On Saturday night, the Cricket South Africa Awards 2018 have been announced in Sandton. 23-year-old pacer Kagiso Rabada won the most no. of awards including the Men’s Cricketer of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year.
South African pacer Kagiso Rabada won a total of six awards. He won Men’s Cricketer of the Year, Test Cricketer of the Year, ODI Cricketer of the year, SA Players’ Player of the Year, SA Fans’ Player of the Year and Delivery of the Year awards.
AB de Villiers, who has recently taken retirement from the international cricket, won the T20I Cricketer of the Year award. David Miller received the Always Original Award for the fastest T20I century (in just 35 balls against Bangladesh at Potchefstroom on October 29, 2017). Aiden Markram was awarded the International Newcomer of the Year who scored total 1,193 runs in the international cricket in his first season with the average of 47.72.
Among the women cricketers, Dane van Niekerk won the Cricketer of the Year while Laura Wolvaardt won the two awards Players’ Player of the Year and ODI Cricketer of the Year. Chloe Tryon received that T20I Cricketer of the Year.
CSA acting chief executive Thabang Moroe was very excited and felt very happy in that award ceremony. He congratulated all the award winners in that ceremony.
He said on that occasion, “Simply outstanding! What a year both Kagiso and Dane have had. They have both shown the maturity of seasoned campaigners 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 awards have gone to our young stars who are shining with distinction alongside our world-class senior players (Rabada is 23 and Van Niekerk 25).
“Both our Protease and Women’s Protease continue to challenge to be among the best in the world and I find it particularly encouraging that all our national teams have a truly non-racial make-up. I must particularly highlight the Protease first ever home Test Series win over Australia and the way our women gripped the imagination of the country as they came so close to their first ever ICC Final.
“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.”
AWARD WINNERS
(Professional Awards: National)
SA Men’s Cricketer of the Year: Kagiso Rabada
SA Women’s Cricketer of the Year: Dane van Niekerk
Test Cricketer of the Year: Kagiso Rabada
ODI Cricketer of the Year: Kagiso Rabada
T20 International Cricketer of the Year: AB de Villiers
SA Players’ Player of the Year: Kagiso Rabada
SA Fans’ Player of the Year: Kagiso Rabada
Always Original Award: David Miller (fastest T20 International century v Bangladesh)
Delivery of the Year: Kagiso Rabada (to Warner, 3rd Test v Australia, Newlands)
International Newcomer of the Year: Aiden Markram
SA Women’s Players’ Player of the Year: Laura Wolvaardt
Momentum Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year: Laura Wolvaardt
Momentum Women’s T20 Cricketer of the Year: Chloe Tryon
(Professional Awards: Domestic)
Cricketer of the Season: Simon Harmer (Warriors)
One-Day Cup Cricketer of the Season: Tabraiz Shamsi (Titans)
T20 Challenge Player of the Season: Tabraiz Shamsi (Titans)
Coach of the Year: Mark Boucher (Titans)
Domestic Players’ Player of the Season: Pieter Malan (Cape Cobras)
Domestic Newcomer of the Year: Kyle Verreynne (Cape Cobras)
Africa T20 Cup Player of the Tournament: Sarel Erwee (KZN Inland)
SACA Most Valuable Player Award: Jon-Jon Smuts (Warriors)
(Professional Awards: Professional)
CSA Umpires’ Umpire of the Year: Adrian Holdstock
CSA Umpire of the Year: Shaun George
Affiliate of the Year: Northerns Cricket Union
Groundsman of the Year: Evan Flint (Newlands)
