New Zealand rookie Doug Bracewell's six-wicket effort in bowling the Black Caps to a historic win over Australia has won him the fifth annual ESPNcricinfo award for Test bowling.
Bracewell's performance in Hobart last December topped a 10-strong shortlist for the award. Among the nominations were South Africa's Dale Steyn, who took 5-75 in the third Test against India in Cape Town; James Anderson, with 5-65 against India in the first Test at Lord's; and Australian Shane Watson's 5-17 in the first Test against South Africa in Cape Town.
The awards were decided by a 16-strong jury that included former players Ian Chappell, Ian Bishop, Ramiz Raja, Kepler Wessels, Geoff Boycott, Martin Crowe, Sanjay Manjrekar and Russel Arnold.
Arnold said Bracewell's performance was top-class: "Not express pace - all his deliveries were within 130-135km/h - but he did the basics really well. He bowled wicket to wicket, got the ball to jag around a bit and picked up results."
Bracewell's solid temperament and ability to swing the ball both ways was crucial, Raja said, and to produce a match-winning effort at the start of his Test career was "something special".
"He's here to stay. He'll bring a lot of laurels for the New Zealand team because he's got talent."
Australia were chasing 241 and went into the final day looking strong at 72 without loss. But Bracewell's 6-40 saw the New Zealanders win their first Test in Australia in 26 years by just seven runs.
Despite Bracewell's match-winning effort, the man-of the-match award went to Australian batsman David Warner, who single-handedly kept his team in the game with an unbeaten 123.
The decision, voted for by the public, proved embarrassing for Cricket Australia, which later said it would return to an expert's choice to decide the award.
NZN