In a night celebrating a very successful season for Northern Districts Cricket, nineteen year old Kane Williamson has won Player of the Year for the second year in a row. The Northern Knights all-rounder had a fantastic season with the bat, after a slow start to the summer. He also chimed in with some important spells when bowling, particularly during the successful defence of the domestic one day competition.
At the Northern Districts Cricket Annual Awards dinner last evening special presentations were also made recognising the winning Plunket Shield and domestic one day champion team, the world record set by Peter McGlashan for first class catches in a match and milestones by Michael Parlane (100 one day matches), Joseph Yovich (100 one day matches) and James Marshall (100 one day matches and 100 first class matches).
The full list of awards is:
Eric Petrie Cup: - Presented by Isobel Petrie
Eric Petrie was one of NZ’s greatest ever wicketkeepers and Northern Districts Captain in the 1950’s.
The cup is awarded to the winner of the Northern Districts Club Championship. This season’s winning club is Mount Maunganui Cricket Club.
Bruce Pairaudeau Cup: - Presented by Bruce Pairaudeau himself, the former West Indian test cricketer and Northern Districts captain in the 1960.s
This season the U19 competition was played as a round robin series of Twenty20 games. The winner of the competition was Hamilton.
Basil McBurney Trophy: - Presented by Margaret McBurney
For the District Association 2nd XI competition.
The champion 2nd XI team is Hamilton.
Women’s District Association Championship Cup: The Northern Districts Women’s Championship, involving District Association representative teams, was played as a round robin involving a mixture of One Day and Twenty20 formats. The winning team was Hamilton.
Brian Dunning Cup:
The Brian Dunning Cup is for the men’s one day championship. The winning team was Bay of Plenty.
Fergus Hickey Rosebowl
The Fergus Hickey Rosebowl is awarded to the champion District Association team and is determined by points gained in both one day and two day games. Once again the competition was not decided until the final round, when a close fought game saw Bay of Plenty overcome Hamilton to win the championship.
The Allan McBride Trophy – Patrick O’Shaughnessy
Services to Coaching – Richard Dodunski
Umpire of the Year: - Kevin Earl
Craigs Investment Partners Academy Player of the Year
Craigs Investment Partners sponsor Northern District’s High Performance Development Academy. Players in the academy are the most promising young players in Northern Districts, ranging in age from 15-19. This award recognizes a player who has achieved at National Level, who has shown commitment to the programme, and who has made significant progress in his time in the Academy.
This year’s winner is Mattie Thomas from Hamilton. Mattie is a left arm spin bowler and useful batsman. He was our top wicket taker at the National U19 Tournament with 14 wickets, a highlight being a hat trick against Otago. He was selected in the NZ Under 19 team and has been a prolific wicket taker for Hamilton Boys High School in school games and the Hamilton club competition. Mattie was awarded a Hillary Scholarship at Waikato university, but has delayed his University studies to spend a season playing cricket in Scotland
The Northern Districts Young Cricketer of the Year sponsored by Grant Bradburn Sports:
This is presented to the most outstanding male cricketer under the age of 21. This trophy can be won only once. Recent winners have included Kane Williamson, Tim Southee, BJ Watling and Trent Boult.
This years winner is Anurag Verma. Anurag continued to make progress in his cricket this season, representing ND in the A team. Anurag is a right arm pace bowler, but his batting also makes him a prospect as an all rounder. Some of you may have seen Anurag bowling at the tea break at the Australia Test, where he was recorded on the speedball radar at a consistent speed of 145km. Anurag is currently studying for an engineering degree at Auckland University.
District Association Player of the Year
This award recognizes the achievement of players at District Association level in the Fergus Hickey and Brian Dunning competitions. Opposing team captains award points on a 3,2,1 basis to the best players in each game. This years winner is James Baker.
James is a pacebowler from Hamilton whose strength is his consistency of line and length. As well as performing outstandingly for Hamilton he also represented ND A, with best figures of 4 for 43 versus Auckland A.
Northern Districts Men’s A Team Player of the Year also sponsored by The Radio Network.
This is an award that recognizes the efforts of players in the Classic Hits ND A team.
This year’s winner is Brooke Hatwell.
The ND A team this year had an extensive programme with one day, two day, and T20 games against the Knights, two 3 day and three one day games against Auckland A and two one day games against the West Indies U19’s. In those games Brooke scored 355 runs at an average of 59.16.
Northern Districts Cricket Women’s Cricketer of the Year sponsored by the Radio Network:
This award is for the most outstanding Northern Districts’ female cricketer. Performances over the whole season at all levels are taken into account, but impact on the Northern Spirit team’s performance is to be a major consideration. This years winner is Nicola Browne.
