A new generation is strutting their stuff on the cricket fields in North West. The evidence of this is the crowning of Lesego Senokwane as North West Cricket’s Player of the Year for the 19/20 season.
North West Cricket decided to host a virtual awards ceremony during the current Covid-19 climate to honour the cricket fraternity for an excellent season.
Senokwane has had a fantastic season and also won the one-day batsman of the season award. The young NWU Varsity Cricket captain represented the Lions Franchise this year and has grown in leaps and bounds after a steady but unspectacular start to his provincial career at the Dragons.
Senokwane was first used as a middle-order batsman and off- spinner, but over the past two seasons, he has blossomed as a rock-solid opening batsman with a top score of 147 in first-class cricket.
Other big winners were Chad Classen (best three-day series bowler), Nic Smit (best three-day series batsman) and Johannes Diseko (best one-day series bowler).
Diseko is a long-time servant for NW Cricket and was awarded his first Lions cap this season – proof that hard work and determination do provide results.
Tazmin Brits and Anneke Bosch shared the NW Dragons women’s player of the year award with Brits also bagging the Batter of the Year award. The newcomer, Delmi Tucker, was awarded the Bowler of the Year prize.
It was, once again, a spectacular year for women’s cricket in the province, with the NW Dragons women winning the CSA One Day Cup and the head coach, Francois van der Merwe, taking the Coach of the Year award. Anneke Bosch, Tazmin Brits, Tumi Sekhukhune, Masabata Klaas and Lizelle Lee also represented the Women’s Proteas with distinction.
North West contributed 12 players to the Lions Franchise – a testament to the talent that is nurtured under the long-serving coach, Monty Jacobs at the Dragons.
Rural Cricket has also been a major beacon of excellence for NW, with the Rural Dragons taking home the national title for the fourth year in a row, under the leadership of Christo Gous and Michael Enslin. Enslin was named the NW Rural Player of the Season, with Ziets Nyembe (best bowler) and Ruan van Tonder (best batsman) also scooping individual plaudits.
In the NW Club Premier League, NWU Pukke, once again shone the brightest, reclaiming the title they lost to Impala back in 2018/19. Pieter Knoetze was duly named coach of the season for leading the side to victory in the championship that was concluded just before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Henk Conradie (Bowler of the Year), Lourén Steenkamp (Batsman of the Year) and Xander Cornelius (Player of the Year) were the individual Premier League award winners.
The Umpire of the Year award went to Madri van Staden for the first time, with Danial Louw awarded with the Scorer of the Year accolade.
At the junior level, Lhuan-dré Pretorius (u.13), MJ Mostert (u.15), Tebogo “Junior” Mathe (u.17) and Van Zyl Smit (u.19) were the top players in their respective age groups. Hoër Volkskool Potchefstroom won the u.15 and u.19 NW A-leagues with Potchefstroom Gimnasium taking the NW T20-title.
