Southee, Martin frontrunners for Sir Richard Hadlee Medal

Tim Southee took 18 wickets for New Zealand during the ICC 2011 World Cup © Getty Images

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By CricketCountry Staff

Auckland: Nov 9, 2011

Pacers Tim Southeee and Chris Martin have emerged as the frontrunners for Sir Richard Hadlee medal, which will be awarded for the first time this year in Auckland.

The winner of the medal will be decided by former selector Don Neely, former Test cricketer Ian Smith and broadcaster Bryan Waddle.

Southee is likely to bag the award for the Twenty20 and ODI formats after winning the ICC’s T20 performance of the year for his 5-18 against Pakistan, and was also named the 12th man in the World Cup team for his performance of 18 wickets at 17.33 in New Zealand’s run to the semifinals.

On the other hand, Martin bagged 60 First-Class wickets for the season, and in five Tests for the country, he snared 18 wickets at an average of 31, which makes him an ideal candidate for the medal in Test format, Stuff.co.nz reported.

Martin also tool a five-wicket haul in the drawn Test at Ahmedabad against India.