annual cricket awards player of the year (Sponsored by Yahoo!New Zealand) Brent Arnel This award went to the most outstanding player for Northern Districts in domestic competitions, the HRV Cup Twenty20, the One Day Competition, and the Plunket Shield. This year’s recipient, Brent Arnel was especially deserving of the award. 10 years ago Brent suffered such a serious stress fracture that his future as a cricketer was in doubt. Indeed he was unable to bowl at all for 18 months. That he was able to rebuild his career speaks volumes for his dedication and determination. Since his debut for the Knights in the 2005/06 season, he has been one of the most consistent bowlers in New Zealand 1st class cricket, and he achieved the pinnacle of any young cricketer’s ambition, when he played for his country in test matches.
season there were two main candidates for this award. There has never been a closer contest for a player award than this. The two work horses of the ND bowling attack, Graeme Aldridge and Brent Arnel, both finished the season with a total of 43 wickets in the three formats. Graeme bowled 324 overs in the season, Brent 348. Both featured in 9 of the 10 Plunket Shield games. Pace bowling is an activity where injuries are common place and inevitable, so the durability of both bowlers is testament to their preparation and fitness. Both worked incredibly hard to maintain their fitness and form over the whole season. And both played games for the BLACKCAPS this season, Graeme on the Zimbabwe tour and Brent against South Africa. As a tiebreaker, Brent’s 36 wickets in our Plunket Shield campaign (Graeme took 28) gave Brent the edge. batsman of the year Hamish Marshall
Women’s cricketer of the year (Sponsored by SWEAT Personal Training Studio) Morna Nielsen This award was for the most outstanding Northern Districts’ female cricketer. Performances over the whole season at all levels are taken into account, but impact on the Northern Spirit team’s performance is to be a major consideration. The award this season went to Morna Nielsen for her achievements, mainly for the Spirit, but also recognising her efforts for the White Ferns against Australia and England. For the White Ferns Morna took a total of 12 wickets in Twenty20 and ODI’s. Her 4 for 10 in a Twenty20 against England was the highlight, the second best figures ever for a White Fern v England. For the Spirit, Morna took 11 wickets, her Twenty20 economy rate was a low 4.88 runs per over, and her One Day economy rate was an equally impressive 3.26 runs per over. Morna also averaged 47 with the bat in the Action Cup One Day Competition. Her highest score of 79 was part of a NZ record partnership with Rhiana Vincent, the pair compiling 122 runs for the 7th wicket. fielder of the year James Marshall James Marshall once again set the benchmark for fielding for the Knights. He not only achieved 8 dismissals through catches and runouts, but was a constant threat to batsman with his lively fielding. James’ value in the field went beyond mere statistics as he provided an inspirational example for his team and placed a lot of pressure on opposition batsmen. He has now taken 94 catches in 1st class matches for ND. bowler of the year Brent Arnel Our BLACKCAPS bowlers made a significant impact when available. Our Tim Southee took 7 for 37 against Wellington in the Plunket Shield and was our top Twenty20 bowler with 11 wickets. Trent Boult took 23 wickets in the Plunket Shield. But taken over the whole
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There were some outstanding individual performances during the season. Kane Williamson continues to grow in stature as an international batsman and provided a new ND record score of 284 not out in his only first class innings of the season
Daniel Flynn was injured for much of the season, but recovered to score three centuries in consecutive games for the Knights and earn a recall to the BLACKCAPS. BJ Watling, reinvented as a wicketkeeper batsman, averaged 69 in the Plunket Shield from his half dozen innings. And don’t forget Dan Vettori’s 99 v Australia in a Test match. However, all three players made only short term appearances for the Knights or had limited impact on the T20 competition. Easily the most consistent batsman for the Knights in all three formats was Hamish Marshall. Hamish was our top run scorer in both T20 and One Day formats. He scored 222 runs at an average of 37 per innings in the T20 and 297 runs at 42 in the Ford Trophy. He also scored almost 500 runs at an average of 44 in the Plunket Shield. Only Daniel Flynn had a higher average in the 4 day games. Hamish was the only Knights’ batsman to score over 1000 runs in the season. For his consistency he earns the Batsman of the Year award. young cricketer of the year Daryl Mitchell This is presented to the most outstanding male cricketer under the age of 21. This trophy can be won only once. Daryl returned to NZ this season to take up a Knights’ contract after a number of years living and playing in Perth. Previously, he had been an ND Age Group representative at Primary and U15 levels. This season, representing Waikato Valley, Daryl has been one of the top performers in the Fergus Hickey competition, scoring centuries against Counties Manukau, and Hamilton, averaging 58 runs per innings, and also taking 16 wickets. For ND A he had 17 innings, scoring 522 runs at an average of 32. Daryl made his debut for the Northern Knights in both one day and four day formats. He played six games in the Ford Trophy scoring 141 runs at an average of 28.2, with a highest score of 48.