Rabada, Markram headline CSA awards nominations

• Cricket365
• May 2, 2018

Young Proteas stars Kagiso Rabada and Aiden Markram dominate the nominations for the 2017/18 Cricket South Africa (CSA) Awards.

The gala event to honour South Africa’s top performing cricketers over the past year will take place on 2 June in Johannesburg.

The CSA Awards Judging panel recently finalized the nominations list for the glittering occasion.

Rabada, the world’s No. 1 ranked Test bowler, has been nominated in the following four categories: SA Cricketer of the Year, Test Cricketer of the Year, ODI Cricketer of the Year and RAM Delivery of the Year.

In addition, the 22-year-old could secure his peers’ vote as SA Players’ Player of the Year and could be a contender for SA Fans’ Cricketer of the Year.

He was previously named SA Cricketer of the Year in 2016 and has the chance to emulate Makhaya Ntini, Jacques Kallis, Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers in winning the award twice.

This is the first year that Markram qualifies for one of the national awards, having only made his debut in the Test series against Bangladesh in September last year that has seen him rocket into the top 10 Test match batting rankings in the space of only 10 matches.

The 23-year-old Markram has been nominated in no fewer than three categories: SA Cricketer of the Year, Test Cricketer of the Year and International Newcomer of the Year.

The youthful theme continues with Lungi Ngidi being nominated for the RAM Delivery of the Year in addition to the International Newcomer of the Year.

In addition to Rabada and Markram the other nominations for CSA’s supreme award, the SA Cricketer of the Year, are AB de Villiers, Dean Elgar and Vernon Philander, who are also all in the top 10 Test rankings for batting in the case of the former two and for bowling in the case of the latter.

The trio have also been nominated for Test Cricketer of the Year while De Villiers also has a nomination for T20 International Cricketer of the Year.

In the women’s section there are four nominations each for Momentum Proteas captain Dane van Niekerk and fast bowler Shabnim Ismail and three nominations for teenage star Laura Wolvaardt.

“It is my great pleasure and privilege to congratulate all the nominees as we celebrate another successful year of achievement by our Proteas who won major Test series against both India and Australia and remained ranked in the top two in the world in Test match cricket and No. 3 in ODI cricket,” commented CSA Acting Chief Executive Thabang Moroe.

“Our ladies have also done us proud by reaching the semi-finals of the ICC Women’s World Cup before losing by the narrowest of margins to the eventual champions.

“And let us not forget to thank all those great and selfless people who work diligently behind the scenes to create opportunities for our leading cricketers to excel.

“Our country continues to produce world-class players. We only need reflect on the superb way in which Kagiso Rabada, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Aiden Markram and Dean Elgar have shone over the past year and who continue to grow alongside established greats like AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, Hashim Amla, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander.”

The CSA Awards Judging Panel consists of: Aslam Khota (Convener), Neil Manthorp, Victor Mpitsang, Robin Peterson and Shafiek Abrahams with statistical input from Andrew Samson.

“As always, these awards are tough to judge due to the stiff nature of the competition,” commented Khota. “Our world-class senior players are well established and there is an encouraging number of international newcomers making their mark as well.

“The judging panel was impressed by the overall performances during the season of the nominees in the various categories,” Khota added.

Loyal Proteas fans can also have their say in the awards. The SA Fans Cricketer of the Year and the RAM Delivery of the Year require fans to vote for these respective awards.

Further details of these awards and how the voting mechanism works can be found on CSA’s Social Media platforms.

SELECTED AWARDS NOMINATIONS

AFRICA T20 CUP RISING STAR AWARD

Sarel Erwee (KZN)
Andries Gous (Free State)
Nduduzo Mfosa (KZN)

DOMESTIC NEWCOMER OF THE SEASON

Alfred Mothoa (Multiply Titans)
Mthiwekhaya Nabe (World Sports Betting Cape Cobras)
Kyle Verreynne (World Sports Betting Cape Cobras)

MOMENTUM ONE-DAY CUP CRICKETER OF THE SEASON

Gihahn Cloete (Warriors)
Pieter Malan (World Sports Betting Cape Cobras)
Tabraiz Shamsi (Multiply Titans)

RAM SLAM T20 CHALLENGE CRICKETER OF THE SEASON

Farhaan Behardien (Multiply Titans)
Lungi Ngidi (Multiply Titans)
Tabraiz Shamsi (Multiply Titans)

SUNFOIL SERIES CRICKETER OF THE SEASON

Zubayr Hamza (World Sports Betting Cape Cobras)
Simon Harmer (Warriors)
Rudi Second (VKB Knights)

INTERNATIONAL NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR

Heinrich Klaasen
Aiden Markram
Lungi Ngidi

STANDARD BANK T20 INTERNATIONAL CRICKETER OF THE YEAR

Farhaan Behardien
Junior Dala
AB de Villiers

STANDARD BANK ODI CRICKETER OF THE YEAR

Hashim Amla
Quinton de Kock
Faf du Plessis
Kagiso Rabada

STANDARD BANK TEST CRICKETER OF THE YEAR

AB de Villiers
Dean Elgar
Aiden Markram
Vernon Philander
Kagiso Rabada

RAM DELIVERY OF THE YEAR

Kesh Maharaj
Lungi Ngidi
Kagiso Rabada

T20 WOMEN’S CRICKETER OF THE YEAR

Shabnim Ismail
Chloe Tryon
Dane van Niekerk

ODI WOMEN’S CRICKETER OF THE YEAR

Mignon du Preez
Shabnim Ismail
Marizanne Kapp
Dane van Niekerk
Laura Wolvaardt

SA WOMEN’S PLAYERS’ PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Shabnim Ismail
Dane van Niekerk
Laura Wolvaardt

MOMENTUM WOMEN’S CRICKETER OF THE YEAR

Shabnim Ismail
Marizanne Kapp
Dane van Niekerk
Laura Wolvaardt

SA CRICKETER OF THE YEAR

Dean Elgar
AB de Villiers
Aiden Markram
Vernon Philander
Kagiso Rabada