Wayne Parnell claimed four major prizes including the ultimate accolade as Cape Cobras’ player of the year at the awards-ceremony of the Western Province Cricket Association on Monday at the WPCC in Claremont.
Parnell was also named the Cape Cobras Momentum One-day Player of the Year, the Ram Slam T20 Challenge player of the year and the Cape Cobras players’ player of the year.
“I have not seen Wayne play this well for many summers. It is a just reward for good, consistent performances,” said Paul Adams, the Cape Cobras coach.
Parnell ended with 16 wickets at an economy-rate of 4.83 in the Momentum One Day Cup series, slammed 237 runs at an average of 47.40 as Ram Slam T20 Challenge opener and also took eight wickets in the T20-format.
Although he did not claim the SuperSport series player of the year award, he did average 48.14 with the bat and captured 23 wickets in five matches, including three consecutive five-wicket hauls. He claimed 12 wickets in the penultimate match of the season against the Sunfoil Dolphins, and ripped through the visitors with 7-51 in the first innings.
He also hammered his first first-class century, an unbeaten 111 against the VKB Knights.
Parnell, who recently married the fashion blogger Aisha Baker, is currently on duty in the Caribbean as part of the South African One Day International team. South Africa will meet Australia and the West Indies in a triangular series starting on Friday 3rd June.
Dane Vilas was named Sunfoil Series player of the season for the Cape Cobras. He averaged 69.18 the past season and featured in a South African fifth wicket stand of 393 with JP Duminy.
Vilas was also sensational in the Momentum One Day Cup campaign, hammering 282 runs while only being dismissed twice.
“Dane picked himself up so quickly after being dropped from the South African team. People forget that he is not only a wicketkeeper, but a dynamic presence with the bat for the Cape Cobras,” said Adams.
Cobus Roodt was named coach of the year for a second consecutive season. The Western Province woman’s team claimed the coveted double for a second consecutive season and has now won seven titles out of eight the past four years.
“We have won 41 matches from 44 in the 50-over contests and 15 T20-matches out of 17 (the past four years). I think what we have done well is to focus on the things we can control. We took care of the nitty-gritty and our team-building and attention to detail helped us to stay ahead of the fast-chasing pack,” said a proud Roodt.
Zubayr Hamza, recently promoted to the Cape Cobras’ professional squad, was named first-class player of the year, having scored 833 runs for the Western Province semi-professional team that reached the final in the Sunfoil Three-day Cup.
Shandré Fritz was named women’s player of the year for Western Province.
Elsies River Northlink was named club of the year, collecting 191 points. The clubs were measured according to their administrative prowess, league-winning exploits and their discipline.
The other finalists were Bergvliet, Hottentots Holland, Kuils River and Ottomans Cricket Club.
