Steven Peter Devereux Smith is an Australian international cricketer and former captain of the Australian national team in all three formats of the game. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Test batsmen since Don Bradman. Smith was a member of the Australian teams that won the 2015 and 2023 Cricket World Cup, the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup, and the 2023 ICC World Test Championship final.

The ICC Awards of the Decade is a one-off edition of the ICC Awards annual awards programme, aimed at celebrating the stand-out performers and moments from the past ten years of international cricket. An Awards Nominations Committee, comprising prominent cricket journalists and broadcasters from across the globe and the ICC General Manager – Cricket, have determined a shortlist of nominees for each category. For the first time the fans’ voice will be heard in selecting the winners across categories including the Sir Garfield Sobers and Rachael Heyhoe Flint Awards, which celebrate the best overall player from the men's and women's game over the past decade. The fan vote will make up 10% of the voting, while votes from an expert panel will make up the remaining 90%. The voting panel took into account players' performance between 1 January 2010 and 27 December 2019. The announcement of the ICC World XI Teams, along with the winners of the individual ICC awards, was made on 28 December 2019. Virat Kohli won Men's Cricketer of the Decade.