White Ferns allrounder Melie Kerr. Photo: Marty Melville/www.photosport.co.nz
Black Cap Rachin Ravindra and White Fern Melie Kerr have been recognised as New Zealand's outstanding male and female cricketers at the annual New Zealand Cricket awards.
Ravindra, 24, became the youngest player to receive the supreme award for the men's game - the Sir Richard Hadlee Medal - while Kerr carried off the coveted Debbie Hockley Medal - the top award in the women's game - for the second year running.
The Sir Richard Hadlee Medal capped off a breakout season for Ravindra on the international stage.
He was a star at last year's Cricket World Cup in India, finishing as the competition's fourth leading run-scorer with 578 runs at an average of 64. He scored three centuries and two half-centuries, including an unbeaten 123 in the tournament opener against England.
Those performances were recognised in January, when he won world cricket's Emerging Player of the Year award.
Rachin Ravindra celebrates his century during Day 1 of the 1st Cricket test match between New Zealand and South Africa. Bay Oval, Mt Maunganui. Photo: Photosport
Ravindra continued his meteoric rise in the Test arena, scoring New Zealand's highest ever maiden Test century with 240 during the first Test against South Africa in Tauranga, and having a leading hand in New Zealand's first ever Test series victory over South Africa.
He also shone on the T20 international stage, featuring in 14 of the Black Caps 26 T20I matches over the season and scoring a blistering 68 from 35 balls in an ultimately losing effort in the first T20I against Australia in Wellington.
Kerr claimed a clean sweep of the major female awards, winning the Debbie Hockley Medal having also been named ODI and T20I Player of the Year, and the Super Smash Women's Player of the Year.
The leg-spinning allrounder was the White Ferns leading ODI run-scorer with 541 runs at an average of 67, notching her third and fourth ODI centuries along the way.
She was also the team's joint leading T20 wicket-taker and second highest T20 run scorer with 252 runs at an average of 42 and a strike-rate of 118.
Kerr's performances on the international stage were recognised with selection in both the women's ODI and T20I ICC Teams of the Year for 2023.
Kerr also led the way on the domestic front, captaining the Wellington Blaze to their fourth Super Smash title in six years, topping the run-scoring charts with 437 runs at an average of 72, and the wicket-taking charts with 20 wickets at 8 and an economy of 4.47.
She's the first player in the competition's history to record back-to-back five-wicket bags, taking five for 10 against the Canterbury Magicians, the competition's best bowling figures of all-time, followed by five for 13 against the Central Hinds.
Kane Williamson Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Kane Williamson was also recognised for his outstanding form in the Test arena and named the Test Player of the Year, while also winning the Redpath Cup for men's first-class batting.
In the six Test matches in the judging period, Williamson notched 619 runs at 56 - including four centuries - and became just the fifth New Zealand player to score a century in both innings of a Test with 118 and 109 in the second Test against South Africa at Bay Oval.
Williamson continued his form in the following Test against South Africa at Seddon Park, becoming the fastest player ever to reach 32 Test centuries, and extending his record to seven centuries in seven consecutive Tests.
He was was also selected in the ICC's Test Team of the Year.
Daryl Mitchell and Mitchell Santner took out the women's ODI and T20I Player of the Year awards, respectively.
Matt Henry's outstanding summer with the red ball was rewarded with the Winsor Cup for men's first-class bowling.
Henry took 23 wickets in the four Tests in which he featured, including 17 wickets in the two-Test series against Australia, for which he was named Player of the Series.
Suzie Bates Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Suzie Bates won the Ruth Martin Cup for women's domestic batting off the back of a steady season for the Otago Sparks.
Bates' Otago Sparks teammate Emma Black was awarded the women's Domestic Player of the Year and the Phyl Blackler Cup for women's domestic bowling.
Nathan Smith was awarded the men's Domestic Player of the Year after memorable summer for the Wellington Firebirds.
Auckland Aces bowler Danru Ferns was awarded the Super Smash men's Player of the Year.
Ferns topped the men's Super Smash wicket-taking charts with 18 wickets at 14 with an economy rate of 7.53 and claimed career-best T20 figures of three for 26 against the Wellington Firebirds at Kennard's Hire Community Oval.
Chris Brown was named Umpire of the Year for the second year running.
The Bert Sutcliffe Medal for outstanding service to cricket was awarded to long-time administrator, Trudy Anderson.
