Blackcaps veteran Tim Southee has won his first Sir Richard Hadlee Medal, as supreme winner at the NZ Cricket Awards.
Already named First-class Bowler of the Year, Southee, 33, highlighted his campaign with career-best test figures of 6/43 against England at Lord's and five wickets against India in the World Test Championship final at Southampton.
With 338 test wickets, he now lags 23 behind spin legend Daniel Vettori and 93 adrift of the man who lends his name to the player-of-the-year trophy - Sir Richard Hadlee - whose 431 was once the world record.
"It's a huge honour to win such a prestigious award," said Southee from India, where he is currently playing for Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League. "Like most cricketers growing up, I knew all about the exploits of Sir Richard and it's certainly pretty humbling to win his award this year.
"While the accolades are nice, I think it really just reflects the way we have worked together as a group and played our cricket for a long period of time. It’s been great to be a part of this period and being able to win games for our country, which is something that’s very special."
Other winners on the final of three days of award announcements were:
- Penny Kinsella took the Bert Sutcliffe Medal for services to cricket
- Devon Conway was named Test Player of the Year, following last year's recognition in T20 and one-day formats
- Northern Brave spin bowler Nensi Patel was Women's Domestic Player of the Year for her form across Super Smash (T20) and Hallyburton Johnstone Shield (one-day) formats
- Central Stags batter Tom Bruce and Auckland Aces captain Robbie O'Donnell jointly took Men's Domestic Player of the Year, with Bruce scoring back-to-back double centuries, and O'Donnell leading his side to Ford Trophy (one-day) and Plunket Shield (four-day) titles
Other winners over previous days were:
International Women's ODI Player of the Year: Melie Kerr (Wellington Blaze)
International Men's ODI Player of the Year: Will Young (Central Stags)
Redpath Cup for first-class batting: Devon Conway (Wellington Firebirds)
Ruth Martin Cup for women's domestic batting: Suzie Bates (Otago Sparks)
Winsor Cup for first-class bowling: Tim Southee (Northern Districts)
Phyl Blackler Cup for women's domestic bowling: Eden Carson (Otago Sparks)
New Zealand Umpire of the Year: Chris Gaffaney
International Women's T20 Player of the Year: Sophie Devine (Wellington Blaze)
International Men's T20 Player of the Year: Trent Boult (Northern Brave)
Women's Super Smash Player of the Year: Melie Kerr (Wellington Blaze)
Men's Super Smash Player of the Year: Michael Bracewell (Wellington Firebirds)
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