WCC Awards Night - Season 1

[Simon]

Welcome to the first ever World Club Cricket awards night. Tonight we will honour those that have made an impact in WCC's first season and look forward at what's to come in season two. Lets start with the awards.

Rookie of the Year
We will start the night by awarding the rookie of the year award. As this is WCC's first season every player is technically a rookie however the judges have made only players that have never played any first class cricket anywhere eligible. Coming in third place in this category is A Clissitt from Victoria. Runner Up goes to Kent Batsman R Llewellyn.
And the winner is Z Roberts from Auckland. The talented opening batsman was one of the top players in WCC this season, he scored over 1000 First Class runs and scored five centuries, he also made the highest individual score (256). Scoring 602 runs @ 66.89 in One Day cricket he showed he is definitely one for the future. Well done to him.

 

[Simon]

One Day Division 2 player of the Year
One Day division two went right down to the wire, it surely was an exciting competition and these players were the outstanding performers in this division. Coming third for Auckland was keeper/batsman Q Carver with 8 votes. His team mate and WCC Rookie of the year Z Roberts came second polling 11 votes, congrats to both of them.
However the winner is A Voges from Western Australia. The number three batsman performed outstandingly 673 runs at an average of nearly 100, his six scores over 50 included three centuries with a season high 124*.

 

[Simon]

One Day Division 1 player of the year
In a very close vote we had the top four all finish within one point of each other in this category, coming in equal third with ten points and two man of the match awards were M Clarke from New South Wales and Warwickshire wicketkeeper I Jeffrey. Runner Up was M Hayden of Queensland with 11 votes, however the fact he only gained two man of the match awards robbed him of the title.
Winning the award is P Jaques of NSW. Some strong early season performances saw him also poll 11 votes but his three man of the match awards gained him the title. His 577 runs @ 72 gave NSW an early lead in the table and he was the rock at the top of the order all year.

 

[Simon]

WCC Manager of the Year
In this award we pay tribute to the men who do the work behind the scenes, they may not take the wickets or score the runs, but they chose the blokes who do. Coming third is South Zone India manager New_age_ar. Runner up goes to Yorkshire coach NZ_Tailender. Both of these managers achieved solid results, SZI came a respectable third in both division one competitions while Yorkshire's shock win in One Day division 1 see's his efforts recognised.
But the judging panel has awarded the manager of the year to Kandurata manager Chaminda_00. Finishing second in FC division 1 behind a strong Cobras side was no shame, they beat out more fancied teams for the Runner Up position and the signs are good for the future. They narrowly avoided promotion to OD division one on NRR as well, they also punched above their weight in this competition, well done to Tharmi and his team.

 

[Simon]

First Class Division 2 player of the year
Another close vote for this award has seen Kent seamer Y Arafat come second with nine votes. Finishing just above him with ten votes and his second runners up award for night is Queenslander M Hayden. A Good night for him so far.
But neither was as dominate in this form of the game as South Australian quick S Tait. His season high 61 wickets included six five wicket hauls and a couple of ten wicket matches. His raw speed ran through teams on a number of occasions and he remains a vital member of the redbacks squad. He polled 13 votes to win the award.

 

[Simon]

First Class Division 1 player of the year
Like the other division one title this one was decided with just a single vote seperating the top four place getters. Coming in equal third with nine votes were R Levi from Cobras and S Clark from New South Wales. And we have a tie in this award and for the first time tonight we will have two award winners.
Firstly M Muralitharan from Kandurata span his way to 52 wickets @ 25 apiece. Claiming three five wicket hauls with a best of 7/44 he was one of the premier bowlers this season and his performances show his ability. He has shared this award with South Zone India batsman VVS Laxman. Like Muralitharan he polled 10 votes with three man of the match awards. Laxman was dominant early in the season and belted his way to 848 runs @ 49.88. He played crucial roles in several wins and that has seen him take the award home.

 

[Simon]

One Day Team of the Year
Here we will name the one day team of the year, a number of players were unlucky to miss out, but with only eleven spots and many deserving players, only so many can make it. So without further delay this is the One Day team of the year:
1 M Hayden (Queensland)
2 G Smith (Cobras)
3 A Voges (Western Australia)
4 M Atapattu (Kandurata)
5 M Clarke (New South Wales)
6 Z Roberts (Auckland)
7 I Jeffrey (Warwickshire)+
8 B Chipli (South Zone India)
9 M Hoggard (Yorkshire)
10 L Balaji (South Zone India)
11 VRV Singh (North Zone India)

 

[Simon]

First Class Team of the Year
Like the one day team there were many outstanding performances in First Class this season. With so many players recording outstanding numbers it was a tough selection, but the judges have chosen these eleven players as the most worth:
1 M Hayden (Queensland)
2 J Denly (Kent)
3 R Dravid (South Zone India)
4 R Levi (Cobras)
5 J Troughton (Warwickshire)
6 D Hussey (Victoria)
7 K Sangakkara (Kandurata)+
8 S Mushtaq (Yorkshire)
9 S Tait (South Australia)
10 S Clark (New South Wales)
11 M Muralitharan (Kandurata)

 

[Simon]

World Club Cricket Player of the Year
This season 272 players competed in World Club Cricket, 196 of them polled votes in their individual chase to be crowned the very first WCC Player of the Year. In a season where batsman dominated it was nice to see three bowlers in the top eight at the end of voting, but as we know there can only be one winner.
Coming in third with 19 votes and three man of the match awards was S Tait from South Australia. Tait scored 13 of his votes in the First Class game and 6 in One Day, he led the tally briefly towards the end of the season, but a lack of points in the final two games cost him the award.
Runner up, also polling 19 votes, but with four man of the match awards is Z Roberts from Auckland. Roberts also claimed the WCC Rookie of the year and in a busy night for him was also named in the One Day team of the year. Polling 11 of his 19 votes in One Day he had a year to remember.
And the winner of the WCC Player of the year medal is M Hayden from Queensland. Finishing runner up in both OD and FC awards for his division he claims overall honours as WCC's best player. With 21 votes he never led the tally until after the final round. Hayden's most memorable efforts this season both came in One Day cricket against Karachi. In seperate matches against the Pakistani's he smashed 180* and 213*, the two highest individual scores in One Day cricket this season.

And that brings us to the end of the night, well done to all the winners and good luck to everyone for next season.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Great end to a great season. Happy with Voges winning some silverware, he was immense.

 

[NZTailender]

Great end to a great season.

AWTA. Been the best season yet that I've been involved in. Looking forward to the draft and season 2.

Thanks Simon!

 

[Raghav]

Congrats Chaminda

 

[alternative]

Thanks Simon.

Happy to see Tait with some silverware also.

 

[Mister Wright]

Agree with the sentiments. Has been a fantastic season. Great to see Hayden take the player of the year award, thoroughly deserved, basically carried our side the entire season.