Last night Auckland Cricket celebrated their ACA Cricketer of the Year Awards at Eden Park, with the Tamaki Makaurau cricketing community, from domestic right through to community cricket, in attendance.

Award winners included some unsung heroes who have battled away consistently for season after season, as well as young charges making a huge impact in their young age. Our community awards covered the spectrum from grade coaches with a particular knack for statistics to volunteers tirelessly dedicated to women's cricket.

See all the award winners below!

COMMUNITY CRICKET AWARDS 

ACA Community Umpire of the Year  - Vincent Calabro 
 

Our ACA Community Umpire of the Year award replaces previous awards that were solely based around performance and now considers the umpires overall performance from the club captain reports, their contribution to the Auckland umpiring community both on and off field and in training. 

Vincent is recognised for his character, teamwork, positive attitude, availability and support of others.  

Administrator of the Year - Francis Scordino

The Administrator of the Year Award recognises how pivotal local cricket administrators are in nurturing and growing cricket in their community. This award acknowledges those who have shown passion and commitment to their club beyond expectation. 

For years now Francis has gone above and beyond what is expected as a Club Manager. With a passion for juniors and Women and Girls, Howick Pakuranga has grown drastically over the last five years with this Club Manager at the helm.  

Not only has Francis worked tirelessly to support his own club and their endeavours, but he has also contributed to the wider cricket community through hosting an array of events including the ACA District Tournaments, Summer Series, the ICC Women’s Pacific Cup.  

Community Coach of the Year - Brad Morrow

This award recognises community coaches who go above and beyond the normal requirements of a team coach.
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ACA Club of the Year - Takapuna District Cricket Club
 

The Auckland Cricket Club of the Year award acknowledges a cricket club that has shown an outstanding ability to provide for its members, and outstanding contribution to their community, and sound governance and financial management.  

This season, our Takapuna District Cricket Club has opened a new wicket dedicated to Women’s Cricket grass pitch at Onewa Domain, have the largest number of certified coaches across our clubs, and developed mid-week competitions to continue to build their connection to the youth in their area. This club continues to strengthen relationships with their local high schools and over the years have developed a number of our HEARTS and ACES players. The club has strong vision and values, a dedicated governance structure, and have create a culture of belonging within their club. 

Outstanding Contribution to Women & Girls - Johanna Melhuish
 

This award recognises the outstanding achievement and contributions made to develop, encourage, and strengthen the participation of Women & Girls in our clubs. 

In winter 2023, Auckland Cricket approached two clubs inviting them to form a composite team in our Premier Women’s competition. Johanna influenced the decision within the North Shore Cricket Club to take on that challenge and provide their players with a clear pathway to access the highest standard of club cricket. Despite the challenging season, Johanna’s holistic approach to the development of players has seen the team grow their self-belief and character throughout the season, giving them a safe and welcoming environment to feel empowered. 

Johanna is embedded in all areas of women & girls cricket throughout the club, from juniors to seniors as well as managing the Girls first XI at Takapuna Grammar School.  


Rangatahi Wahine Leadership Award - Anika Tauwhare
 

This award recognises the outstanding leadership of Rangatahi Wāhine within our cricket community and the impact they have on our Rangatahi and Tamariki Kotiro.

Rangatahi Wahine Leadership Award Winner - Anika Tauwhare from Suburbs New Lynn Cricket Club.

Anika Tauwhare has grown up through Suburbs New Lynn where she is now considered the pied piper of their midgets program – young kids following her where she leads. With a friendly smile, Anika demonstrates just how much she cares for the younger players within the club.

Anika is a qualified coach and actively takes part in school engagements, leading the NZC Yeah! Girls program in Auckland, and coaches in the CricStars program working with young people living with disabilities.  

As a member of the Suburbs New Lynn Premier Women’s Team, Anika often takes on the role of captain and is the master of organising a shared lunch. Anika is an exceptional role model within our cricket community. 

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award - Michael Tillett
 

The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion award stands as a testament to the commitment and achievements of individuals or clubs dedicated to fostering accessible, welcoming and inclusive cricketing experiences for communities that have historically been marginalised or overlooked.

