A. B. de Villiers Wins Them All
A. B. de Villiers Wins Them All
Noted cricketer A. B. de Villiers dominated the Cricket South Africa Awards by landing 4 awards including the Cricketer of the Year 2014. The event was held in Johannesburg. De Villiers was also named as the Test Cricketer of the Year and recognised as the SA Players' Player of the Year.
Apart from accolades from his colleagues, he also garnered the popular vote from cricketing fans by going on to win the SA Fans' Cricketer of the Year.However, the fifth proved elusive for De Villiers. He was nominated for the ODI Player of the Year which went to Quinton de Kock instead.
De Kock had scored 4 centuries in the period being reviewed. 3 of these were in consecutive innings. Imran Tahir was given the honour of winning the T20 International Player of the Year while paceman Dale Steyn won the Delivery of the Year. Veteran player jacues Kalis won the KFC “So Good” Award for his final century in the match against India.
When it came to the ladies, Marizanne Kapp won the Momentum Women's Cricketer of the Year Award for the second time. She was also the winner for last year. A. B. de Villiers has now become the 8th player to be named South Africa's Cricketer of the Year. CSA Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat has mentioned how “AB's statistics are sheer class.”
De Villiers highest rating of 935 points in test cricket is the 10th highest of all times. Two other players who have equalled his record are Jaques Kallis and Matthew Hayden. He is a leading batsman in the world, ranked number one in test matches and number two in ODI.
The previous winners of this prestigious award include two time winner Jacques Kallis,apart from Vernon Philander, Hashim Amla, Graeme Smith, Shaun Pollock and Dale Steyn. When it came to the domestic professional category, the Dolphins were the leaders.
Lance Klusener was named Coach of the year. David Miller managed to garner the T20 player award. It was Kyle Abbot who won the Domestic Players' Player for the second time along with an award for the Most Valuable Player.
The Dolphins also won the Fair Play Award. The Groundsman of the Year was Wilson Ngobese who was the head grounds curator at Kingsmead. Justin Ontong of the Cape Cobras was awarded the Domestic Cricketer of the Season. Heino Kuhn won the One Day Cup Cricketer of the Season.Abe Williams was given the Khaya Majola Lifetime Achievement Award for his service to the game for 50 years.
Cricket is a game that requires both skill and strategy. Players lacking either of the two rely on luck mostly. As leading cricketers face the challenges of games across tough ODIs or the more commercial IPLs, it is the staying power that counts as much as the delivery, because both are what it takes to make a century.
