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New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell was on Wednesday named the recipient of 2021’s ICC ‘Spirit of Cricket’ award for not taking an easy single during the T20 World Cup semifinal against England as he felt he had “obstructed” the way of bowler Adil Rashid in that moment.
Mitchell won the award for his gesture during the game in Abu Dhabi on November 10 last year, which New Zealand won by five wickets.
Mitchell is 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.”
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