Two first-time winners have collected the major trophies at the 2023/24 Central Districts Cricket Awards.

ROSEMARY MAIR takes home the Central Hinds Player of the Year trophy, as well as the Hinds’ Super Smash Player of the Year award.

The 25-year-old seamer from Hawke’s Bay went from strength to strength across the season, highlights including the rare feat of taking four wickets in four balls at List A level (sometimes called a double hat-trick) in the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield in Invercargill.

It was the Hinds’ first ever hat-trick in a season which produced two (emulated by CLAUDIA GREEN in the T20 campaign), and Mair went on to star for her team in the Dream11 Super Smash with a brilliant return of 4/5 off four overs in the national Grand Final against the champion, Wellington Blaze, earning a WHITE FERNS recall.

Rosemary Mair starred in both formats for the Hinds | PHOTOSPORT

It was the night of the seam bowlers, BLAIR TICKNER named Central Stags Player of the Year for the first time, amid an armful of trophies.

The tall paceman with the heavy ball showed his class in all three men’s formats across the season, even as he worked his way back to top gear with a remodelled bowling action.

Blair Tickner was relentless | MBUTCHER

When he wasn’t intimidating batters, Tickner provided valuable lower order and career best contributions with the bat in the Plunket Shield and Dream11 Super Smash, and came within just one run of a List A one-day career best as well.

 

Blair Tickner, with wife Sarah, took home a haul of major trophies | @CapturedbyCharlie

 

He was also named The Ford Trophy Player of the Year and, for the first time, the Central Stags Players’ Player of the Year  - an award decided by player votes after each game of the summer, taking into account contributions to the team both on-field and off-field.

Other major awards saw CD’s newest international representative, MIKAELA GREIG (Manawatū) honoured as both the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield Player of the Year and, for the second consecutive summer, the Hinds’ Players’ Player of the Year.

Mikaela Greig went on to a WHITE FERNS & NZA debut | PHOTOSPORT

Wairarapa’s EMMA MCLEOD celebrated her 18th birthday with both the John Turkington Forestry Emerging Player (which can be won only once by a player) and the Women’s Under 19 Player of the Year trophies.

McLeod also captained Masterton’s St Matthew’s Collegiate to the national Venus Cup title, and scored the first two centuries in the history of the NZC tournament.

Emma McLeod enjoyed another season of firsts | PHOTOSPORT

The Stags’ venerated veterans were also in the limelight.

DOUG BRACEWELL (Hawke’s Bay) is the men’s Super Smash Player of the Year while Plunket Shield captain GREG HAY — who last week announced his retirement, during the final match of the season — was a popular winner of the Plunket Shield Player of the Year trophy.

All-round T20 excellence from Doug Bracewell | @CapturedbyCharlie

The Nelsonian finished as one of the top three first-class run-scorers nationally in his swansong season, scoring 643 runs from eight matches at a stellar average of almost 50.

Leading from the front, captain Greg Hay | @CapturedbyCharlie

His two first-class centuries this season included a brilliant 176 in his final, 10-hour innings, and both of those hundreds led to innings victories for the Stags.

After a special presentation to mark his service to the green baggy, he received a lengthy standing ovation as the evening concluded at Napier’s Conferences & Events centre at the War Memorial Centre on Marine Parade.

CD CEO LANCE HAMILTON said that Hay deserves to go down as one of CD’s greats.

Hay averaged almost 50 in his final first-class season | MBUTCHER

“It’s been a pleasure to witness Greg’s career over a long period of time.

“To see the hardship he overcame in his career, to see the resilience he showed to come back, and go on and achieve what he was capable of achieving, was special.

“He retires with some elite statistics, including being just one of four players in New Zealand to score 7,000 first-class runs for a single Major Association team.

Greg Hay | @CapturedbyCharlie

“It speaks not only of his ability, but of his loyalty which is exceedingly rare in the modern professional environment.

“Loyalty not only to the Central Stags and Central Districts, but to Nelson for whom he was still playing Chapple Cup on Manawaroa Park this year.

Greg Hay | @CapturedbyCharlie

“Greg’s loyalty speaks volumes about his character, and that character and work ethic will stand him in good stead to excel, moving forward in his life. They are the internal drivers.

“To have seen over the last week in particular, the outpouring of love and respect that his fellow teammates have for him, that speaks volumes about what he has brought to the game and the dressing room in his time.”

Earlier, the 2023/24 season’s CD Community and Pathway awards included the inaugural presentation of the CD Wāhine Māori Player of the Year to Wairarapa’s GEORGIA ATKINSON (Ngāti Kahungunu).

Georgia Atkinson | @CapturedbyCharlie

 

The Central Hinds leg-spinning allrounder led from the front as she captained CD Māori to the inaugural NZC Wāhine Māori title at the start of the summer in Hastings, before going on to represent Aotearoa Māori in January’s groundbreaking Pacific Cup.

@CapturedbyCharlie

Central Districts U17 captain JACOB COTTER was one of the three top runscorers at NZC’s national  men’s U17 tournament, as well as the gun fielder for his side, with 243 runs from six innings at an average of 60, including an unbeaten 88*.

Rising star Jacob Cotter | PHOTOSPORT

 

The Napier Boys’ High First XI skipper from Taradale Cricket Club earns the CD Men’s U17 Player of the Year award for the second successive year.

Manawatū and CD U19 rep JETT DONALD-CHARNLEY received the trophy for CD U19 Men’s Player of the Year after having been one of the top four wicket-takers at this year’s NZC U19 national tournament.

