GOL Gol star Shacaya Thomas missed the final two games of the Sunraysia Cricket Association season and still had a big enough lead to win his third Innes Medal.
The former First Class all-rounder from Jamaica put together another standout season to claim back-to-back best and fairest awards.
Polled votes in 10 of the 11 matches he played for the season led Thomas to finish with 24 votes, with star imports Scott Steel of Irymple (18 votes) and Liam Naylor of Mildura East (16) rounding out the podium.
At the time of his injury after round 12, Thomas was leading both the batting and bowling aggregates, and would still win the award for best averages in both categories with 29 wickets at 12.03, and 669 runs at 83.63.
Thomas joins competition greats Wayne Carmichael, Michael Hogarth, Tom Vadlja, David Hogarth, Mark Cleary, Richie Wyld and Chris Williams in winning three Innes Medals since the award’s inception in 1974, and is the first player to win the award in consecutive seasons since Merbein’s Mark White in 2007.
This weekend he will aim to do the double for the first time by also winning the premiership medallion when his sides faces Irymple in the grand final.
Meanwhile, Mildura Settlers premiership captain Shania McKinnon and Coomealla Wentworth skipper Katelin Kemp shared the Women’s MVP honours in an extremely tight count.
The duo finished just two votes ahead of Mildura West’s Tara Martin on 23, with Settlers’ Sarah Telfer (20) and Gol Gol’s Abby Collihole (18) rounding out the top five.
McKinnon’s medal make her a four-time Women’s division champion, equaling the record set by Caitlin Hancock, with this being her first MVP since 2020.
Kemp is now also clear in second place with three medals, all coming in the past four seasons, and is the first to go back-to-back since Hancock in 2019.
Mildura West young gun Josh Driscoll has added his name to the list of under-16 John Hall Medal winners, being a runaway winner of this year’s voting with 13, ahead of teammates Blake Lambert (seven) and Riley Cox (six), as well as Irymple’s Levi Gester (six).
The all-rounder is the first player from the club based at John Hall Oval since the medal’s inception in 2011, also earning five votes in the Innes Medal Count and being named SCA under-18 male player of the year.
SCA AWARD WINNERS
Innes Medal Leaderboard: Shacaya Thomas (Gol Gol) 24 votes, Scott Steel (Irymple) 18, Liam Naylor (Mildura East) 16, Wade Hancock (Gol Gol) 14, Shannon Bowen (Nichols Point) 14.
Womens MVP Leaderboard: Shania McKinnon (Mildura Settlers) 25 votes, Katelin Kemp (Coomealla Wentworth) 25, Tara Martin (Mildura West) 23, Sarah Telfer (Mildura Settlers) 20, Abby Collihole (Gol Gol) 18.
John Hall Medal Leaderboard: Josh Driscoll (Mildura West) 13 votes, Blake Lambert (Mildura West) 7, Levi Geister (Irymple) 6, Max Fleri (Mildura West) 6, Colby Marr (Nichols Point) 5, Mitchell Munro (Gol Gol) 5.
First Division
Team of the Year: Scott Steel (Irymple), Liam Naylor (Mildura East), Shacaya Thomas (Gol Gol), Wade Hancock (Gol Gol), Jasper Presswell (Mildura West), Nick Dorman (Mildura East), Bailey Anderson (Irymple), Mark Thomson (cap) (Irymple), Liam Freeman (Coomealla Wentworth), Riley Jobson (Nichols Point), Josh Andrews (wk) (Mildura East), Shannon Bowen (Nichols Point).
Batting average: Shacaya Thomas (Gol Gol)
Batting aggregate: Scott Steel (Irymple)
Bowling average: Shacaya Thomas (Gol Gol)
Bowling aggregate: Jasper Presswell (Mildura West)
Melbourne Country Week Player of the Tournament: Jasper Presswell (Mildura West)
Second Division
Batting average: Dale Chappell (Nichols Point)
Batting aggregate: Conor Schultz (Ouyen)
Bowling average: Alex Morrish (Ouyen)
Bowling aggregate: Lachlan Scott (Irymple)
Third Division
Batting average/aggregate: Jeremy Giddings (Coomealla Wentworth)
Bowling average/aggregate: Rohan Hamence (Nichols Point)
Fourth Division
Batting average: Brad Martin (Mildura West)
Batting aggregate: Aaron Negi (South West)
Bowling average/aggregate: Harry McLean (Tempy)
Women’s
Team of the Year: Abby Collihole (Gol Gol), Katelin Kemp (Coomealla Wentworth), Eden Trinick (Merbein), Taya Higgins (Mildura East), Shania McKinnon (Mildura Settlers), Megan Collihole (Gol Gol), Sarah Telfer (MIldura Settlers), Demi Zanoni (Mildura West), Tara Martin (cap) (Mildura West), Addison Bell (Mildura West), Gemma Higgins (wk) (Mildura East), Emily Collihole (Gol Gol).
Batting average/aggregate: Shania McKinnon (Mildura Settlers)
Bowling average/aggregate: Addison Bell (Mildura West)
Under-16
Batting average/aggregate: Josh Driscoll (Mildura West)
Bowling average/aggregate: Mitchell Munro (Gol Gol)
Under-14
Batting average: Mason Warn (Irymple)
Batting aggregate: Nicholas Walder (Merbein)
Bowling average: James Brice (Merbein)
Bowling aggregate: Mason Warn (Irymple)
Under-18 Female Player of the Year: Eden Trinick (Merbein)
Under-18 Male Player of the Year: Josh Driscoll (Mildura West)
Under-17 Male representative player of the year: Riley Cox (Mildura West)
Under-15 Male representative player of the year: Paddy Connelly (Irymple)
Under-13 Male representative player of the year: Thomas Colbert (Mildura West)
Club Curatorial Award: Graeme Pengelly
Club Championship: Mildura West
Champion Player: Liam Naylor (Mildura East)
Gordon Carey Award: Liam Freeman (Coomealla Wentworth)
Don Cullinan Umpire of the Year: Mark Dorman
