South African batter Laura Wolvaardt was named the women’s player of the year while limited-overs captain Quinton de Kock won the men’s player of the year at Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) virtual award ceremony.
Wolvaardt was also named Proteas ODI Cricketer of the Year and was voted by her peers as SA Women’s Player of the Year. De Kock, on the other hand, was named Test Cricket of the Year and voted SA Men’s Player of the Year.
“Quinny and Laura have set the highest standards that we expect from our icon Proteas players,” CSA’s acting CEO Jacques Faul said via a press statement.
“Quinny is the leading wicketkeeper/batsman in Test cricket and is, in fact, one of the leading batsmen in both red ball and white ball cricket. He is also starting to emerge as an outstanding leader as witnessed by the Proteas clean sweep of Australia in their recent ODI series.
“Laura was named in the tournament select XI at the conclusion of the ICC Women’s World T20 which tells us a great deal about the esteem in which she is held at international level. At the age of 21 her best years are ahead of her and she will be a key player when the Momentum Proteas go to the ICC Women’s World Cup next year,” Faul added.
Among other winners, Lungi Ngidi took home both the best ODI Cricketer and T20I Cricketer of the Year awards. Anrich Nortje, the tearaway, who took a five wicket-haul in the Test series against England, was adjudged as the Men’s Newcomer of the Year.
Shabnim Ismail was named the T20I Women Cricketer of the Year while Nonkululeko Mlaba, the left-arm spinner, was adjudged the Women’s Newcomer of the Year.
