port of spain, trinidad, cmc

West Indies middle order batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul made a clean sweep of the top awards at the West Indies Players Association's fifth annual awards ceremony on Sunday night.

The 33-year old Chanderpaul, who enjoyed a very successful 2007, beat out West Indies captain Chris Gayle, all-rounder Dwayne Bravo and fast bowler Daren Powell for the International Cricketer-of-the-Year award.

He also won the West Indies one-day Player-of-the-Year title, getting the better of the other nominees Bravo, Gayle and Powell. Also going his way was the Test Player-of-the-Year award as he again got the better of the same trio.

Daren Ganga, the Trinidad & Tobago captain copped the first class Cricketer-of-the-Year award for his consistent performances with the bat on the regional scene. Ganga won the award ahead of fellow T&T players Amit Jaggernauth and Adrian Barath and Jamaican Brenton Parchment.

His efforts saw his team continue to dominate regional cricket and, as a consequence, they won the first class Team-of-the-Year award. Jamaican Shawn Findlay picked up the regional limited overs Cricketer-of-the-Year crown for his excellent performance in the KFC Cup.

The youth Cricketer-of-the-Year award went to promising Barbadian all-rounder Shamarh Brooks. The West Indies Under-19 skipper was preferred for the award ahead of Daren Bravo, Veerasammy Permaul and Andre Creary.

The pint-sized Barath won the Emerging Cricketer-of-the-Year title while Guyana was voted top Youth Team in the Caribbean. Stacey Ann King of T&T won the Women's Cricketer-of-the-Year award.