Photo Credit: New Zealand Cricket
The unsung heroes of the cricket family are no doubt those who work tirelessly at the community level to ensure our game is strong from the ground up. The ANZ New Zealand Cricket Awards provide the perfect opportunity for NZC to recognise some outstanding contributions from members of the cricketing community. Below are the winners of the 2019-20 Community Cricket Awards.
Gillette Venus Cup Player of the Year – Amie Hucker, Epsom Girls Grammar
With class performances with both bat and ball, and as the captain of the winning team, Amie was fittingly awarded Gillette Venus Cup player of the tournament, finishing her campaign with 210 runs at an average of 52 and hitting 28 fours and two sixes. With the ball, Amie took six wickets, with best bowling figures of 2/8.
Gillette Cup Player of the Year – Rhys Mariu, St Andrew’s College & Jacob Cumming, Otago Boys’ High School
For the first year, St Andrew’s College not only qualified for the Gillette Cup, but went on to win the title. As captain of the winning side, Rhys Mariu was a well deserving candidate for the Gillette Cup Player of the tournament, scoring 254 runs at 50.8 including a highest score of 104. He has since gone on to represent New Zealand in both the New Zealand Under-19 World Cup.
Jacob Cumming had an outstanding tournament for Otago Boys’ High School, scoring 211 runs with a highest score of 100 as well as taking four wickets. At 16, Jacob is showing great potential having already represented Otago at “A” level.
Club of the Year – Geyser City Cricket Club
The creation of a new, all weather, anytime training facility and the concurrent partnership with Western Heights High School and John Paul College has helped provide the Geyser City Cricket Club access to all ages in the wider Rotorua cricket community.
Along with this, Geyser has implemented a professional coaching service for all members, allowing everyone to not only get the best out of their coaches but to get the best out of their teams. In addition, they have acquired portable wickets to allow cricket to effectively be played anywhere, anytime and enjoyed by everyone.
Volunteer of the Year – Dave Gillespie, Taita District Cricket Club
Dave’s 33-year association with the Taita District Cricket Club has been instrumental in the increase in junior cricket. In 2003, a once strong junior cricket club had dropped to numbers so low that Saturday morning cricket became a distant memory. However, during the 2012-13 season Dave worked closely with the local Development Officer to rejuvenate both junior and youth cricket by providing free access to participant-centred cricket for all ages. All Dave’s hard work paid off with a dramatic increase in school students exposed to cricket. The club has recognised Dave with a lifetime membership.
Official of the Year – Annette Campbell, Cornwall Cricket Club
Annette started her contribution to community cricket as the Premier Scorer for Papatoetoe Cricket Club. Following many years of service, she moved to Cornwall Cricket Club, for which the 2019-20 season was her 21st as the Premier Men’s team scorer. Alongside her involvement with Auckland Club Cricket, she has also been a major contributor to the National Club Cricket Championships, taking on the logistical responsibilities for all scorers, and scoring herself for the past 20 years. Additionally, Annette has played a vital role in the development of scorers, both at the community and domestic level. She is a member of the Executive Committee for the Auckland Cricket Umpires and Scorers Association and a board member of the NZC Umpire and Scorers Association. Along with these two roles, she serves as the Regional Scoring Manager for the Auckland region.
Cricket Development Officer of the Year – Toby Doyle, Canterbury Country
Toby has proven himself one of the most outstanding development officers in the country. The success and growth of junior cricket in the Canterbury Country region is all down to the hours of hard work Toby puts into the development of this vitally important aspect of cricket. He is both innovative and practical, while having the vital skill of knowing what works and more importantly what doesn’t. Toby has been at the forefront of the coach developer space for the past three years and is highly regarded by his peers and colleagues.
Best Female Engagement Initiative – Colin Mann, Masterton Intermediate
Colin has continued to make significant progress in terms of female participation in his school setting, employing a strategy of enhancing participation in several different ways. Colin makes excellent use of a variety of introductions to the sport – through social competitions at lunchtimes, and active encouragement (some players simply invited via shoulder-tapping) to allow any and all to become involved in the teams he oversees. In the 2018-19 season alone, he oversaw registrations of somewhere between 70 to 80 female players, many of whom had never experienced cricket before. Colin ensures all trainings are effective and enjoyable, running a series of skills stations each Tuesday afternoon and inviting non-registered players to join in. He has embraced, more so than any other coordinator in the District, a ‘Hub’ system of coaching and coordinator support from Wairarapa Cricket, partaking in pre and post season briefings, and fully engaging on a weekly basis around progressions within his system. It is estimated that over the past four seasons alone, Colin has introduced about 200 new female players to the joys of cricket, many of whom have moved on to other settings while maintaining their participation in the game.
