Colin Ingram has been named the 2017 Glamorgan CCC Player of the Year and One-Day Player of the Year following an outstanding season in county cricket.
The leading run scorer for the Welsh county, Ingram scored 1,698 runs in all cricket during 2017, including seven hundreds. The big-hitting left hander was pivotal to Glamorgan’s white-ball success in a season which saw the Welsh County reach Finals Day for the first time since 2004.
His exploits saw him smash two centuries in the T20 Blast, scoring Glamorgan’s fastest ever T20 century on the way as they chased down 220 - the second-highest successful run chase ever in domestic British T20 cricket – against Essex Eagles at Chelmsford.
Ingram was also named man of the match in Glamorgan’s comprehensive quarter-final win against Leicestershire Foxes. The 32-year old thumped 70 from just 43 balls to guide Glamorgan to Edgbaston.
His amazing performances in limited overs cricket began in the Royal London One-Day Cup as he topped the run scoring in the competition and the PCA MVP leaderboard hitting 564 runs, including another three hundreds one of which was a breath-taking 142 against Essex Eagles in a thrilling one-run win at Cardiff. He is also in contention for two more gongs at the NatWest PCA Awards next week, including being shortlisted in the overall Player of the Year category.
However, Ingram’s feats weren’t just limited to white-ball cricket. Facing a star-studded Nottinghamshire attack, Ingram produced a memorable match-saving innings in partnership with Chris Cooke, where he batted seven minutes short of 10 hours and faced 427 deliveries during a personal county best 155 not out.
Chris Cooke was announced as the County Championship Player of the Year. In his first full season as the first-choice wicketkeeper, following injury in 2016, Cooke took 39 catches and averaged almost 45 runs with the bat.
He played a number of vital innings and was involved in key partnerships throughout the season. His record 168 run seventh wicket partnership with Jacques Rudolph set up victory for Glamorgan against Worcestershire after they had been reduced to 56/6, while he scored 113 not out during his mammoth 226 run partnership with Colin Ingram against Nottinghamshire.
With 35 County Championship wickets in his first professional season with Glamorgan, Lukas Carey was rewarded with the Young Player of the Year Award. Carey first burst on the scenes last year against Northants and continued his fine form in 2017. The young seamer opened the bowling for much of the season and troubled batsmen up and down the country with his movement of the new ball. He also made debuts in both the Royal London One-Day Cup and T20 Blast and memorably removed Jason Roy first ball during Glamorgan’s victory over Surrey at the Oval.
Kieran Bull collected the 2nd XI Player of the Year Award. Bull finished as the side’s leading wicket-taker with 32 wickets, which included 5/61 against Worcestershire and will be hoping to push his way into the first team next year. Prem Sisodiya and Roman Walker were announced as the Academy Player of the Year and Most Promising Academy Player of the Year respectively, and the South Wales Premier League also presented their awards on a glittering night at The SSE SWALEC.
A special recognition award was presented to Jacques Rudolph following his retirement after four years with Glamorgan. Rudolph enjoyed a very successful white-ball season for Glamorgan, where he captained the side to Finals Day in this year’s T20 Blast, but his influence has been perhaps most beneficial within the dressing room helping to shape the club’s culture for years to come.
Completing a memorable evening, Robert Croft was inducted into the Glamorgan Hall of Fame. Glamorgan’s current Head Coach is the only Glamorgan player to do the double of 10,000 runs and 1,000 wickets in first-class cricket and with 411 victims, is also the county’s leading List A wicket-taker.
He enjoyed a great deal of success on the field, playing a key part in the Championship winning year in 1997 and led Glamorgan to the one-day title in 2004. Croft’s qualities received England recognition, making more appearances (71) in all formats for England than any other Glamorgan player.
The St Helen’s Balconiers will host their annual Awards event on 2nd October in Swansea, when further player awards will be presented to recognise stand-out milestone achievements and pay special tribute to Glamorgan legend Don Shepherd.