Cricket: Bond ends standout season with three honours

Shane Bond capped just his second season of international cricket by scooping three awards, including player of the year, at New Zealand Cricket's awards dinner in Auckland last night.

The Canterbury paceman won the Winsor Cup for first-class bowling, the Walter Hadlee Trophy for one-day international bowling, and the overall National Bank player of the year title.

He was the fourth different winner of the supreme award in the past four years, after Chris Cairns in 1999-00, Mark Richardson in 2000-01 and Nathan Astle a year ago.

Bond bowled New Zealand to an inaugural test series victory in the West Indies last July and was their star player at the World Cup in South Africa, where he took record New Zealand one-day international figures of six for 23 against eventual champions Australia.

Bond played just six first-class matches in the past year - four of them tests, against the West Indies and India - and took 30 wickets at an average of 20, including successive five-wicket bags in Barbados and Grenada.

In 17 one-day internationals, he captured 28 wickets at 22.07 runs apiece.

Bond headed off New Zealand team-mate Daryl Tuffey, who took 21 wickets at 18.71, and Wellington's Matthew Walker, 45 at 18, for the Winsor Cup.

The other one-day international bowling finalists were Jacob Oram, with 29 at 24.17, and Scott Styris, 28 at 23.78.

The overall award was a no contest, with few others consistently standing out among Bond's contemporaries.

The nearest challenger was captain Stephen Fleming, who won the Walter Hadlee Trophy for one-day international batting. Fleming scored 793 runs at an average of 33.04, and played the innings of the year, a majestic 134 not out to beat South Africa at the World Cup.

He headed Styris, whose figures were marginally better - 654 runs at 36.33, including 141 against Sri Lanka at the World Cup - and Astle, who scored 536 runs at 25.52.

Richardson won his second Redpath Cup for first-class batting in three years, beating Fleming and his Auckland opening partner Tim McIntosh with 885 runs from 14 matches at an average of 38.47.

Walker won the other major award, the State Medal for outstanding player in men's domestic cricket.

In women's cricket, Wellington's Maia Lewis thwarted a three-peat by New Zealand captain Emily Drumm by winning the Ruth Martin Cup for batting, scoring 186 one-day international runs at 46.5, and 378 runs at 63 in domestic cricket.

The Phyl Blackler Cup for bowling went to Canterbury's Rebecca Steele who took eight wickets at 23 runs apiece in one-day internationals and nine wickets at 27.66 in domestic cricket.

The women's State Plate for domestic player of the year went to Aimee Mason of Central Districts.

The special award, the Sutcliffe Medal for services to cricket, went to former test player and national selector Frank Cameron.

The selectors for the awards were Sir Richard Hadlee, Gavin Larsen and John F. Reid for the men, and Reid, Debbie Hockley and Lesley Murdoch for the women.

Awards list.-

Sutcliffe Medal (outstanding services to cricket): Frank Cameron.

State Medal (men's domestic cricket): Matthew Walker (Wellington).

State Plate (women's domestic cricket): Aimee Mason (Central Districts).

Ruth Martin Cup (women, batting): Maia Lewis.

Phyl Blackler Cup (women, bowling): Rebecca Steele.

Walter Hadlee Trophy (one-day international batting): Stephen Fleming; one-day international bowling, Shane Bond.

Redpath Cup (first-class batting): Mark Richardson.

Winsor Cup (first-class bowling): Shane Bond.

National Bank player of the year: Shane Bond.

- NZPA