SHAUN Mathews’ strong final-round showing with both bat and ball in Nichols Point’s win against Irymple helped land him Sunraysia cricket’s biggest individual award on Wednesday night.
The bowling all-rounder was three votes behind Coomealla Wentworth’s Justin Freeman in the Innes Medal count, going into the final round of counting in the First Division award.
However, he scooped the three votes after a four-wicket haul and knocks of 28 and 13 in a low-scoring game against Irymple to finish on 12, one head of Freeman and two more than Gol Gol pair Shac Thomas and Luke Hickey (Gol Gol) and Bryson Lush (Irymple).
“I was totally surprised to win it,” Mathews said.
“I went there thinking that (Mildura West batting ace) Chris Williams would win it. But that three votes in the last round got me home.
“This is really special for me after the club and the Nichols Point community embraced me from day one, when I started at the club three years ago.”
At 37, Mathews put up some good numbers this season in the twilight of his career.
The Pointers missed the finals, finishing in sixth, but Mathews averaged 21.6 with the bat (with a top score of 72) and blitzed it with the ball, averaging 15.4 with a best haul of 5/57.
“Team-wise, we lost 10 or 12 players from our 1s and 2s from last year so it was always going to be tough,” he said.
“But there were some positives in how well some of the young players performed. So I thought we did well for what we put on the park.
“Personally, it was okay. I wasn’t as consistent as I’d have liked, but to win the Innes Medal is a great honour for me and the club.”
Sunraysia Cricket Association Innes Medal awards
Innes Medal
Shaun Mathews, Nichols Point 12
Justin Freeman, Coomealla Wentworth 11
Luke Hickey, Gol Gol 10
Bryson Lush, Irymple 10
Shacaya Thomas, Gol Gol 10
Premier Women MVP
Katelin Kemp, Coomealla Wentworth 23
Shania McKinnon, Mildura Settlers 16
Annie O’Rourke, Nichols Point 16
Demi Zanoni, Mildura West 14
Caitlin Finch, Mildura East 12
Batting and Bowling Averages
1st Division Batting Average Shacaya Thomas Gol Gol 460 runs @ 57.50
1st Division Bowling Average Thomas Vadlja Mildura East 20 wickets @ 9.55
2nd Division Batting Average Daniel Frasca Irymple 276 @ 55.20
2nd Division Bowling Average Bradley Purdue Mildura Settlers 20 wickets @ 8.90
3rd Division Batting Average Jeremy Giddings Coomealla Wentworth 412 runs @ 68.67
3rd Division Bowling Average Creagh Simes Mildura East 20 wickets @ 6.85
4th Division Batting Average Marcus Stannard Coomealla Wentworth 244 runs @ 48.80
4th Division Bowling Average Cody Clifford Merbein South 22 wickets @ 10.00
Premier Womens Batting Average Shania McKinnon Mildura Settlers 260 runs @ 260.00
Premier Womens Bowling Average Elitama Akima Nichols Point 22 wickets @ 6.04
Rookie of Year – Male
Cooper AldridgeMildura Settlers
Rookie of Year – Women
Abby ColliholeSettlers Gol Gol
SCA Club Curatorial Award
Matt Tiley Gol Gol Cricket Club
Mark Blows Gol Gol Cricket Club
MGA Club Championship
Irymple489.86 points
MGA Champion Player
Chris Williams Mildura West681 points
Don Cullinan Umpire of the Year
Gavin Slade
Team of the Year – Men
Shacaya Thomas Bat Gol Gol
Bryson Lush Bat Irymple
Chris Williams All Mildura West
Bevan Wade Bat Coomealla Wentworth
Wade Hancock Bat Gol Gol
Shaun Mathews All Nichols Point
Adam Thomson Wk Gol Gol
Luke Hickey Bwl Gol Gol
Mark Thomson Bwl Irymple
Thomas Vadlja Bwl Mildura East
Justin Freeman Bwl Coomealla Wentworth
Mark East Bat Merbein South
Team of the Year – Women
Katelin Kemp All Coomealla Wentworth
Shania McKinnon All Mildura Settlers
Tauta Rangiura Bat Irymple
Annie O’Rourke Bat Nichols Point
Abby Collihole Bat Mildura Settlers
Breanna Smith Bat Mildura West
Teoi Kirrirua-Gill Wk Nichols Point
Elitama Akima Bwl Nichols Point
Janice Kemp Bwl Coomealla Wentworth
Demi Zanoni Bwl Mildura West
Tiare Teopenga Bwl Nichols Point
Ruby Woollard Bwl Mildura West