Mike has been instrumental in the value and visibility of Auckland Māori Cricket over the past couple of seasons. He established the Auckland Māori Cricket Association in 2022. Taking the concept from vision to reality, he has given our Tangata Whenua the opportunity to reconnect with their Te Ao Māoritanga through kirikiti and create a greater sense of whanaungatanga between players.

On Waitangi Day 2024, the Auckland Māori Association hosted the inaugural Waitangi Day Tournament versus Northern Districts Māori featuring Tāne, Wāhine and Tama ngā Kapa playing. Our winner has created a safe and welcoming space within kirikiti for Māori to be authentically Māori and this was shown at the U19 Women’s National Championships when the Auckland Wāhine performed a haka at prizegiving.  

Carson Cup – Volunteer of the Year - Natalie Nelson 
 

This year’s winner of the Carson Cup has been a valued member of the Suburbs New Lynn Cricket Club for over five years on their junior committee. She is also Chair of the Western Districts Board and is always on hand to support the growth of the club.  

The impact on the club especially in the junior and youth space has been massive. Natalie is often taking ideas from their infancy stage right into completion including the Suburbs New Lynn Winter Academy.  

With her hands in many projects, Natalie led the organisation and fundraising of the club's junior and youth cricket trip to Australia and volunteered long hours towards Suburb’s Lynn Mall Registration Drive.  

Natalie is described as a dynamite of the junior committee who has such great ideas and always follows through.  

Simmonds & Osbourne Shield – Club of the Year - Parnell Cricket Club
 

The Simmonds and Osbourne Shield is awarded to the best performing Club of the season. The 2023/24 Simmons and Osbourne Club of the Year Shield winners will come as no surprise. After years of no silverware in the Women’s competitions, Parnell has come away with two Premier Women’s titles, a T20 title in the Premier Men’s and Premier Reserve Women’s T20 competition. Winning titles and consistency throughout all competitions from junior to youth to senior is the key to winning this prestigious award.  

PREMIER CLUB CRICKET AWARDS
 

Pearl Dawson - Women’s T20 - Parnell Premier Women
 

For the first time in almost 20 years, Parnell Premier Women won a Premier Women’s piece of silverware. In a nail-biting game that went down to the penultimate over against Takapuna, Parnell secured the Pearl Dawson Cup. The win is a testament to their dedication to the growth of their women’s program. Congratulations Parnell Premier Women! 

Men’s T20 - Parnell Premier Men
 

Another T20 competition, another trophy for Parnell! Capping off a superb season of cricket for the whole club, the Parnell men took out the final of the men’s T20 competition thanks to some excellent top order batting and tight bowling from a well-rounded line-up. Congratulations, Parnell Premier Men! 

Prichard Cup - Women’s Limited Over - Parnell Premier Women 
 

Following up their success in the shorter format, Parnell Premier Women capped off their season in style by upsetting competition leaders Auckland University at Colin Maiden Park. Their ability to close out important matches this season was outstanding. Congratulations Parnell Premier Women! 

Richard Jones Trophy – Men's One Day Minor - Hibiscus Coast Premier Men
 

One of the great stories of this season of club cricket is how superbly Hibiscus Coast Premier Men have performed. Having only been promoted to the Premier grades five years ago, they’ve now won their first piece of silverware – the Richard Jones One Day Trophy. With solid performers throughout their line-up and two star players in Ramesh Lakmal and Max O’Dowd, the boys from the coast showed the premier cricket community why they’re a force to be reckoned with! Congratulations Hibiscus Coast Premier Men 

Jeff Crowe Cup – Men's One Day Major - East Coast Bays Premier Men
 

East Coast Bays were a force to be reckoned with in the knock-out stages of the Jeff Crowe Cup this season, having just scraped through the round robin to end in third place. From there, it wasn’t their celebrated top order but their brilliant pace attack that truly sealed the deal as they took out the final by six wickets. Congratulations, East Coast Bays Premier Men! 

Tom Hellaby Trophy – Men's Two Day Minor - Grafton United Premier Men
 

This year’s Tom Hellaby winner earned their silverware on the back of great team performances, winning clutch moments and playing with absolute discipline. With help from star player Taine Bayly, Grafton took out the Tom Hellaby competition and earned their spot in the Hedley Howarth competition for 2024/25! Congratulations, Grafton United Premier Men! 

