Williamson, Kerr dominate
Duo claim hat-trick of trophies on sombre awards night
Kane Williamson won his third Sir Richard Hadlee Medal in four years, and Amelia Kerr matched his three trips to the stage on a night of reflection at the annual New Zealand Cricket awards dinner.
The Black Caps captain and White Ferns legspinner were the dominant individuals on a sombre night in Auckland, six days after the Christchurch mosque shootings which were narrowly avoided by the touring Bangladesh team.
A shaken tour squad flew home the next day and the third test scheduled for nearby Hagley Oval was abandoned.
The tone for the awards evening was set by Eru Lyndon of Ngati Whatua who opened the ceremony with a mihi and karakia to respect those affected by the tragedy.
Williamson repeated his player of the year awards from 2016 and 2017, a sequence broken by swing bowler Trent Boult who won the Hadlee Medal a year ago.
New Zealand’s skipper across the formats was named test player of the year and received the Redpath Cup for first-class batting.
Williamson led New Zealand to test series wins against Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh which saw them seal the world No 2 ranking, and scored 801 test runs at an average of 89. He became the first New Zealander to score 20 test centuries with his 200 not out against Bangladesh in Hamilton.
Kerr was named women’s oneday international player of the year and also received the Phyl Blackler Cup for women’s domestic bowling, as her Wellington Blaze won the women’s T20 Super Smash title.
Kerr, 18, scored 415 ODI runs over the judging period at an average of 59, including a world record 232 not out against Ireland, a match which also saw her claim 5-17 in an overall tally of 19 wickets.
The Tawa College product was also named female secondary schools player of the year.
The familiar faces of Ross Taylor (ODI) and Sophie Devine (women’s T20 international) were also honoured for their impressive limited-overs seasons, while Boult received the Winsor Cup for firstclass bowling and Colin Munro was named the international men’s T20 player of the year.
Taylor scored 759 ODI runs at an average of 84, while Boult led from the front with the red ball, snaring 35 first-class wickets at an average of 24.
Taylor’s 137 against Sri Lanka in Nelson in January was his sixth successive ODI 50-plus score, equalling the New Zealand record jointly held by Williamson and Andrew Jones, and was his 20th ODI century. He now sits four clear of his mate Martin Guptill and Nathan Astle at the top of the Kiwi charts.
Natalie Dodd (Central Hinds) and Devon Conway (Wellington Firebirds) were named domestic women’s and men’s players of the year after their respective sides won 50-over titles.
Much-admired former Wellington and New Zealand seamer Ewen Chatfield, who retired in March after 51 seasons of club cricket, was honoured with the Bert Sutcliffe Medal for outstanding services to cricket.
NZC also farewelled five recently retired internationals with Liz Perry, Michael Papps, Brent Arnel, Luke Woodcock and Lucy Doolan all honoured on stage.