De Kock steals the show with six awards at the Cricket South Africa Awards
FOURWAYS – The Cricket South Africa Awards 2017 was a glittering occasion where the country's cricket heroes were honoured for their achievements.
The Cricket South Africa Awards evening had a classic South African feel to it as guests walked the red carpet at the Theatre on the Track in Kyalami on 13 May to honour our local cricket stars.
Quinton de Kock stole the show with his amazing performance this year. He matched the previous performances of superstars Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers when he was named South African Cricketer of the Year and in all received a total of five awards at a glittering Cricket South Africa (CSA) awards function in Kyalami on Saturday.
In addition to the main award, De Kock was named Test Cricketer of the Year and ODI Cricketer of the Year, was honoured by his peers by being named SA Players’ Player of the Year and by the fans on being named SA Fans Player of the Year.
De Kock did, in fact, receive a sixth award which was for being named the ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year.
His statistics for the year were remarkable, highlighted by his ODI innings of 178 against Australia in a series that saw him score 300 runs at an average of exactly 60 and a strike rate in excess of 137. His Test match performances were notable for his ability to score big runs when needed and to take the game away from the opposition.
In addition, the quality of his glove work was brilliant. The only awards he did not win for which he was eligible were the T20 International Player of the Year award that went to Imran Tahir for the second year in a row and the Award of Excellence that went to Temba Bavuma, again for the second successive year, for his brilliant run out of David Warner.
De Kock obviously was not a contender for Delivery of the Year and that again went to Kagiso Rabada for his delivery that bowled Usman Khawaja at Perth. One of the highlights of the evening was the applause for Suné Luus who was named Momentum Women’s Cricketer of the Year, Lizelle Lee, the Women’s Players’ Player of the Year, and Laura Wolvaardt, the Women’s Newcomer of the Year. Luus said they were now looking forward to the next World Cup.
The International Newcomer of the Year awards went to Keshav Maharaj and Laura Wolvaardt.
“Simply outstanding! What a year Quinton has had,” commented CSA Chief Executive, Haroon Lorgat. “He has shown the maturity of a seasoned campaigner with performances that have really counted when needed most, often blowing away the opposition in the process.
“It is encouraging that for the second time in a row our premier award has gone to one of our young stars who are shining with distinction alongside our world-class senior players. The way the Proteas have come through to rise up the ICC rankings in meteoric fashion has been quite brilliant and we now have a real team in the true sense of the word.
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“Our domestic cricket remains blessed with great talents and congratulations to all the winners in those categories as well. I warmly congratulate all our winners, both at international and domestic level, and I also wish to take this opportunity to acknowledge our umpires, grounds staff and scorers, too.”
The Titans were once again the biggest winners in the Professional Awards: Domestic category.
Duanne Olivier of the Knights was named Sunfoil Series Cricketer of the Year, but for the rest it was the Titans nearly all the way well with Mark Boucher being named Coach of the Year, Farhaan Behardien CSA T20 Challenge Player of the Year, Henry Davids One-day Cup Cricketer of the Year, and Aiden Markram Domestic Newcomer of the Year. In addition, the Titans won the CSA Fair Play Award.
Colin Ackermann of the Warriors did the double of Domestic Players Player of the season and the SACA Most Valuable Player award.
Shaun George was named both CSA Umpire of the Year and CSA Umpires Umpire of the Year while there was a proud moment when Marais Erasmus received the David Shepherd Trophy as the ICC Umpire of the Year.
The Africa Cup T20 Player of the tournament went to Patrick Kruger of Northern Cape while Newlands-based Evan Flint was named groundsman of the year.
The Mzansi choir wowed the crowd and the night ended with a festive after-party and magnificent food.
The rest of the awards:
- Standard Bank T20 International Cricketer of the Year: Imran Tahir
- KFC Award of Excellence: Temba Bavuma
- The Ram Delivery of the Year: Kagiso Rabada,
- International Newcomer of the Year: Keshav Maharaj
- Sunfoil Series Cricketer of the Season: Duanne Olivier
- Momentum One-Day Cup Cricketer of the Season: Henry Davids
- CSA T20 Challenge Player of the Season: Farhaan Behardien
- Pitchvision Coach of the Year: Mark Boucher
- Domestic Players’ Player of the Season: Colin Ackermann
- Domestic Newcomer of the Year: Aiden Markram
- Africa T20 Cup Player of the Tournament: Patrick Kruger
- SACA Most Valuable Player Award: Colin Ackermann.
What are your thoughts about the year of cricket that is now behind us? Tell us on our Fourways Review Facebook page.
#CSAawards17 entertainment rocks the crowd @Fourways_Review @OfficialCSA pic.twitter.com/RvWCKoDz5q
— @nellamuse (@marnellii) May 13, 2017
#CSAawards17 some of our SA cricket heroes enjoying their evening. @Fourways_Review @OfficialCSA pic.twitter.com/G9zgP1XYUg
— @nellamuse (@marnellii) May 13, 2017
