State Cricket Awards announced

Jackson Bird’s brilliant debut season for Tasmania has been recognised with the 25-year-old named the Sheffield Shield Player of the Year at the State Cricket Awards in Brisbane today.

Bird (21 votes) was a decisive winner over Queensland’s Ben Cutting (16), with teammates George Bailey and Ed Cowan, along with Western Australia’s Liam Davis, a further vote behind.

While Bird’s debut season did not start until round four, in just seven matches he took a competition-leading 48 wickets at an average of 15.75, including a hat trick and 11 wickets in the last round match against Western Australia to help the Tigers qualify for a second straight final.

The annual State Cricket Awards are held in the lead-up to the Bupa Sheffield Shield Final, this year to be contested between the Queensland Bulls and Tasmanian Tigers at the Gabba.

The Queensland Bulls were awarded the Benaud Spirit of Cricket Award for the 2011-12 season, while the New South Wales women’s team was presented with the WNCL Spirit of Cricket Award.

The Benaud Spirit of Cricket Awards are decided by umpire votes and recognise state cricket teams which have best played in the spirit of the game in recognition that elite cricket should be played hard but fair.

South Australia’s Tom Cooper was named the Ryobi One-Day Cup Player of the Year after scoring 366 runs at an average of 73.2 during the season. Cooper (14 votes) edged Cowan (13) and Redbacks’ captain Michael Klinger (12) for the award.

In women’s cricket, NSW pair Leah Poulton and Lisa Sthalekar shared the honours in the Women’s National Cricket League while Victoria’s Meg Lanning was named the WT20 Player of the Year.

Other awards were won by Josh Lalor (Lord’s Taverners Indigenous Cricketer of the Year) and Simon Taufel (Cricket Australia Umpire Award).

The Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) All*Star Teams were also announced today. The teams recognise the achievements of the best performed players in the Four-Day, One-Day and Interstate T20 competitions. Members of these teams were determined by a vote of contracted CA, state and rookie players.

Player of the Year votes in interstate Cricket Australia competitions are calculated as follows for each competition: at the conclusion of every match, each on-field umpire allocates votes on a 3-2-1 basis – three votes to the best player. Accordingly, there are 12 votes in total available in each match, and any individual player can receive a maximum of six votes.

As a condition of voting players are not able to vote for members of their own squad.

2011-12 State Cricket Awards:

Benaud Spirit of Cricket: Queensland
WNCL Spirit of Cricket: New South Wales
Sheffield Shield Player: Jackson Bird (Tasmania)
Ryobi One-Day Cup Player: Tom Cooper (South Australia)
WNCL Players: Leah Poulton & Lisa Sthalekar (New South Wales)
WT20 Player: Meg Lanning (Victoria)
Cricket Australia Umpire Award: Simon Taufel
Lord’s Taverners Indigenous Cricketer: Josh Lalor (NSW)

ACA Four-Day Series All*Star Team of the Year in batting order:
Player / State / Votes (%)
1 Rob Quiney VIC 79%
2 Liam Davis WA 72%
3 George Bailey (c) TAS 85%
4 Peter Forrest QLD 63%
5 Adam Voges (vc) WA 64%
6 Dan Christian SA 51%
7 Peter Nevill NSW 90%
8 Ben Cutting QLD 53%
9 Jayde Herrick VIC 55%
10 Jackson Bird TAS 69%
11 Michael Hogan WA 70%
12 Tom Cooper SA 46%

ACA One-Day Interstate All*Star Team of the Year in batting order:
Player / State / Votes (%)
1 Michael Klinger (c) SA 77%
2 Matthew Wade VIC 46%
3 Ed Cowan (vc) TAS 53%
4 Tom Cooper SA 65%
5 Nathan Reardon QLD 59%
6 Rob Quiney VIC 57%
7 James Faulkner TAS 47%
8 Nathan Coulter-Nile WA 55%
9 Mitchell Starc NSW 56%
10 Jason Krejza TAS 49%
11 Alister McDermott QLD 74%
12 Callum Ferguson SA 46%

ACA Big Bash League All*Star Team of the Year in batting order:
Player / Team / Votes (%)
1 Chris Gayle (vc) Sydney Thunder 77%
2 Herschelle Gibbs Perth Scorchers 56%
3 Travis Birt Hobart Hurricanes 84%
4 Owais Shah Hobart Hurricanes 76%
5 David Hussey (c) Melbourne Stars 69%
6 Mitchell Marsh Perth Scorchers 49%
7 Matthew Wade Melbourne Stars 65%
8 James Faulkner Melbourne Stars 55%
9 Shahid Afridi Melbourne Renegades 48%
10 Rana Naved Hobart Hurricanes 60%
11 Brad Hogg Perth Scorchers 49%
12 Dan Christian Brisbane Heat 47%

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