Glamorgan 2020 Player Awards winners announced

Chris Cooke celebrated a decade of playing at Sophia Gardens by picking up Glamorgan’s Player of the Year award after he top-scored for the Club in the Bob Willis Trophy and was named in the PCA Team of the Year for his efforts with both bat and gloves.

The Club captain recorded three half-centuries in his 294 runs as well as 18 dismissals (16 catches, two stumpings) in the Bob Willis Trophy, with a further two fifties and 221 runs in the Vitality Blast, to go alongside his six catches and three stumpings.

Cooke’s three half-centuries all came in defiant efforts, with 4^th innings efforts at Taunton and New Road, and a match-saving knock at Sophia Gardens.

Cooke’s exploits across both formats earned him a place in the PCA’s Team of the Year, as he tallied the most points of any regular wicket-keeper, and he sat in the top five of the Most Valuable Player rankings at the end of Glamorgan’s season.

The John Derrick Young Player of the Year was awarded to Prem Sisodiya, with the 22-year-old left-arm spinner leading Glamorgan’s bowling efforts in the Vitality Blast from the front, as he picked up 10 wickets at an average of just over 23 and an economy rate of 6.44.

Sisodiya opened the bowling in every game, picking up vital early wickets and only once going for over 29 in his allocated four overs as he demonstrated control, aggression and intelligence during the season.

The Academy Player of the Year for 2020 was Morgan Bevans, a middle-order batsman and off-spinner from Abergavenny, who was one of the leading lights for the Academy side as they took on a range of SWPCL and schools teams across Wales and the South-West. Bevans scored 112 against Gloucestershire U18s, and has recently started a degree at Cardiff Met.

With the shortened season, the structure of the awards changed slightly, with two new categories added in 2020.

Michael Hogan’s 600^th first-class wicket was named as the Champagne Moment, with the seamer’s dismissal of Luke Proctor taking him to the famous milestone, as he pipped Marchant de Lange and Callum Taylor’s centuries at Northampton and Roman Walker’s Quarantine Cup victory to the new gong.

After 375 wickets for Glamorgan, and 224 for Western Australia, Hogan’s 600^th wicket in first-class cricket was not only special for the individual moment, but also as just reward for years of hard work and countless overs of skill and control as the leader of the Glamorgan attack over the last decade.

The Fans’ Favourite for 2020 was Callum Taylor, who’s energetic fielding, unique off-spinners and, most memorably, his debut century were amongst the reasons that fans gave as he was the highest vote-getter in a poll on the Glamorgan website.

Alongside host Phil Steele, Steve James presented the Academy Player of the Year award, after a number of years of working closely as a batting mentor with the young players, and Dean Cosker was on hand to reveal the winners of the John Derrick Young Player of the Year and Fans’ Favourite of 2020.

• Player of the Year – Chris Cooke - in association with SA Group and MiPost
• John Derrick Young Player of the Year – Prem Sisodiya
• Academy Player of the Year – Morgan Bevans - in association with Discover Leeks
• New for 2020: Fans’ Favourite 2020 – Callum Taylor - in association with Dragon Signs
• New for 2020: Champagne Moment 2020 – Michael Hogan’s 600^th first-class wicket - in association with ND John Wine Merchants