KG cleans up at CSA awards

South Africa’s only Test match win in the last 12 months was mainly the result of an outstanding 20-minute spell by a rookie who was last night recognised as the country’s outstanding cricketer.

And no one can begrudge Kagiso Rabada that accolade.

Some may be hesitant to thrust such recognition on one so young, but if the public has learnt anything about the 21-year-old in his short international career thus far, it’s that he’s perfectly capable of handling the recognition and marrying that with an ability to excel on the field.

That match-changing spell at Centurion against England in January showed that Rabada was able to mix brain with brawn.

It was not a spell based on bowling ultra fast.

In fact he reined himself in, sacrificing speed for accuracy and in the process he removed a well-set Joe Root for 76, an anxious James Taylor for 14 and a bemused Jonny Bairstow for a duck.

In 18 balls on the third day of that Test he gained control of the match for South Africa and set up a victory which restored some pride at the end of a difficult series.

He achieved match figures of 13/144, the second best Test bowling statistics by a South African, and provided hope for local cricket fans in a season in which there was a lot of despair.

Rabada last night walked away with a record six awards - the Cricketer of the Year, the Players’ Player of the Year, the best One-Day International player, Test Player of the Year, the Fans favourite player and recognition for the best ball of the year - a 146km/h rocket that removed England opener Jason Roy’s off-stump in the T20 International at the Wanderers in February.

Rabada is also the youngest player to win the Cricketer of the Year accolade, and his six prizes last night eclipsed the previous mark of five achieved by AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla.

Among the categories for the senior national side, the only award Rabada didn’t receive was for T20 player of the year - a category in which he wasn’t nominated.

That went to leg-spinner Imran Tahir, who continued to emphasise his importance to both the T20 and 50 over sides in the last year.

In fact, in any other year Tahir’s 35 wickets in 22 ODIs (which SA played in the last 12 months) would have made him a shoo-in for the ODI prize, but in that category he was outstripped by Rabada, who snagged 37 wickets in 20 matches.

Tahir picked up 18 wickets in 11 T20 Internationals, and was consistently able to provide South Africa with control.

Newly appointed national women’s captain Dane van Niekerk was named the Women’s Player of the Year, recognising her consistency over the course of a season when her teammates mostly struggled with theirs.

The Titans, who dominated the 2015/16 domestic season, saw that supremacy recognised further with wins in four categories, including two awards for Heino Kuhn - the Sunfoil Series Cricketer of the Year and the domestic Players Player of the Year.

Outgoing coach Rob Walter won the Coach of the Year.

For the Highveld Lions, wicketkeeper Nicky van den Bergh was named Newcomer of the Year, while Dwaine Pretorius won the SA Cricketers Association Player of the Year.

Bethuel Buthelezi, in his first season as head groundsman at the Wanderers, won Groundsman of the Year, while the Gauteng Scorers Association, was recognised as the Scorers’ Association of the Year for the 11th time.

WINNERS

PROFESSIONAL AWARDS:

NATIONAL

SA Cricketer of the Year: Kagiso Rabada

Test Cricketer of the Year: Kagiso Rabada

ODI Cricketer of the Year: Kagiso Rabada

T20 International Cricketer of the Year: Imran Tahir

SA Players’ Player of the Year: Kagiso Rabada

SA Fans’ Player of the Year: Kagiso Rabada

So Good Award: Temba Bavuma

Delivery of the Year: Kagiso Rabada

International Newcomer of the Year: Stephen Cook