Johnson, Finch, Lanning all gonged

Mitchell Johnson's resurrection from the brink of retirement to the most feared fast bowler in the world has been confirmed with the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy as the ICC Cricketer of the Year.

Johnson, who made an emphatic return to international cricket in last summer's Ashes series in Australia, was named for the honour ahead of fellow nominees AB de Villiers (South Africa), Angelo Mathews and Kumar Sangakkara (both Sri Lanka).

"Some of the greats of the game have been nominated and won this award and it's a very special honour. I'm very proud to be nominated and compared to these types of players," Johnson said when informed of his award.

"Aggressive fast bowlers are something you'd have seen back in the day with the likes of (Dennis) Lillee and (Jeff) Thomson.

"For me, it's nice to be able to contribute to the team and do the job that I've always thought I've been able to do.

"I suppose it comes down to the attitude I've got, the belief and the confidence. I'm very happy with where I am at the moment and I want to keep getting better as a cricketer.

"This is something that I'll be able to look back on in time when my career is over and be exceptionally proud of.

"I want to thank everyone for their support, especially my team-mates, support staff and my family for everything they've done for me. I wouldn't be sitting here today without them."

His win follows that of his Test and ODI skipper Michael Clarke, who won the award last year, while Johnson himself previously took out the title in 2009 prior to sustaining a serious toe injury and a loss of form that had him contemplate walking away from the game.

Johnson told cricket.com.au in an extensive interview earlier this year that it was in the wake of his 2009 success that form and confidence began to desert him, and his appetite for cricket started to wane.

"Up until then everything had been going well, and because I didn't know why it was going well I sort of relaxed a little bit and thought it would keep happening," Johnson said.

"I made a big mistake there.

"But that's the game and I've learned that now."

Johnson, 33, spent a year out of the Test team after sustaining a toe injury in South Africa in 2011 has learned much from that period in the wilderness and returned as a force in the Ashes campaign to send fear through the England dressing room – as Kevin Pietersen revealed in his recent book.

Over the past 12 months, Johnson has been the dominant Test bowler in the world with 62 wickets from nine matches at a remarkable average of 15.68.

Other winners of the award, which was introduced in 2004, have been Rahul Dravid (India - 2004), England’s Andrew Flintoff and South Africa’s Jacques Kallis (joint winners in 2005), Ricky Ponting (Australia - 2006-07), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (West Indies – 2008), Sachin Tendulkar (India – 2010), Jonathan Trott (England – 2011) and Sri Lanka’s Sangakkara (2012).

Johnson was also named ICC Test Player of the Year, making him just the third player – and the third Australian after Ponting (2006) and Clarke (last year) to snare the two major prizes of the annual awards.

Johnson pipped teammate and opening batsman David Warner for the Test player award, with Sri Lanka's Mathews and Sangakkara also nominated.

In another significant result for Australia, recently appointed T20 skipper Aaron Finch was honoured as the winner of the ICC's Twenty20 Performance of the Year award.

And 22-year-old Meg Lanning, who was named captain of the Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars captain earier this year and led her team to their third consecutive ICC World T20 title in Bangladesh, was named Women's Player of the Year in the 20-over format.

South Africa's ODI captain A B de Villiers was named One-Day Cricketer of the Year while Zimbabwe-born England batsman Gary Ballance, who made his Test debut during last summer's Ashes series, was honoured as Emerging Cricketer of the Year.

Winners' List:

ICC Cricketer of the Year (Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy)

– Mitchell Johnson (Australia)

ICC Test Cricketer of the Year

– Mitchell Johnson (Australia)

ICC Women's ODI Cricketer of the Year

– Sarah Taylor (England)

ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year

– AB de Villiers (South Africa)

ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year

– Gary Ballance (England)

ICC Associate and Affiliate Cricketer of the Year

– Preston Mommsen (Scotland)

ICC Twenty20 International Performance of the Year

– Aaron Finch (Australia)

ICC T20I Women’s Cricketer of the Year

– Meg Lanning (Australia)

ICC Spirit of Cricket Award

– Katherine Brunt (England)

ICC Umpire of the Year (winning the David Shepherd Trophy)

– Richard Kettleborough

LG People’s Choice

– Bhuvneshwar Kumar (India)

ICC Test Team of the Year is as follows (in batting order):

David Warner (Aus), Kane Williamson (NZ), Kumar Sangakkara (SL), AB de Villiers (SA, wicketkeeper), Joe Root (Eng), Angelo Mathews (SL, captain), Mitchell Johnson (Aus), Stuart Broad (Eng), Dale Steyn (SA), Rangana Herath (SL), Tim Southee (NZ). Ross Taylor (NZ) (12th man)

ICC ODI Team of the Year is as follows (in batting order):

Mohammad Hafeez (Pak), Quinton de Kock (SA), Virat Kohli (Ind), George Bailey (Aus), AB de Villiers (SA), MS Dhoni (Ind, c & wk), Dwayne Bravo (WI), James Faulkner (Aus), Dale Steyn (SA), Mohammad Shami (Ind), Ajantha Mendis (SL). Rohit Sharma (Ind) (12th man)