, and yes, the Spirit of Cricket side. Personally, I felt I got in the way and we wanted to win on our own terms, and didn’t want to be controversial in such a big game.

“It paid off in the long run that we won the game. Looking back, it all happened pretty quickly.”

This spirit is described in the preamble to the laws of cricket: “Cricket is a game that owes much of its unique appeal to the fact that it should be played not only within its laws but also within the spirit of the game. Any action which is seen to abuse this spirit causes injury to the game itself.”

The preamble goes on to say: “The spirit of the game involves respect for:

* Your opponents
* Your own captain and team
* The role of the umpires
* The game’s traditional values

What happened?

In the first semi-final of the 2021 ICC Men’s 2021 T20 World Cup at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, England and New Zealand were locked in a tight battle to reach the summit clash. Batting first, England had posted a competitive 166/4 on the board courtesy of Moeen Ali’s half-century.

New Zealand were on course for the run chase with a well-settled Mitchell establishing a partnership with James Neesham, who was in blistering form. The incident occurred on the first ball of the 18th over bowled by Adil Rashid, with the score at 133/4.