Veteran West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul has won cricket's highest individual honour after he was named ICC Cricketer of the Year at an awards ceremony in Dubai on Wednesday night.
The award caps a memorable 12 months for the 34-year-old who has already been honoured as one of Wisden's Cricketers of the Year.
Chanderpaul, who is the number one ranked batsman in Test cricket, scored 819 runs at an average of 91.00 in eight Tests during the voting period - from August 9, 2007 to August 12, 2008.
He also scored three Test centuries, highlighted by back-to-back tons against world champions Australia, to supply some much-needed steel to the West Indies batting.
His stellar form was not confined to the longer form of the game as he scored 598 runs at 74.75 in 13 one-day internationals.
The quietly-spoken left-hander, who has often been derided for his crab-like technique, was humble in his acceptance of the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy.
"I am honoured to be given this prestigious award tonight and I am very thankful to God for blessing me with the talent that I have," he said.
"I would like to thank my family - in particular my wife Amy - for their constant support over the years.
"A special thank you goes out to my manager, my agent and all my supporters in the Caribbean and throughout the world. It's also important that I thank my team-mates without whom this wouldn't have been possible. I am thrilled to have won."
Chanderpaul beat fellow nominees Mahela Jayawardene and South Africa duo Graeme Smith and Dale Steyn to the award.
Steyn, however, did receive recognition for his breakthrough year with the ball after he was named Test Cricketer of the Year.
The pace man not only established himself as a first-choice in the Proteas team during the past year, but also as one of the world's premier strike bowlers.
He took 86 wickets at an average of 18.10 in 14 Test matches, 28 wickets more than any other bowler in the world.
"I have had a pretty decent year I suppose but I didn't think about winning this award until the past few days," he said.
"I don't really know how I feel. Perhaps tomorrow morning it will have sunk in for me because obviously this is a huge award and it's massive for me.
"What I would like to do is maybe turn it into a goal for the future. I would like to win this award again and maybe other awards too so it would be something to aim for.
"I am really enjoying my cricket at the moment - we have been involved in a few great series recently so I count myself as lucky to be a part of this South Africa team."
Mahendra Singh Dhoni became the first India player to win the ODI Player of the Year award following a 12-month period that has seen him ascend to his nation's captaincy.
The wicketkeeper-batsman took over as ODI captain from Rahul Dravid in September last year and the 27-year-old has flourished in the role.
Dhoni is the top ranked ODI batsman and during the voting period scored 1,298 runs at an average of 49.92.
He also led the team to its first tri-series victory in Australia earlier this year.
"I would like to thank the voting academy for considering me to be deserving of this award. I