Women in cricket have claimed major accolades during Cricket South Africa’s annual award celebrations with ICC Women’s T20 World Cup runners-up, the Proteas Women, stealing the show in the evening as the professional cricket took centre stage.
In a year when cricket gave impetus to The Year of Women’s Sport by staging two successful Women’s World Cups (U19 Women’s T20 World Cup and ICC Senior Women’s T20 World Cup)
So, it was no surprise that stars of the senior showpiece event were among the night’s major winners.
Shabnim Ismail was named SA Women’s Player of the Year after winning the title two years ago in 2021. The recently retired Ismail scooped the award for the third time,
Ismail ended her final season with the Proteas Women as a key member of the pace attack that spearheaded the women to their first-ever ICC Women’s T20 World Cup final earlier this year.
Elsewhere, there was a double honour for Nonkululeko Mlaba. The 23-year-old left-arm spinner received the Women’s T20 International Player of the Year award along with the Women’s Players’ Player of the Year award.
Laura Wolvaardt bagged the Women’s One-Day International Player of the Year, and as the women’s game continues to rise in popularity, Sinalo Jafta was fittingly voted Fans’ Player of the Year.
Chief Executive Officer Pholetsi Moseki commented: “On behalf of Cricket South Africa, I would like to congratulate all the winners on their awards. There were so many strong performances and outstanding candidates for awards over the past season; it really made the task of the judges exceptionally tough.
“We have seen a real improvement of all our national teams over the past season, the proof of which are in the results.
“I would also like to really thank everyone at CSA who made these awards possible. I am really pleased that they have returned this year for the first time since Covid-19 hit us a few years back. It has been a long and painful journey for many, but to have had everyone here, together in the same room, really warms the heart.”
Earlier in the day, at the CSA Pathway Awards took place at Vodaworld, marking CSA’s first in-person ceremony since the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic and signalled a return to the vibrant domestic cricket scene that entertained cricket fans across the country.
SA U19 Women’s Karabo Meso was named CSA U19 Women’s Player of the Year after her displays behind the stumps in the inaugural ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup.
Tazmin Brits went home with the coveted CSA Women’s Provincial Player of the Year, for a third consecutive year.
Alysia Rudolph from Avion CC, Easterns won the National T20 Women’s Club Player of the Tournament.
Diedre van Rensburg won the CSA Girls U16 Player of the Tournament award.
The CSA Girls U19 Player of the Tournament went to Gizelle Abrahams from Boland.
The KFC Mini-Cricket Coach of the Year award went to Mpumalanga’s Kholiwe Nkuna.
Photo Caption: Cricket South Africa’s poster congratulation Shabnim Ismail on winning the 2023 SA Women’s Player of the Year for the third time in her career, at Vodaworld in Midrand, Johannesburg, on Friday, 7 July, 2023. Photo: Cricket South Africa
(0 rating, 0 votes, rated)
Loading...
