Philander named South African Cricketer of the Year
Vernon Philander completed a fairy tale debut year of Test cricket when he was named both South African Cricketer of the Year and Sunfoil Test Cricketer of the Year at Cricket South Africa's (CSA) Gala Awards Banquet at the Sandton Convention Centre on Wednesday night.
His national popularity was confirmed when he also won a third award - the CSA Fans' Cricketer of the Year.
By being named South African Cricketer of the Year the 26-year-old joins the elite company of Jacques Kallis (twice), Makhaya Ntini (twice), Shaun Pollock, Dale Steyn, Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla who are previous winners of South Africa's most prestigious cricketing award.
There were two dual international winners on the night: AB de Villiers, who was named Sunfoil One-Day International Cricketer of the Year and SA Players' Player of the Year, and Richard Levi, who was named CSA International T20 Cricketer of the Year and also won the KFC "So Good" Award for his world record century against New Zealand in the same format.
The other international award went to Marchant de Lange who took 7/81 on his Test match debut against Sri Lanka and also bowled a memorable final over to take 2/2 and clinch the T20 series against New Zealand.
In the domestic professional category the three main awards went to Dean Elgar (CSA 1-Day Cup Cricketer of the Year), Farhaan Behardien (MiWay T20 Cricketer of the Year) and Alviro Petersen (SuperSport Series Cricketer of the Year).
Matthew Maynard, who guided the Nashua Titans to two titles in his debut season, was named CSA Coach of the Year while Morne van Wyk and Faf du Plessis were recognised by their peers to be named South African Cricketers' Association Most Valuable Player and Domestic Players' Player of the Year respectively.
In the operations category Shaun George was named CSA Umpire of the Year while the CSA Umpires' Umpire of the Year award went to Karl Hurter. Louis Kruger of North West was once again named CSA Groundsman of the Year as was the case with Gauteng with the CSA Scorers' Association of the Year award.
CSA Acting CEO Jacques Faul congratulated all the winners as well as those who made the list of nominees.
"The performances of our cricketers remain at an all-time high. You only have to look at the number of our Proteas who have held the No. 1 position on the official ICC rankings list for the past 12 months in the various formats. This list includes Jacques Kallis, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Dale Steyn and Lonwabo Tsotsobe.
"The Proteas players have also performed outstandingly well at the latest edition of the Indian Premier League where Morne Morkel was the leading wicket-taker and Faf du Plessis one of the leading runs scorers.
"Nowhere is this excellence better recorded than in the brilliance of Vernon Philander who won CSA's supreme award. He took 51 wickets in his first seven Test matches - the second quickest performance of all time and the first time this has been achieved in nearly 120 years on pitches that were far more conducive to good batting performances than was the case 100 years ago.
"What I also find highly encouraging is the way new young talent has come to the fore this season and has been recognized by our distinguished judging panel. Richard Levi won two awards while Marchant de Lange's debut Test performance as well as his heroics in only his second T20 International was quite exceptional.
"He has maintained the standard that our other international rookies have set over the years. He is a very worthy successor to Imran Tahir who won last year's award."
PROFESSIONAL AWARDS: SA TEAM
SA Newcomer of the Year: Marchant de Lange
CSA International T20 Cricketer of the Year: Richard Levi
Sunfoil One-Day International Cricketer of the Year: AB de Villiers
Sunfoil Test Cricketer of the Year: Vernon Philander
KFC "So Good" Award: Richard Levi
CSA Fans Cricketer of the Year: Vernon Philander
SA Players' Player of the Year: AB de Villiers
SA Cricketer of the Year: Vernon Philander
PROFESSIONAL AWARDS: DOMESTIC
CSA 1-Day Cup Cricketer of the Year: Dean Elgar
MiWay T20 Cricketer of the Year: Farhaan Behardien
SuperSport Series Cricketer of the Year: Alviro Petersen
CSA Fairplay award: Sunfoil Dolphins
CSA Coach of the Year: Matthew Maynard
Domestic Newcomer of the Year: Eddie Leie
SACA MVP award: Morne van Wyk
Domestic Players' Player of the Year: Faf du Plessis
PROFESSIONAL AWARDS: OPERATIONS
CSA Groundsman of the Year: Louis Kruger (North West)
CSA Scorers' Association of the Year: Gauteng
CSA Umpires' Umpire of the Year: Karl Hurter
CSA Umpire of the Year: Shaun George
