Hawken wins player of the year at Lions awards
Eldred Hawken’s season, which involved the seamer playing club cricket in Johannesburg in search of game time, has ended in recognition at the 2019/2020 Imperial Lions’ Awards.
The 31-year-old Tzaneenborn bowler walked away with the coveted player of the year and players’ player of the year awards, joining a listPoRf elite Imperial Lions players including Kagiso Rabada, Temba Bavuma, Dwaine Pretorius and Reeza Hendricks, who have won the accolade in the past five years.
Hawken made an instant impact for the Imperial Lions in both the list-A and first-class cricket formats, taking 30 wickets across all formats, including a debut five-wicket haul against his former side, the Momentum Multiply Titans.
The seam bowler’s wickettaking figures are even more impressive, considering he only made his Imperial Lions debut in December 2019 after a series of great performances at senior provincial level. These included career-best bowling figures of 9/14 in nine overs for the North West Dragons in November 2019.
“This season has been a journey for me, having played a bit of club cricket in Joburg, turning out for North West, and being brought into the Lions set-up.
“To win the player of the year award and particularly the players player of the year award, voted by your peers, is special,” Hawken said.
His performances have been praised by Imperial Lions’ head coach Wandile Gwavu. “Hawken has been immense for us this season. His high work rate and professionalism on the field has been fantastic and he has been a pleasure to work with,” he said. —