Hedley Howarth Trophy - Men’s Two Day Major - East Coast Bays Premier Men
 

This season East Coast Bays completed two rare doubles – winning both the two day and one day men’s competitions, and winning the Hedley Howarth having only just been promoted into the competition. They are a special team, combining brutal top order aggression with tight, disciplined bowling and after fighting off a spirited Parnell team this season, they deserve another piece of silverware for their stacked trophy cabinet. Congratualtions East Coast Bays Premier Men! 

Spirit of Cricket Awards

The Spirit of Cricket Awards recognises teams who embody the spirit of cricket through sportsmanship, communication, respect and integrity. The award is judged from the umpire scores of each team after their premier matches.
 

Women’s Spirit of Cricket - Cornwall Premier Women
Men’s Spirit of Cricket - Birkenhead Premier Men

Women’s Club Cricketer of the Year - Yazmeen Kareem (Parnell Premier Women)
 

One of the reasons why Parnell Premier Women had such a successful season is because of Yaz Kareem. Her volume of runs at the top of the order was staggering. 802 runs at an average of almost 70 scored at just under a run a ball. She led by example, inspiring the young players around her to claim both Premier Women’s titles and her eight scores of 50+ were twice as many as the next best.  

Men’s Club Cricketer of the Year - Taine Bayly (Grafton United Cricket Club)  
 

This year’s men’s club cricketer of the year had an outstanding season with both bat and ball as he led his side to the Tom Hellaby title. His raw numbers for Grafton this season are immense – 45 wickets with his offspin at an average of under 15 with four 5 –wicket bags and 531 middle order runs at an average of 35 with two centuries. He was the talisman for his team and a major reason why they’ve been promoted into the Hedley Howarth competition for 2024/25. 

Merv Wallace Bat – Coach of the Year - Keethi De Silva (Parnell Premier Women)
 

Our next community cricket award is the Merv Wallace Bat for Club Coach of the Year, awarded to the coach who is deemed to have made the most outstanding contribution to Premier cricket in Auckland.   

The winner of this year’s Merv Wallace Bat has led their team to two victories in the Premier Women’s Competition. This is the first year, since the clubs re-entry into Premier Women’s Cricket, that the team has battled their way into a final. They didn’t just make it into one final, they made it into both the Prichard and Pearl Dawson Cups and were victorious in both.

Laurie Schnauer Cup – Men’s Players’ Player of the Year - Ramesh Lakmal (Hibiscus Coast Premier Men)
 

This year’s Laurie Schnauer Players’ Player of the Year could be considered the face of Hibiscus Coast cricket, especially this season where his 1045 runs at an average of just under 60 led them to the Richard Jones Cup title and the T20 semi-final. Factoring in handy breakthroughs with the ball and he was truly the northern club’s main weapon this season. Off the field his friendly demeanor earns him many admirers as an Auckland Cricket activator – he may be the last guys you want to bowl to on the park but he's one of the true nice guys of premier club cricket. 

Katie Perkins Trophy – Women's Players’ Player of the Year - Amberly Parr (Howick Pakuranga Premier Women)
 

With such a kind and caring nature, it comes as no surprise that this cricket player has been voted for the inaugural Katie Perkins Cup – Female Players’ Player award. This player is a huge part of the women & girls eco-system at Howick Pakuranga Club, supporting the Premier Women’s Coach with coaching and leading as Team Captain. She is much loved by her peers and rivals both on and off the field. 

DOMESTIC CRICKET AWARDS

Women’s International Cricketer of the Year - Maddy Green
 

Maddy Green made her debut for the White Ferns in 2012 and has been a staple of their middle order over the last few years. The highlight of her international summer came during the Pakistan ODI series in December, where her consecutive 50s led New Zealand to a 2-1 series win.

Men’s International Cricketer of the Year - Mark Chapman  
 

Our men’s winner cemented his place in the Blackcaps T20 middle order with an incredible run during the tour of Pakistan. He bashed 290 runs in five matches to claim Player of the Series accolades in the shared 2-2 series, making an unbeaten hundred to win the final match – an incredible innings given the match situation. He backed up the efforts with two half-centuries against the UAE in Dubai, also making headlines with a 40* effort from just 25 balls in a successful chase against England in Nottingham later in the year. On top of that he represented his country at the ICC World Cup.

