Du Plessis named South African Cricketer of the Year

Pretoria: Faf du Plessis and Dane van Niekerk, the captains of the men’s and women’s national teams, have been named ‘South African Cricketer of the Year’ in their respective categories at the Cricket South Africa (CSA) awards function held here.

Du Plessis became the 11th player to win the award, joining an elite list, which also comprises former captains Graeme Smith and AB de Villiers, all-rounders Shaun Pollock and Jacques Kallis, and fast bowlers Makhaya Ntini and Dale Steyn.

He received the honour alongside being named ODI Cricketer of the Year and SA Players’ Player of the Year, to lead the award-winning list.

While wicket-keeper batsman Quinton de Kock was named the Test Cricketer of the Year, David Miller, the middle-order batsman, won the T20 International Cricketer of the Year award.

Kagiso Rabada was honoured by the fans, being named the SA Fans Player of the Year. Rassie Van der Dussen, who has averaged 73.77 in ODIs and 36.14 in T20Is since making his international debut in October last year, has been named the International Newcomer of the Year.

The CSA Delivery of the Year went to Vernon Philander for his dismissal of Pakistan’s Azhar Ali, during the third and final Test of the home series, played at Wanderers in January 2019.

Dale Steyn, who surpassed Shaun Pollock’s tally of 421 Test wickets to become South Africa’s leading wicket-taker in the longest format, was honoured with the Streetwise Award. Steyn currently has 439 Test wickets and is eighth on the all-time list.

Van Niekerk won the South Africa Women’s Cricketer of the Year award for the third time in four years. The 26-year old all-rounder was also honoured by her peers, after being named SA Women’s Players’ Player of the Year. All-rounder Marizanne Kapp and fast bowler Shabnam Ismail bagged the ODI Player of the Year and T20 International Player of the Year awards respectively.

“Faf and Dane have both had very good years, both as contributors in their specific disciplines and also in the leadership qualities they bring to our two senior national sides,” Thabang Moroe, the CSA chief executive, said at the function.

“Both our Proteas and our Women’s Proteas are well-ranked as teams and individuals across the various formats. I must particularly highlight the Proteas’ first-ever away ODI bilateral series win in Australia. It is quite remarkable that over the past few years Faf has led the Proteas to home and away ODI series wins over Australia, as well as our first-ever home Test series win against the same opponents,” he said.

Moroe further praised Van Niekerk, recipient of the highest award in the women’s category, and veteran fast bowler Dale Steyn, who he thinks has been a great ambassador for South Africa.

“Just how much Dane means to our women’s team became evident when she was ruled out of action for a considerable period of time through injury,” he said.

“It is also a very special moment for the CSA family to honour our leading Test wicket-taker of all time, Dale Steyn, with the Streetwise award. He has been a wonderful brand ambassador for both CSA and the Proteas for well over a decade, and he has not only been a great leader of the Proteas attack, but has also played a key role as mentor of the next generation,” Moroe added. (UNI)

(Photo: Twitter/ICC)