Daniel Solway and Grace Dignam claim top honours at NSW Premier Cricket Awards

Cricket NSW | May 06, 2023

Bankstown’s Daniel Solway and Northern District’s Grace Dignam have hit their way into NSW Premier Cricket history, collecting Player of the Season awards for their respective first-grade competition’s at last night’s McDonald’s NSW Premier Cricket 2023 Premiers’ Dinner at Dockside in Sydney.

It was Solway’s output at the crease that saw him achieve his first O’Reilly Medal. The Bankstown skipper became the only batter to cross into four-digit territory at the conclusion of the preliminary Kingsgrove Sports T20 Cup, Limited-Overs and Belvidere Cup competition rounds, tallying 1056 runs at an average of 75.43.

 

 

In 15 innings for Northern District, Dignam scored 617 runs at 56.09, finishing atop the women’s first grade competition by a margin of 79 runs. Her efforts would see Northern District qualify for the grand final.

 

 

The O’Reilly Medal and Women’s First Grade Player of the Year award are decided by umpire votes from each match during the season on a 3-2-1 basis. 

Both Solway and Dignam were named honorary captains of the respective Teams of the Year, also recognised on Friday night. 

Jason Coleman received the Bob Simpson award for Men’s Premier Cricket Coach of the Year, after guiding Parramatta to the Belvidere Cup – First Grade Premiership, as well as the Mitchell Cup – Third Grade Premiership. 

Russel Grimson secured his third-consecutive Bob Simpson award for Women’s Premier Cricket Coach of the Year, directing Sydney to the Club Championship, First Grade T20 Trophy, Second Grade Premiership and Brewer Shield. 

St George (men’s) and Sydney (women’s) took home the Warren Saunders Spirit of Cricket award for exhibiting an ongoing commitment to fair-play throughout the season.

Rosedale Oval was named Ground of the Year, with Pratten Park and Memorial Oval placing second and third, respectively.

 

2022/23 Premier Cricket Awards

 

O’Reilly Medal for Men’s First Grade Player of the Year:

Daniel Solway 

Women’s First Grade Player of the Year:

Grace Dignam

 

2022/23 Men’s Premier Cricket Awards:

 

Premierships: 

Club Championship | Manly Warringah DCC 

Belvidere Cup [First Grade] | Parramatta DCC 

Albert Cup [Second Grade] | Manly Warringah DCC 

Mitchell Cup [Third Grade] | Parramatta DCC 

Reid Cup [Fourth Grade] | Manly Warringah DCC 

David Sherwood Cup [Fifth Grade] | Northern District CC 

Under 21 Poidevin-Gray Shield | Randwick Petersham CC 

Under 16 AW Green Shield | Parramatta DCC 

Kingsgrove Sports T20 Cup | Sydney CC 

First-Grade Limited-Overs Cup | Northern District CC 

 

Men’s Individual Awards:

 

Warren Saunders Spirit of Cricket Award | St George DCC 

Bob Simpson Award for Coach of the Year | Jason Coleman (Parramatta DCC) 

Ground of the Year First Place | Rosedale Oval 

Ground of the Year Second Place | Pratten Park 

Ground of the Year Third Place | Memorial Oval 

Lower Grades Ground of the Year | Tunks Park 

First Grade Captain of the Year | Nick Stapleton (St George DCC) 

Second Grade Captain of the Year | Jack Hill (Sydney University CC) 

Third Grade Captain of the Year | Alex Kouventaris (Bankstown DCC) 

Fourth Grade Captain of the Year | Stephen Wark (St George DCC) 

Fifth Grade Captain of the Year | Simon Waddington (Manly Warringah DCC) 

AW Green Shield Player of the Year | Advith Boreddy (Parramatta DCC) 

 

Kingsgrove Sports Men’s Merit XII First Grade Team of the Year:

Captain

Daniel Solway (Bankstown DCC) | 1056 runs 

Batters

Josh Clarke (Western Suburbs) | 923 runs

Axel Cahlin (Gordon DCC) | 888 runs

Jack Attenborough (UNSW CC) | 860 runs

Brent Williams (Penrith CC) | 831 runs

Anthony Sams (Randwick Petersham CC) | 831 runs 

Wicketkeeper

Jay Lenton (Manly Warringah DCC) | 52 dismissals & 457 runs 

Bowlers

Devlin Malone (Sydney University CC) | 58 wickets

Arjun Nair (Fairfield-Liverpool CC) | 54 wickets

Smit Raval (Blacktown Mounties CC) | 54 wickets

Muhammad Irfan Jr (Western Suburbs DCC) | 51 wickets

Ryan Felsch (Bankstown DCC) | 47 wickets

 

(statistics include runs scored, wickets taken and wicketkeeping dismissals in all T20, One-Day and Two-Day preliminary matches excluding Finals)

 

 

2022/23 Women’s Premier Cricket Awards: 

Premierships: 

Club Championship | Sydney CC 

Ruth Preddy Trophy [First Grade] | Penrith CC 

Second Grade | Sydney CC 

Third Grade | St George-Sutherland WCC 

Brewer Shield | Sydney CC 

First Grade T20 Trophy | Sydney CC

 

Women’s Individual Awards: 

Warren Saunders Spirit of Cricket Award | Sydney CC 

Bob Simpson Award for Coach of the Year | Russel Grimson (Sydney CC) 

Second Grade Player of the Year | Emma-Jayne Howe (Northern District CC) 

Third Grade Player of the Year | Catherine Wilson (St George-Sutherland WCC) 

Brewer Shield Player of the Year | Shiloh Julien (UTS North Sydney) 

First Grade Captain of the Year | Gizelle Plummer (Sydney CC) 

Second Grade Captain of the Year | Emma-Jayne Howe (Northern District CC) 

Third Grade Captain of the Year | Renee Hough (Manly Warringah DCC) 

Brewer Shield Captain of the Year | Shiloh Julien (UTS North Sydney CC) 

 

Kingsgrove Sports Women’s Merit XII First Grade Team of the Year:

Captain

Grace Dignam (Northern District CC) | 617 runs 

Batters

Rhiannon Dick (St George-Sutherland WCC) | 538 runs

Claire Koski (Campbelltown Camden DCC) | 588 runs

Sophie Luff (Parramatta WGCC) | 530 runs

Heidi Cheadle (Gordon WCC) | 463 runs

Shivani Mehta (Manly Warringah DCC) | 404 runs 

Wicketkeeper

Alexandra Tims (Sydney CC) | 23 dismissals 

Bowlers

Kira Churchland (Sydney CC) | 24 wickets

Abby Taylor (Northern District CC) | 24 wickets

Jaclyn Vickery (St George-Sutherland WCC) | 23 wickets

Elizabeth Barkat (Campbelltown Camden DCC) | 22 wickets

Zoya Thakur (Parramatta WGCC) | 21 wickets

 

(statistics include runs scored, wickets taken and wicketkeeping dismissals in One-Day & T20 matches excluding Finals)