Australia: Jamie Cox (Tasmania), with twice the number of votes of the four equal runners-up: Andy Bichel, Darren Lehmann, Tom Moody and Ricky Ponting.

India: Ajay Sharma (Delhi), ahead of (in order) Sanjay Manjrekar, Amol Muzumdar, Vinod Kambli and Wasim Jaffar.

New Zealand: Chris Harris (Canterbury), who polled 68% of all votes in the NZ category. Craig McMillan was the only other person to receive more than two votes.

Pakistan: Sajid Ali (National Bank), from Basit Ali and Aaqib Javed.

South Africa: Adam Bacher (Transvaal), with Dale Benkenstein and Jacques Kallis equal runners-up.

Sri Lanka: Russel Arnold (Nondescripts), from Ruwan Kalpage and Marvan Atapattu.

Zimbabwe: Paul Strang (Mashonaland), ahead of Andy Flower and Guy Whittall.

Many thanks to the person who nominated Mike Tyson as India's domestic player of the year, and a special mention for this nomination from New Zealand:

Planet Nabbs (aka Brent Nabbs) 4th grade Sydenham, Christchurch This player deserves special mention. Every game he bowled at at least 150 mph, picking up 17 or more wickets (per innings). Even though batting at 11, he could always be counted on for a quick 100-200 when the team needed it. In the field he was dynamite, taking an average of 7 catches a game (most of which were absolute blinders). That was what happened in his mind. What really happened was that, as a rank medium pacer, he generally got pelted around the field (fetch ! being the word often uttered by the batsmen). He got ALL his wickets by long-hops and full tosses. He edged his way to a top score of about 2 for the season and never took a catch travelling at more than 10 kph. In short an exceptional player, NOT !!

This poll was conducted to determine the outstanding player in first-class domestic competitions during the 1996-97 in the Sheffield Shield (Australia), Ranji Trophy (India), Shell Trophy (New Zealand), Patrons Trophy (Pakistan), Supersport Series (South Africa), Sara Trophy (Sri Lanka) or Logan Cup (Zimbabwe). International performances in Tests and one-day internationals were not to be considered for this poll. Players who did not appear in domestic cricket during 1996-97 were not eligible for consideration (eg. Sachin Tendulkar, Aravinda De Silva, Wasim Akram).

Similar polls for England and the West Indies will be conducted later in the year, when their domestic seasons conclude.