Pacers Anrich Nortje and Shabnim Ismail clinched the top honours at the Cricket South Africa Awards announced on Friday, winning South Africa’s men’s and women’s Cricketer of the Year awards respectively, reported ESPNCricinfo on Saturday.
Nortje and Ismail had won the top honours back in 2021 as well. In all, this is the third time that Ismail has clinched the top award in women’s cricket in South Africa. Ismail, who announced her retirement from international cricket earlier this year, had taken eight wickets in eight matches at an economy rate of 5.86 in Proteas’ run to a final at T20 World Cup held at home in February. Nortje has also been South Africa’s top bowler across all formats. Last year, Nortje finished with 38 wickets in 23 international matches while this year so far, he has 19 wickets in eight matches, including a five-wicket haul.
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Nortje’s partner-in-pace Kagiso Rabada was named as men’s Test Cricketer of the Year. Last year, Rabada took 47 wickets in just 9 Test matches, including two five-wicket hauls and this year, he has 13 scalps in just three matches.
Temba Bavuma, Proteas ODI and Test skipper clinched the top honour in men’s ODI cricket. Bavuma finished last year with 231 runs in seven ODIs including a century, but massively improved his stats with his performances in the 2023-start. He has scored 420 runs in six matches at an average of 84 with two centuries and a fifty.
The men’s T20I Player of the Year award was won by Reeza Hendricks. He had hit back-to-back half-centuries against West Indies at home in March. Hendricks concluded last year with 323 runs in seven innings at an average of 46.14 with four half-centuries. This year, he has scored 172 runs in three innings at an average of over 57 with two fifties.
David Miller walked away with the SA Men Players’ Player of the Year award. In 2022-23 so far, he has scored 521 ODI runs at an average of over 57 in 14 innings, with five fifties. The middle-order batter also had a stunning 2022 with the bat in T20Is, scoring 361 runs in 16 matches at an average of over 60 with a century and two fifties.
Nonkululeko Mlaba walked away with the top prize in women’s T20Is in South Africa, having taken 21 wickets in 18 T20Is from 2022 till present. In the women’s T20 World Cup this year, she got six wickets in six matches at an average of 24.16 and a strike rate of 6.59.
Laura Wolvaardt got the women’s ODI Player of the Year award following a consistent 2022 with the bat in ODIs. In 18 matches, she scored 882 runs at an average of 49, with one century and eight fifties.
Gerald Coetzee was adjudged as the men’s newcomer of the year. He made his debut in Tests and ODIs for Proteas in March this year and clinched a six-wicket haul in only his second Test on home soil this year against West Indies. He also made a name for himself with his performances for Joburg Super Kings during the inaugural SA20 earlier this year.
“On behalf of Cricket South Africa, I would like to congratulate all the winners on their awards,” Chief Executive Officer Pholetsi Moseki said in a statement as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
“There were so many strong performances and outstanding candidates for awards over the past season; it really made the task of the judges exceptionally tough. We have seen a real improvement of all our national teams over the past season, the proof of which is in the results,” he added.
A look at the awards at a glance:
SA Women’s Player of the Year: Shabnim Ismail
Women’s T20I Player of the Year: Nonkululeko Mlaba
Women’s ODI Player of the Year: Laura Wolvaardt
Women’s Players’ Player of the Year: Nonkululeko Mlaba
SA Men’s Player of the Year: Anrich Nortje
Test Player of the Year: Kagiso Rabada
ODI Player of the Year: Temba Bavuma
T20I Cricketer of the Year: Reeza Hendricks
International Men’s Newcomer of the Year: Gerald Coetzee
SA Men Players’ Player of the Year: David Miller
SA Fans’ Player of the Year: Sinalo Jafta
Best Delivery Fuelled by KFC: Kagiso Rabada.
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