Blackcaps batting star Rachin Ravindra has capped a breakout year with the national team, becoming the youngest recipient of the Sir Richard Hadlee Medal at the NZ Cricket Awards.
Ravindra, 24, made his presence felt at the World Cup one-day tournament, where he was the fourth-leading scorer with 578 runs and an average of 64, including three centuries and two fifties. As a result, he was named ICC Emerging Player of the Year.
Switching to the test format, he scored New Zealand's highest-ever maiden century with 240 against South Africa at Mt Maunganui, laying the foundation for the Blackcaps' first-ever series win over the Proteas.
At Twenty20, he played in 14 of New Zealand's 26 international matches for the season, highlighted by 68 runs off 35 balls against Australia at Wellington.
"To be honest, pretty unexpected," admitted Ravindra. "The amount of talent in this room, I'm pretty humbled to receive this award.
"You give your heart and soul to the fern on your chest, and give it your best every time you out. Whether that comes out in individual success or whatever... I've just tried to drive the team forward and that's the mantra of the team."
Ravindra reluctantly pinpointed his unbeaten 123 in the World Cup opener against England as his personal highlight.
"Being able to share that special partnership with my close mate Dev [Devon Conway]," he said. "It ended up being a pretty cool win for us and, after the heartbreak of 2019, being able to get one over the England boys."
White Ferns allrounder Melie Kerr has swept the women's international awards over all three formats, as well as Player of the Year in the domestic Super Smash T20 competition.
Kane Williamson took out the Redpath Cup for men's first-class batting and was named Test Player of the Year. Last year's Hadlee Medal winner, Daryl Mitchell, took Men's ODI Player of the Year and Mitch Santner was Men's T20I Player of the Year.
NZ Cricket Awards winners:
Sir Richard Hadlee Medal - Rachin Ravindra
Debbie Hockley Medal - Melie Kerr
Bert Sutcliffe Medal for outstanding services to cricket - Trudy Anderson
ANZ Test Player of the Year - Kane Williamson
ANZ Men’s ODI Player of the Year - Daryl Mitchell
ANZ Women’s ODI Player of the Year - Kerr
ANZ Men’s T20I Player of the Year - Mitchell Santner
ANZ Women’s T20I Player of the Year – Kerr
Men’s Domestic Player of the Year - Nathan Smith (Wellington)
Women’s Domestic Player of the Year - Emma Black (Otago)
Dream11 Super Smash Men’s Player of the Year - Danru Ferns (Auckland)
Dream11 Super Smash Women’s Player of the Year - Kerr
The Redpath Cup for men's first-class batting - Williamson
The Ruth Martin Cup for women’s domestic batting - Suzie Bates
The Winsor Cup for men's first-class bowling - Matt Henry
The Phyl Blackler Cup for women's domestic bowling - Black
GJ Gardner Homes New Zealand Umpire of the Year - Chris Brown
