Thursday, 5 September was a day to remember for Titans Cricket who were well represented at the 2024 Cricket South Africa Pathway and Professional Awards.
Tallying over 30 nominations across the 55 award categories, Titans Cricket Union had a good presence at this years’ awards.
The highlight of the awards was Fidelity Titans’ Laura Wolvaardt walking away with 5 accolades in the evening including the coveted, SA Women’s Player of the Year.
Wolvaardt’s teammate at the Proteas and Titans, Masabata Klaas took home the Makhaya Ntini Power of Cricket Award, which is awarded to an individual whose life and/or community has been enhanced by the game of cricket.
21 year old Eliz-Mari Marx has had a season to remember after starring for the Fidelity Titans, she went on to earn her debut cap for the Proteas in both T20s and ODIs. Her performance with the national team earned her a national contract with Cricket South Africa and it all culminated in last with the award for International Women’s Newcomer of the Year.
The award for Men’s One-Day International Player of the Year was hotly contested with 4 of the 6 nominees being Sky Blues. In the end it was left-hand batter Quinton de Kock who took home the gong.
His 4 centuries at the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup in India put him ahead and saw him sign out of One Day Cricket in the highest fashion.
Pace bowler Gerald Coetzee and spinner Paulinah Mashishi can be proud of the respective campaigns they had which earned them 6 and 2 nominations, respectively, at the professional awards.
Former Titans player turned umpire Allahudien Palekar swept in the umpires category, being awarded CSA Umpire of the Year and the CSA Umpires’ Umpire of the Year.
The day however began with the CSA Pathway Awards where Lerato Malesa won the prize of CSA HUBS Coach Of The Year for the work she’s done at Laudium.
Upon the reflection of the 2024 CSA Awards, Titans Cricket Union CEO, Dr Jacques Faul had this to say. “It’s really been a day of celebration for us. All the nominations and winner from the different categories really speak to the emphasis we place on excellence at the Titans. I’m pleased with how the awards turned out and very proud of everything we’ve managed to achieve as a union in the past year. The Intention is to only improve on this next season.
