Gillette Venus Cup player of the Year – Nensi Patel, Tauranga Girls College
Having represented the Northern Sprit since she was 14, Nensi showed the competition her first-class style and was fittingly awarded Gillette Venus Cup player of the tournament. Finishing the tournament with 182 runs at an average of 36.4 and hitting the highest number of boundaries (31), the oppositions knew she was a force to be reckoned with. With the ball, Nensi took 11 wickets with her best bowling figures of 2/9. She has since been named in the inaugural New Zealand women’s under-19 squad last week for a series of matches against a New Zealand Police XI in February and a Provincial XI in March and April.
Gillette Cup player of the year – Angus Sidey, Christchurch Boys High School
As captain of the winning side, and highest wicket taker, Angus Sidey led Christchurch Boys High School to yet another victory win at the Gillette Cup. He took 12 wickets with best bowling figures of 5/24. Angus was influential in Christchurch Boys High School’s campaign to return the Heathcote Williams Shield to the original holder from 1908, after winning it off New Plymouth Boys High School on day one of the competition.
Club of the Year – Suburbs New Lynn
Suburbs New Lynn cricket club have been making great progress reaching all ages in the wider Auckland cricket community. They have had a 15% increase in participation over the 2019/20 season, with 70% of their membership of Asian descent. Their engagement with 10 local primary schools has meant their Junior club numbers have risen to 500.
Volunteer of the Year – Fiona Hewetson, Taradale District Cricket Club
Fiona’s 15-year association with the Taradale District Cricket Club has been instrumental in their progress of growing the club. With a soft spot and desire for young junior cricketers to do well, Fiona is our first point of contact for these families wanting to get their child involved with cricket at our club. Fiona’s wealth of knowledge regarding funding application from gaming trusts has meant the club is able to continue supporting players by providing paid coaching staff.
Official of the Year – Roger Woolmer, Auckland Cricket
Rodger started his contribution to community cricket in 1995 and has since gone on to stand in over 500 Auckland Mens’ Club Premier matches, as well as covering school matches and tournaments. He has officiated the NZ Club Championships at Cornwall Cricket Club, along with Auckland and Northern Districts A matches. From his commencement of officiating, he was the president of the Auckland Cricket Umpires Association until 2002, assisting in growing the Auckland umpire contingent from 19 to 40. To round off his dedication to the officiating space, he is the current assessor of the Auckland regional and premier panel.
Cricket Development Officer of the Year – Ramesh Subasinghe, Waikato Valley Cricket Association
The success and growth of junior cricket in Waikato Valley, is all down to the hours of hard work Ramesh puts into the development of grassroots cricket. In the Thames Valley area kids never had the opportunity to give cricket a go, there were no school development programmes, coaching programmes or competitions. There hadn’t been any junior cricket for 16 years in this part of New Zealand. Cricket is now one of the most popular sports in the community with 1000+ kids taking part in festival days. There are now 6 new cricket clubs in Thames Valley and a Saturday morning competition for year 3/4, Y5/6 and Y7/8 in the area which has not been around since 2004.
Best Female Engagement Initiative – Womens TONK, North Shore Cricket Club
Womens TONK has driven significant growth in female participation in the North Shore community. Players range in age from 26-57 years old with the majority being over 40. The 2019/20 season alone, saw registrations upwards of 160 female players, many of whom had never played cricket before. At the start of each season a couple of the experienced cricketers run a coaching session or 2 for the women to learn basic skills.
Outstanding Contribution and Services to Coaching – Karl Treiber, Kamo Cricket Club
Karl’s ability to connect with people of all ages has had an incomparable impact on drawing young and old to cricket in Northland. Karl’s coaching and the programme he created proved its worth within the first couple of years, with Northland players selected for national youth and under 20 teams, and a record 13 players across 4 age groups selected for Northern Districts.
Outstanding Contribution to Cricket – Jeremy Busby, Cricket Wellington Umpires & Scorers Association
Since beginning his longstanding 41-year contribution to officiating cricket, Jeremy has stood in over 800 community matches. Also contributing 35 years to umpire training, Jeremy’s contribution to cricket in Wellington sees him frequently go above and beyond expectations constantly advocating for umpiring in the region.
Sir Jack Newman – Mark Simkin, Motueka Cricket Club
Mark Simkin has been active within the Nelson and Motueka region in a coaching and administration capacity for over two decades, with an emphasis on ensuring junior and youth cricketers receive as many opportunities as possible. Without Mark`s enduring contribution the junior club would not exist or have lasted this long.
Mark spends the majority of his time at the club and by reading the list of his achievements, its easy to see why; he was the Junior Club Captain for 9 years, he coaches both College Grade and Intermediate Grade teams, and he coaches and coordinates the Friday night Superstar Kiwi Cricket session at Memorial Park (he has been doing this for over 9 years)
As a member of the Motueka Clubs management committee, he is the go-to when it comes to raising money for the club, and has put a large amount of time into fundraising and sourcing corporate sponsorship for the junior club. His involvement with the club, with the ongoing support from his wife Kara, has spanned over 22 years and counting.
The numbers have grown and now where there are anywhere between 30-45 kids playing on Friday nights as well as 22 children playing primary hardball cricket on Saturday mornings, with 8 boys and girls playing collage grade cricket in the afternoon. Mark coaches the children on Friday nights providing them with enjoyment and a participation opportunity but also to develop and learn new skills.
Marks attitude towards the growth of the game in his area has never faulted and through his unselfish and generous attitude the game and players have developed. His service and dedication has made a real difference to so many.
