Jacques Kallis was crowned as South Africa’s Cricketer of the Year at the 2011 South African Cricket Awards Gala Dinner on Tuesday at Gallagher Estate in Midrand, Johannesburg.
The South African Cricket Awards Gala Dinner is the culmination of Cricket South Africa (CSA) Day, a day set aside annually by the CSA to celebrate the achievements of leading players and administrators for their achievements in amateur cricket, domestic professional cricket and operations, and the ultimate level of South African team awards.
It is the second time that Kallis has won the CSA’s premier award after previously achieving the distinction in 2004. He achieved a hat-trick of awards this time as he was also named Castle Test Cricketer of the Year and received the KFC So Good Award! for his centuries in both innings of the Test match against India at Sahara Park Newlands in spite of being handicapped by a painful side injury.
Unlike last year when Hashim Amla almost swept the board, the awards were well shared around this time. AB de Villiers was named ODI Cricketer of the Year and Amla remained the choice of his peers, being named SA Players’ Player of the Year and SA Fans’ Player of the Year, while Lonwabo Tsotsobe was named International Pro20 Cricketer of the Year.
Imran Tahir, who was named SA International Newcomer of the Year, was also a big winner in the professional domestic category, being named both SuperSport Series Cricketer of the Year and Domestic Players’ Player of the Year.
Owais Shah was named Standard Bank Cricketer of the Year in the domestic category and Faf du Plessis MTN40 Cricketer of the Year.
Richard Pybus, who coached the Cape Cobras to two of the three domestic professional titles, was named Coach of the Year while Johan Cloete received the top Umpiring award.
CSA Day started with the SA Cricket Awards breakfast, in association with KFC, which was held to celebrate the stars of tomorrow, followed by the CSA Golf Invitational, which gave key stakeholders an opportunity to have a round of golf with the Proteas.
Award winners
Professional Awards: Operations
- CSA Coach of the Year: Richard Pybus (Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras)
- CSA Groundsman of the Year: Louis Kruger (Senwes Park)
- CSA Scorers’ Association of the Year: Gauteng
- Umpires’ Umpire of the Year: Johan Cloete
- CSA Umpire of the Year: Johan Cloete
Professional Awards: Domestic
- MTN40 Cricketer of the Year: Faf du Plessis (Nashua Titans)
- Standard Bank Pro20 Cricketer of the Year: Owais Shah (Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras)
- SuperSport Series Cricketer of the Year: Imran Tahir (Sunfoil Dolphins)
- CSA Fairplay Award: Chevrolet Warriors
- Domestic Newcomer of the Year: Mohammed Yaseen Vallie (Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras)
- Saca MVP (Most Valuable Player) Award: Zander de Bruyn (Bizhub Highveld Lions)
- Domestic Players’ Player of the Year: Imran Tahir (Sunfoil Dolphins)
Professional Awards: SA Team
- SA Newcomer of the Year: Imran Tahir
- Standard Bank International Pro20 Cricketer of the Year: Lonwabo Tsotsobe
- Standard Bank ODI Cricketer of the Year: AB de Villiers
- Castle Test Cricketer of the Year: Jacques Kallis
- KFC “So Good!” Award: Jacques Kallis
- CSA Fans’ Cricketer of the Year: Hashim Amla
- SA Players’ Player of the Year: Hashim Amla
- SA Cricketer of the Year: Jacques Kallis