The ECB have announced that Kent captain Charlotte Edwards have been named as the England Women’s Cricketer of the Year for 2011-12.
Edwards was named alongside men’s winner James Anderson and they are joined by two other award winners; the England Development Programme Cricketer of the Year, Kent opener Daniel Bell-Drummond, and this year’s England Disability Cricketer of the Year, Callum Rigby.
All four received their awards at a special dinner held in the Long Room at Lord’s this evening which was hosted by ECB and Brit Insurance, the sponsor of all England cricket teams.
The awards recognise outstanding performances in all formats of international cricket over the past year beginning with last summer’s domestic international programme and encompassing the recent winter tours.
James Anderson beat off competition from fellow nominees Stuart Broad and Alastair Cook to win the Men’s Award which was decided by votes from members of the cricket media.
Anderson, who is currently the number three ranked bowler in the ICC’s Test rankings, enjoyed an excellent 12 months with England which saw him take his 250th Test wicket and rise to 5th on the list of England’s all-time wicket-takers in Test cricket.
Commenting on his award, James Anderson said: “I am flattered to win this award and would like to thank everyone who voted for me. I have been pleased with my performances over the last year and was delighted with the way I bowled on the recent tour of Sri Lanka – but I take even greater pleasure from being part of such a successful England team. “
England Women’s captain Charlotte Edwards won the Women’s award following an outstanding year in which she averaged over 50 with the bat and saw her team complete a clean sweep of series wins at home and abroad. The other nominees were Laura Marsh, Sarah Taylor and Lydia Greenway.
Commenting on her award, Charlotte Edwards said: “It’s an honour to receive this award. I’m really pleased to have contributed to the team’s victories. Our success over the last 12 month is testament to contributions from the whole team and we look forward to that continuing in the exciting season ahead.”
Kent batsman Daniel Bell-Drummond was named the winner of the inaugural England Development Programme Cricketer of the Year award which fellow England Under 19 players, Adam Ball (Kent), Ben Foakes (Essex) and Sam Wood (Nottinghamshire) were also nominated for.
Bell-Drummond’s award capped a superb year for the Kent batsman who first played for England Under 19s as a 16-year-old and is now England’s all-time highest run-scorer in One-Day Internationals at Under 19 level.
The Disability Cricketer of the Year award was won by Callum Rigby – a 19-year-old bowler from Telford, Shropshire who has emerged from recreational cricket to become a key member of England’s Learning Disability squad.
Callum took eight wickets for the Learning Disability Squad during their successful Tri-Series tournament in South Africa last year and was subsequently selected for a World XI which took on a Griqua Diamonds Select XI in the final match of the South African tour.
Stuart Broad won the ‘Fans’ Moment of the Year’ Award, voted for by members of ECB’s Twelfth Man fan community, for his hat-trick against India in last summer’s Trent Bridge Test Match.
ECB Chief Executive David Collier said: “This has been a marvellous year for all our England teams with our Men’s team becoming the World’s number one ranked Test side, our Women’s team winning every series they contested, and our EDP and Disability squads also making significant progress in their respective fields.
“Congratulations go to all our winners. There was intense competition for the individual awards in each category this year and James, Charlotte, Daniel and Callum can all be very proud of their achievements. We also thank Brit, our team sponsor, for supporting these awards and MCC for providing such a magnificent venue for our annual awards dinner.“