Steyn cleans up at SA Cricket Awards
18 June 2008
After an astounding rise to second on the test bowling world rankings, with one outstanding performance after another, Dale Steyn was rewarded at the 2008 Mutual & Federal South African Cricket Awards in Johannesburg on Tuesday night when he won all four awards that he was nominated for.
Over the course of the past year, Steyn excelled both in South Africa and, unusually for a fast bowler, in Asia. He has done it with a combination of pace, swing, intimidation, and stamina, and in next to no time has become one of the most feared bowlers in the game of cricket.
One of Steyn's major achievements during the past year was becoming the fastest South African ever to 100 test wickets; his 20 tests were two fewer than the 22 required by Allan Donald and Hugh Tayfield. Only two bowlers in a comparable era, Ian Botham and Andy Roberts, got there faster, with both of them taking 19 matches.
Awards
On Tuesday night, Steyn's awards included the prestigious Mutual & Federal SA Cricketer of the Year, the Castle Test Cricketer of the Year, the SA Players' Player of the Year, and the SuperSport Fans' Cricketer of the Year.
The other major winners in the Professional SA Team section of the Awards were Graeme Smith, who was named Standard Bank One-Day International Cricketer of the Year, and Albie Morkel, who was named Standard Bank International Pro20 Cricketer of the Year.
A feature of all the International award winners was the standard of excellence they achieved on the world stage. Steyn took 78 wickets in the 12 Tests and was at one stage ranked the number one bowler in the world. He finished the season well clear of any other fast bowler.
Number one ODI batsman
Graeme Smith finished the year as the number one ranked batsman in ICC ODI rankings, while Albie Morkel was the second most successful all-rounder in the recently completed inaugural Indian Premier League.
Steyn follows an impressive list of former Mutual & Federal SA Cricketer of the Year award winners, including Shaun Pollock (2007), Makhaya Ntini (2005 and 2006), and Jacques Kallis (2004). Both Kallis and Ntini were also multiple award winners.
Pollock, in his final year of international cricket proved to be a wonderful brand ambassador for the Mutual & Federal awards, and particularly for all the associated programmes they support.
Money for charity
Through the "Wishes for Wickets" and "Rands for Runs" sponsorship from Mutual & Federal, he raised R91 800 during the past season with his performance on the cricket field, which will go to Reach for a Dream.
The John Wesley School in Pinetown will also receive a scoreboard and cricket mat, donated by Mutual & Federal on behalf of Shaun Pollock.
Unlike last year, when Mornè van Wyk of the Gestetner Diamond Eagles won three of the six Domestic Professional awards, this time there were six different individual winners with the Nashua Cape Cobras providing two of them in Charl Langeveldt, who was named Standard Bank Pro20 Cricketer of the Year, and Monde Zondeki, the SuperSport Series Cricketer of the Year.
Domestic winners
Juan "Rusty" Theron was named MTN Domestic Championship Cricketer of the Year while the other award winners were: Johann Louw of the Nashua Dolphins (SACA Most Valuable Player award), Roelof van der Merwe of the Nashua Titans (Domestic Newcomer of the Year) and Dillon du Preez of the Gestetner Diamond Eagles (Domestic Players' Player of the Year).
Brian Jerling was named the Mutual & Federal Umpire of the Year, and Corrie van Zyl of the Gestetner Diamond Eagles picked up the Mutual & Federal Coach of the Year award. Both were winners for the second time.
The two big winners in the amateur section were Wayne Parnell of Eastern Province and Nathan Arthur of Griqualand West, who both claimed two prizes – Parnell in the under-19 section and Arthur in the Club Championships and the prestigious Khaya Majola Amateur award.
AWARD WINNERS
Professional Awards
SA International
Domestic
Operations
Amateur Awards
SAinfo reporter and Cricket South Africa
