Williamson named NZ’s Player of the Year

WELLINGTON: Kane Williamson was named New Zealand’s Cricketer of the Year and awarded the Sir Richard Hadlee Medal at NZC’s awards function on Wednesday.

Following a judging period in which he scored five centuries, Williamson set a New Zealand record for most runs in a calendar year and became the No1 ranked Test batsman.

He was also named the Test Player of the Year and won the Redpath Cup for his first-class batting exploits.

Since the beginning of 2015, Williamson has scored 1314 Test runs in 10 matches at an average of 77.29, including a match-saving unbeaten 242 against Sri Lanka in Wellington.

Across the three formats, Williamson made 3339 runs in 53 games at an average of 60.70, with eight centuries. He also made seven consecutive fifty-plus scores in limited overs against England and Zimbabwe between June and August.

Martin Guptill, who enjoyed a breakthrough year in the limited-over formats and earned a recall to the Test side, was named the ODI and T20I Player of the Year.

Guptill scored 1891 ODI runs since the start of 2015 at an average of 55.61 and a strike rate of 97.22. He also struck the second-highest score in ODIs, a 163-ball 237 against West Indies in the quarter-final of the ICC 2015 World Cup.

Suzie Bates, who capped off a stellar year with an ODI ton against Australia in Mount Maunganui on February 24, was named the Women’s Player of the Year for the third consecutive year. In 18 games since February 2015, Bates has managed 799 runs at 53.26 and two centuries.