A fellow promising Manawatū wicket-taker, Palmerston North Girls’ High student PENNY LOVEGROVE won the women's CD U17 Player of the Year trophy for the first time, fresh off helping her school qualify for the Venus Cup Nationals by defeating the summer’s reigning national champion, St Matthew’s Collegiate, in the CD Finals.

Central Stags JACK BOYLE and BRETT JOHNSON took home the Chapple Cup and Hawke Cup Player of the Year trophies respectively, after playing a big part in Hawke’s Bay’s impressive season sweep of the Chapple Cup, Furlong Cup and Hawke Cup trophies for Inter-District cricket.

Anna Gaging | @CapturedbyCharlie

Nelson pace bowler ANNA GAGING meanwhile won the Mike Shrimpton Trophy Player of the Year award for the second time in three seasons, at just 22.

Duncan Mitchell | MBUTCHER

 

Rounding out the CD community awards, Hawke’s Bay official GLEN WALKLIN was named Umpire of the Year and DUNCAN MITCHELL, who hails from Feilding, received the CD Scorer Recognition Award for excellence in scoring.

 

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SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT PRESENTATION

Greg Hay (Nelson)

• Central Stags first-class captain

• 104 first-class matches for Central Stags

Mikaela Greig and Rosemary Mair | PHOTOSPORT

Central Hinds Player of the Year, Super Smash Player of the Year

Rosemary Mair (Hawke's Bay)

Hallyburton Johnstone Shield - 6 matches

Bowling: 6 wickets at 19.13, best bowling 6/41 (career best), 6 maidens

Batting: 4 innings, 122 runs, high score 72 (career best), 1x not out, 21.50 average

Dream11 Super Smash - 10 matches

Bowling: 14 wickets at 15.42, best bowling 4/5 (career best), 1 maiden

Batting: 5 innings, 65 runs, high score 32, 2 x not out, 21.66 average

Central Stags Player of the Year, The Ford Trophy Player of the Year,

Players' Player of the Year

Blair Tickner (Hawke's Bay)

Plunket Shield - 8 matches

Bowling: 25 wickets at 32.88, best bowling 4/62, 54 maidens

Batting: 11 innings, 182 runs, high score 42 not out (career best), 7x not out, 45.50 average

Nationally: top 8 Plunket Shield wicket-takers

The Ford Trophy - 9 matches

Bowling: 17 wickets at 20.64, best bowling 3/38, 9 maidens

Batting: 6 innings, 86 runs, high score 23 (1 run shy of career best), 2x not out, 21.50 average

Dream11 Super Smash - 9 matches

Bowling: 6 wickets at 46.33, best bowling 2/33, 0 maidens

Batting: 2 innings, 23 runs, high score 22 (career best), 1x not out, 23.00 average

Hallyburton Johnstone Shield Player of the Year, Players' Player of the Year

Mikaela Greig (Manawatū)

Hallyburton Johnstone Shield - 7 matches

Batting: 6 innings, 260 runs, high score 84 not out (career best), 1x not out, 2x50, 52.00 average

Nationally: Top 4 strike rate in HBJs, WHITE FERNS and NZ A debuts

Central Stags Super Smash Player of the Year

Doug Bracewell (Hawke’s Bay)

Dream11 Super Smash - 9 matches

Bowling: 7 wickets at 21.85, best bowling 3/27

Batting: 8 innings, 200 runs, high score 93 not out, 2x not out, 1x50, 33.33 average, strike rate 202.02

Nationally: Top 2 strike rate, top 10 runscorers

Central Stags Plunket Shield Player of the Year

Greg Hay (Nelson)

Plunket Shield - 8 matches

Batting: 13 innings, 643 runs, high score 179, 49.46 average, 2x100, 3x50

Nationally: Top 3 Plunket Shield run-scorers, top 3 individual score, equal most centuries, top 6 batting average (minimum 3 innings)

Career: Second player all-time to reach 7,000 first-class runs for Central Stags, second highest first-class appearances for Stags (104), second most first-class centuries for Central Stags (18)

John Turkington Forestry Central Hinds Emerging Player Award

Emma McLeod (Wairarapa)

Hallyburton Johnstone Shield - 9 matches

Batting: 8 innings, 113 runs, high score 38, 14.12 average

Bowling: 1 wickets from 2 innings at 28.00, best bowling 1/14 (maiden wicket)

Dream11 Super Smash - 1 match (debut)

Batting: 1 innings, 23 runs, strike rate 67.64

Nationally: Venus Cup champion, top run-scorer, joint tournament MVP

CENTRAL DISTRICTS COMMUNITY AWARDS

Men’s Under-17 Player of the Year: Jacob Cotter (Hawke’s Bay)

Men’s Under-19 Player of the Year: Jett Donald-Charnley (Manawatū)

Women’s Under-17 Player of the Year: Penny Lovegrove (Manawatū)

Women’s Under-19 Player of the Year: Emma McLeod (Wairarapa)

Mike Shrimpton Trophy Player of the Year: Anna Gaging (Nelson)

Hawke Cup Player of the Year: Brett Johnson (Hawke’s Bay)

Chapple Cup Player of the Year: Jack Boyle (Hawke’s Bay)

CD Wāhine Māori Player of the Year: Georgia Atkinson (Ngāti Kahungunu, Wairarapa)

Umpire of the Year: Glen Walklin (Hawke’s Bay)

Scorer Recognition Award: Duncan Mitchell (Manawatū)

 

And that's a wrap.

Article added: Tuesday 2 April 2024