De Kock, Wolvaardt and company to be awarded online
CRICKET South Africa will host its first ‘virtual awards’ in July as it follows government’s lockdown rules regarding large gatherings. As has been the case for some of its affiliates – who have held traditional season ending award ceremonies online – Cricket SA will follow suit with its annual awards which recognise the top achievers in the game. Unsurprisingly, Quinton de Kock leads the way this year, earning six nominations across various international categories, including Men’s Cricketer of the Year and the Players Player of the Year. In a summer in which the national men’s team struggled – mostly as a result of Cricket SA’s incompetent administration – De Kock was the standout. He made one of the two Test centuries scored by Proteas batsmen in the 2019/20 season and he led effectively after being made captain of the limited overs teams.
Joining De Kock in the men’s player of the year category are Lungi Ngidi and Anrich Nortje. The latter was superb in carrying an ailing and inexperienced attack during a difficult Test series against England, finishing as the leading wicket-taker, with 18. Ngidi came into his own in the limited overs matches. He bowled superbly at the ‘death’ to help South Africa win a thrilling T20 International against Australia in Port Elizabeth, while his 6/58 in the second One-Day International against the same opponents helped South Africa win that series in Bloemfontein – the team’s first series win across any format in over a year.
Laura Wolvaardt and Marizanne Kapp dominate the women’s categories. Wolvaardt is nominated in five international categories, including the player of the year, in which she’ll compete against Lizelle Lee and Shabnim Ismael. Kapp, Ismael and Wolvaardt are the nominees in the women’s players’ player of the year category. “As always, these awards are tough to judge due to the stiff nature of the competition,” said Jeremy Fredericks, the convener of the judging panel. “Our world-class senior players are well established and there is an encouraging number of international newcomers making their mark as well.”
“The judging panel was impressed by the overall performances during the season of the nominees in the various categories,” Fredericks added.
Not hosting a ceremony this year, will also help Cricket SA’s budget. Last year a number of people who would normally attend – especially cricket scribes from outside Gauteng – were not accommodated as had happened in previous years. This year, everyone will have to watch the ‘ceremony’ online on July 4.