The ECB today announced that Matt Prior and Katherine Brunt have been named, respectively, as the England Men’s and England Women’s Cricketer of the Year for 2012-2013. Essex and England Under 19s wicketkeeper-batsman Ben Foakes won the England Development Programme Cricketer of the Year award while the England Disability Cricketer of the Year award was made to Matthew Dean from England’s Visually Impaired squad.

All four were honoured at a special dinner held in the Long Room at Lord’s this evening which was hosted by ECB and Brit Insurance, the sponsor of all England’s cricket teams. The awards recognise outstanding performances in all formats of international cricket over the past year beginning with last summer’s domestic international programme and encompassing the recent winter tours.

England selectors today named a 12-man squad for the first Investec Test against New Zealand commencing Thursday May 16 at Lord’s. Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann are the only members of the squad who did not play any part in the 0-0 series draw against New Zealand last winter as both were ruled out with elbow injuries that required surgery.

Geoff Miller, National Selector, said: “We are anticipating another very competitive series against New Zealand and know that we will need to improve significantly on our performances in the recent Test series against them if we are to start the international summer on a positive note. This series provides a good opportunity for the players to show that they have learnt from the experiences over the winter.

Cricket South Afirca (CSA) on Saturday announced current assistant coach Russell Domingo as the new head coach of the Proteas in all three formats of the game. He succeeds Gary Kirsten who will stand down after the Proteas’ campaign at the ICC Champions Trophy Tournament in England and Wales next month. Domingo already has responsibility for coaching the Proteas Blue Label Telecoms T20 International squad.

Domingo, 38, is one of the youngest persons to become head coach of the Proteas but he has already built up an impressive CV of experience. As franchise coach he led the Chevrolet Warriors to the domestic limited overs double and it was during his franchise coaching career that he employed Kirsten as a batting consultant.

The Board of Directors of Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Friday accepted with regret national coach Gary Kirsten’s decision not to renew his contract.

Kirsten was appointed from the beginning of August 2011 for a two-year period with an option to renew it for a further two years. His contract required him to inform the Board by April 30 2013 whether he wished to exercise that option. He has informed the Board that he will not be renewing his contract for family reasons.