Women’s T20 Player of the Year - Maddy Green
 

Continuing her good form through to the shortest format, this year’s winner played a handful of unbelievable knocks in the Super Smash. She stepped up and led from the front when her team was in trouble and never appeared flustered no matter the situation. Her innings in the HEARTS’ win against Canterbury inspired her team to an unbelievable come-from-behind win.  Women’s T20 player of the year is Maddy Green. Maddy can’t be here to collect the award tonight so Rob Nicol, HEARTS coach, will be collecting. 

Men’s T20 Player of the Year - Danru Ferns 
 

The ACES’ successful Super Smash campaign was set up in no small part by the efforts of their bowlers. Louis Delport and Ben Lister were superb but Danru Ferns emerged as the leader of the pack, bagging a tournament-high 18 wickets to lead the ACES to their first Super Smash trophy in 8 seasons. Deserved reward for a hard working unsung hero of the ACES pace attack – congratulations, Danru Ferns! 

Women’s One Day Player of the Year - Maddy Green
 

Returning to the HEARTS for the first time in five years, this year's winner was in unstoppable form all season. Her 268 runs came at an average of almost 70 and she led her young side by example in every game. 

Men’s One Day Player of the Year - Robbie O’Donnell 
 

Even by his own high standards, this year’s winner had a Ford Trophy to remember. His 635 runs were almost 250 more than the next best but raw numbers don’t tell the whole story. He stepped up when his team required him the most, hitting centuries to guide the ACES to crucial wins at the end of the season after their Ford Trophy campaign had hit some serious snags at the midway point.  

Men’s Four Day Player of the Year - Sean Solia 
 

The winner of this award has always been one of the most popular members of the side but 2023/24 was the season where he truly entrenched himself as a top order first class batter. His 206 against Wellington here at Eden Park was the batting highlight of the ACES season and he continued to contribute runs and pick up key breakthroughs with the ball.  

Auckland Women’s Young Cricketer of the Year - Bree Illing 
 

After suffering injury setbacks last season, this year’s winner took all of one game to remind cricket fans what they’d been missing out on. Her three LBWs in one over against the Central Hinds in the HBJ Shield were the result of swing and accuracy delivered at impressive pace. Her most stunning moment came in the Super Smash a few months later where she defended 10 off the final over against the Otago Sparks and bowled a wicket maiden in the process. Truly outstanding!  Our Women’s Young Cricketer of the year is Bree Illing. 

Auckland Men’s Young Cricketer of the Year Award - Adithya Ashok
 

Before picking up an injury that sidelined him for the second half of the season, this player continued on the trajectory that we all knew was an inevitability: he debuted for the Black Caps in the white ball formats. It was in red ball cricket that he really shone for the ACES however, and his 7 wickets against Northern Districts was an early highlight in their Plunket Shield season. Once he’s fit again he’ll no doubt remind us of what we’ve been missing in our lives over the last few months.  Congratulations to our Men’s Young Cricketer of the year, Adi Ashok! 

Players' Player of the Year

HEARTS - Maddy Green (accepted by Skye Bowden)

ACES– Cam Fletcher 

Emily Drumm Trophy - Auckland Women’s Cricketer of the Year - Maddy Green
 

The winner of this award should come as no surprise. Leading a young side with an average age of just 21 this season required an experienced hand and luckily for us, our winner returned home from Wellington to reclaim her position as HEARTS captain. She was in unstoppable form all season for Auckland, guiding tricky run-chases and marshalling her troops in the field. Her maternal qualities and senior rank within the HEARTS squad has led her teammates to nickname her ‘Mum’.  

John Morris Trophy - Auckland Men’s Cricketer of the Year - Robbie O’Donnell 
 

This year’s John Morris Trophy winner is someone admired and respected not only in Auckland but within the New Zealand cricket community and other MAs. He is a stalwart at number 4 in the ACES batting order and it’s sometimes hard to believe that he’s still only 29 years old. This season he dominated the batting charts in the Ford Trophy and churned out runs in the Plunket Shield and Super Smash. He gives everything to his team on and off the field and is a leader in the purest sense.  

Article added: Thursday 04 April 2024