Bond big winner at NZ awards

Shane Bond was named Cricketer of the Year at the New Zealand Cricket Awards in Auckland this evening.

Bond, who took 38 ODI wickets in the year from April 2006 and 10 wickets in just two Tests during that time, claimed the award for the second time in his career after his explosive arrival on the international scene saw him take the award in 2003.

Bond also won the Walter Hadlee Trophy for ODI bowlers ahead of Daniel Vettori and James Franklin, while the batting equivalent went to New Zealand’s star of the World Cup (in which he scored 499 runs at an average of 83.16) in Scott Styris.

In the Women’s awards Maria Fahey won the Ruth Martin Cup for performances with the bat and Helen Watson the Phyl Blackler Cup for bowlers.

The domestic cricket awards saw the most predictable result in the Redpath Cup for best batsman going to Michael Papps, who became the first batsman in history to score 1000 runs in a NZ domestic season with 1005 at 91.36. Chris Martin’s 31 wickets for Auckland saw him take the Windsor Cup for first-class bowling, while veteran all-rounder and Canterbury captain Chris Harris won the State Cricketer of the Year award for his 428 runs and 13 wickets. Wellington’s Sophie Devine took the women’s equivalent for her 22 wickets.