Cricketer Vernon Philander Named South-African Sportsman of the Year 2012

South African fast bowler Vernon Philander on 4 November 2012 at the South African Sports Awards ceremony in Sandton named Sportsman of the year beating two Olympic gold medallists for the award.

The top title of Sports Star of the Year went to Olympic gold-medallist swimmer Chad Le Clos who had won gold in the men's 200m butterfly at the London Olympic Games 2012.

27 Years old Vernon Philander made huge public impact since his Test debut in 2011 and he is now ranked the number two bowler in the world only behind his fellow teammate Dale Steyn.

Earlier in 2011, Hashim Amla had won the award and was nominated again this year.

Vernon Philander is the fastest player to take 50 Test match wickets in more than 100 years of cricket history and the phenomenal thing is that he has done  it in his debut year of Test match cricket.

He was named Man of the Match in South Africa's Test victory at Lord's this year in 2012when the Proteas claimed the No.1 ranking in Test match cricket.