Edwards was presented the award by Ravi Shastri at an Awards ceremony held in Dubai last night.
She said: “This has just topped off an unbelievable year for me personally and the team as well. To be honest I am a bit shocked, but really pleased to accept this award.
“We’ve had a fantastic year with series wins over New Zealand, the West Indies, South Africa and India as well as the Ashes victory in Australia in February, which was a personal highlight. We’ll look to continue that form as we head into next year with the ICC Women’s World Cup in Australia in March and the ICC World Twenty20 in England in June.
“This is a massive night for women’s cricket. It’s a huge honour for me to be involved in a ceremony like this – I’m so glad that the ICC is recognising the women’s game. It’s a big moment for the other girls who have been nominated for this and I am honoured to be included in that short-list, let alone win it.”
During the voting period Edwards played 18 ODIs for England scoring 492 runs at the top of the order at an average of 54.66. She also took 15 wickets at 19.03 with her leg-spin.
In the only Test match she played during the voting period, Edwards scored 94 and 14 not out as England beat Australia by six wickets at Bowral, New South Wales.
The 28 year old, who also captains Kent took the award ahead of team mate Claire Taylor, who was also nominated last year, Nicola Browne of New Zealand and Australia’s Lisa Sthalekar.
The Women’s Cricketer of the Year Award was one of eight individual prizes given at this year’s LG ICC Awards.
The nominations for the Women’s Cricketer of the Year Award were decided after each of the world’s top 10 teams was given the opportunity to nominate two players. This award was then voted on by a 16-person voting academy featuring former players and other experts on the women’s game.
The LG ICC Awards 2008 – presented in association with FICA – are based on the 12 months between 9 August 2007 and 12 August 2008. The LG ICC Awards ceremony is now in its fifth year and this is the first time it has been staged in Dubai, the home of the International Cricket Council. Previous ceremonies were held in London (2004), Sydney (2005), Mumbai (2006) and Johannesburg (2007).
