London, April 9:

South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis was on Wednesday named as the ‘Leading Cricketer in the World for 2007’ by the 2008 edition of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, cricket’s major

annual reference work.

He became the fifth recipient of the award, introduced in 2004, after Australia’s Ricky Ponting and Shane Warne, Andrew Flintoff of England and, last year, Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka. The alrounder won the award for his 1,210 Test runs at a staggering average of 86.42 and 20 wickets at an economical average of 25.75.

In a separate award, West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul and India quick Zaheer Khan were named as two of Wisden’s ‘Five Cricketers of the Year’. The award, which dates back to 1889, is one of the oldest in the sport and can only be won once by a player during the course of his career.

England duo Ian Bell and Ryan Sidebottom were also among the ‘Five’ as was former West Indies seamer Ottis Gibson, honoured for his performances with English county Durham.

In a return to tradition, all five men were chosen for the influence they’d had on the preceding English season.