Outstanding Contribution and Services to Coaching – Glynn Cameron, North Otago
Glynn has shown outstanding commitment and passion towards coaching for the last 24 years. Between 2000–2010, Glynn was, during various periods, the Selector/Coach of the North Otago Year Nine, Under-15, Under-17, Under-19 and Hawke Cup teams. When Jack Cameron, Glynn’s eldest son started playing cricket in 2009, Glynn reverted to primary cricket and has been coach of the St Joseph’s School teams for the past ten seasons. During this period, he has also coached the North Otago Primary A, B and Development teams. In the 2019-20 season, Glynn was the coach of the NOCA Primary A team. During his spare time, he has also coached Touch Rugby, Basketball and Rugby. Glynn’s commitment to coaching and playing reflects his love of the game, not to mention his generosity in giving back to the North Otago community. In the history of the North Otago Cricket Association, Glynn is the only person to have played and coached all the representative teams.
Outstanding Contribution to Cricket – Rod McGregor, Waiuku District Cricket Club
Rod’s cricket story began when he turned out for the Glenbrook Cricket Club as a teenager. Six decades on and he’s embraced almost every aspect of local cricket and has become a ubiquitous local cricket identity, having volunteered in almost every conceivable capacity. After a 15-year hiatus he reconnected with the new Waiuku District Cricket Club in 1977, immediately taking on the management of the team as well as playing and acting as the club’s delegate. That started a 41-year unbroken sequence of service to the Waiuku District Cricket Club Committee. He was the WDCC Chairman for 15 years and its treasurer for five years. It came as no surprise that he was made a Life Member of the Waiuku and District Cricket Club in 2007. After Franklin became member of Counties Cricket (1979) Rod sat on the Counties Management Committee for 15 years. For almost 20 years he umpired club and representative cricket and still stands in the middle on occasion. To complete the full repertoire of community cricket offerings, he was the Waiuku groundsman 20 years. He continued in that capacity until the council amalgamation in 2010.
Sir Jack Newman – Rick Mudgway, Johnsonville Cricket Club
Rick’s association with cricket in Wellington began in earnest in the early 2000s when he started coaching his sons at Johnsonville. Over the last 20 years Rick has fulfilled almost every volunteer role imaginable, from Club Captain to Senior Chair, from Selector to Manager and everything in-between. Irrespective of Rick’s many contributions, it could be argued that his greatest impact has been in the junior space.
At the beginning of the 2012-13 season, Rick began a seven-year stint as the Johnsonville Development Officer, as part of Cricket Wellington’s “One Club” Programme. Staunchly proud of the Johnsonville region and club, he set about ensuring primary-aged children had ample opportunity to experience cricket. Rick developed relationships with local primary schools and on average more than 1000 primary-aged children per season received access to cricket awareness and Superstar skills sessions. During Rick’s tenure, the junior club increased its numbers by nearly 33 percent. This tremendous growth was a by-product of increased in-school activity and enhanced community relationships.
In the 2015-16 season, Rick stepped into the role of Junior Convenor as there was no-one suitable to fill this role. Little did Rick know he would be the Junior Convenor for three seasons. This was in addition to his role as Club Captain, which he has held since 2007. Understanding the need for all junior participants to receive access to quality coaching, Rick and the junior committee made it mandatory that all coaches undertake training, police vetting and a first-aid course, two years prior to NZC and Major Associations following suit. This learned-centred approach highlighted Rick’s dedication to providing an outstanding experience for junior cricketers.
In addition to his work with the Johnsonville Cricket Club, Rick has served as the Coach, Manager and Selector for the Cricket Wellington Year 8 team since the 2017-18 season – a role he’s taken great pride in, seeing a number of the Year 8s he first took to Hawkes Bay during the mid-2000s, progress into the Wellington Under-17 team. His contribution to junior cricket in Wellington sees him frequently go above and beyond expectations and he is a constant advocate for athletes receiving better opportunities to experience the game we love. It’s a testament to Rick’s drive and desire that junior cricket in the Johnsonville region continues to grow and develop.
Rick is the type of person that every club and organisation needs. He is passionate about his beloved Johnsonville CC, where people call him the unofficial Mayor of Johnsonville, and he is tireless in his work to ensure every team in his club is treated fairly and equally.
Name of Author: New Zealand Cricket
The New Zealand national cricket team, known as the Black Caps, made their Test debut in 1930 against England in Christchurch, becoming the fifth nation to play Test cricket. After waiting 26 years for their first Test win against the West Indies in 1956, they also played their first ODI in 1972–73 against Pakistan. New Zealand are the inaugural World Test Championship champions (2021) and have won the ICC Champions Trophy (2000). They have reached the Cricket World Cup final twice and the T20 World Cup final once.