Nicola scored 474 runs in the Women’s One Day Competition at the outstanding average of 118.50. This included a magnificent century against Auckland, to carry the Spirit to victory in the final over. Nicola also took 16 wickets in the one day competition of an average of 21.75. She was also the top run scorer in the Twenty20 competition with 150 runs at an average of 50.
With statistics like that, it is no surprise that Nicola Browne was presented with the Most Valuable Player award for Women’s Domestic Cricket. It is equally no surprise that she is the Northern Districts Cricket Women’s Cricketer of the Year.
The Northern Districts Fielder of the Year:
This season’s Northern Knights team was undoubtedly the finest fielding unit in NZ Cricket and arguable the finest fielding team in Northern Districts history. Has any team possessed a more accomplished group of a attacking fielders, the Marshall twins, Daniel Flynn, Kane Williamson, BJ Watling and Anton Devcich. Add to the mix two of the top slip catchers in the Plunket Shield competition in Michael Parlane and Brad Wilson. How to sort out the top fielder from such a group? Not an easy task! However, it is hard to go past a player who set a world record. Peter McGlashan this year set a new world record for dismissals in a match. Against Central Districts at Cobham Oval in November Peter took 12 catches, a feat never before achieved in the long history of 1st class cricket. Peter finished the season as the top wicketkeeper in the Plunket Shield with 37 catches and 4 stumpings.
Add to that 12 catches and 35 stumpings in the One Day Competition and 7 catches and 3 stumpings in the Twenty20 competition. These statistics show Peter’s contribution as they appear in the scorebook. What they don’t show is Peter’s ability to put pressure on batsman by standing up to the stumps, even to Brent Arnel, and his role in the precise organizing of the field placements in the limited overs games. For all of these contributions, this season the fielder of the year award goes to Peter McGlashan.
The Northern Districts Bowler of the Year
There were two outstanding candidates for this award. And remember, because he only played Twenty20 for us, Daniel Vettori is NOT a candidate.
One of the criteria for the award refers to the player’s impact on the Knights’ team performance during the season. It should also be pointed out that Tim Southee was similarly absent on BLACKCAPS duty for a large part of the season.
The two outstanding candidates for Bowler of the Year are Brent Arnel and Graeme Aldridge.
Brent was a consistent performer in all three formats. He took 28 wickets in the Plunket Shield, and 8 wickets in each of the One Day and Twenty20 competitions. He finally gained richly deserved selection in the BLACKCAPS, took a wicket in the first over he bowled in Test cricket and went on to show that he could perform at international level even against the Australians.
Graeme was the outstanding bowler in the Plunket Shield. He was the top wicket taker in the competition with a sensational 42 wickets at an average of only 22 runs per wicket. He also took 11 wickets in the one day competition.
Either Brent or Graeme would be a worthy winner. However, because it is a season in which the winning of the Plunket Shield assumed special significance as it meant the Knights achieved the double and became NZ’s undisputed top team, Graeme’s heroics in that competition have earned him the “Bowler of the Year” award.
The Bowler of the Year is Graeme Aldridge.
The Northern Districts Batsman of the Year
There were also two outstanding candidates for this award.
BJ Watling scored 352 runs at an average of 52 in the Plunket shield, 384 runs at an average of 54 in the One Day competition, and 207 runs at 20 in the Twenty20 competition. He anchored our One Day title win with a magnificent 145 not out in the final. He is now established as an opening batsman for the BLACKCAPS in Test cricket.
Kane Williamson began the season with an unusual - for him - lack of success. The first 5 games of the Plunket Shield saw him score only 65 runs at an average of 10. The first four one dayers were no better. And then just before Christmas, the runs began to flow again, as we all knew they would. The Knights’ One Day success relied heavily on Kane’s batting as he churned out 621 runs at an average of almost 80 runs per innings. This included two centuries and five other substantial innings. Then back to the Plunket Shield getting out for 93 against Canterbury obviously annoyed Kane, as he responded with 170 and 192 in the next two games. An average of only 10 before Xmas became an average of about 50 by the end of the season.
By virtue of his contribution to the Knights’ victories in both 4 day and 1 day formats, Kane Williamson is the “Batsman of the Year.”
The Northern Districts Player of the Year sponsored by the Air New Zealand Holidays
The award goes to the outstanding player for Northern Districts in the domestic competitions; the Plunket Shield, the one day competition, and the Twenty20 competition.
The performances of a number of strong candidates has already been outlined: Peter McGlashan, BJ Watling, Brent Arnel, Graeme Aldridge and Kane Williamson.
The award goes to the player who made the most outstanding contribution to our dual success. His batting feats have been outlined. Over 1200 runs, 4 centuries. And added to this he was our equal top wicket taker in the one day competition with 13 wickets at an average of only 25 and an economy rate under 5 runs per over. Throw in his outstanding fielding, including 12 catches in the Plunket Shield, and we have a most deserving Player of the Year for the second year in a row is Kane Williamson.
