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James named cinch PCA Young Player of the Year
James Rew was one of the players honoured at the 2023 cinch PCA Awards at the Troxy last night.
There were also awards for Tammy Beaumont, Harry Brook and Mahika Gaur.
England’s Brook completes a first of its kind PCA Awards hat-trick, having won three player-voted for awards in successive seasons, following his cinch PCA Men’s Young Player of the Year award success in 2021 and 2022. Current professionals continued their trend of voting for one of England’s top performers across the men’s and women’s game. The Yorkshireman has joined a prestigious list of winners that has included Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes in recent years.
England opening batter Beaumont rounded off a fantastic run-scoring summer by winning her second cinch PCA Women’s Player of the Year award, after first receiving the trophy in 2016.
19-year-old wicketkeeper, Rew, scored over 1,000 First-Class runs in the LV= Insurance County Championship this season, becoming the first teenager to win the cinch PCA Men’s Young Player of the Year since James Taylor in 2009.
Rew’s fantastic breakthrough season saw him accumulate an incredible five centuries in red-ball cricket. He also produced a career best 221 against Hampshire as he led the vote from Gloucestershire’s Ollie Price and Surrey and England’s Jamie Smith to the cinch PCA Men’s Young Player of the Year.
After accepting the award, James said: “It’s unbelievable really because at the start of the season I didn’t expect to be in the running. I was just trying to keep it simple and score runs. I was overjoyed just to be nominated for an award that has some amazing names on it. It’s really special for me.
“It’s hard to get my head around winning it. Things seemed to work for me this year by playing on some nice wickets and we put in some good team performances that helped me out too.
“I want to keep performing well for Somerset and try and put in a title challenge. Hopefully, I can break into the Somerset white-ball side and try to get into the England Test team in the future.”
Meanwhile, the cinch PCA Women’s Young Player of the Year award went to a 17-year-old for the third year in succession. Gaur started the season representing the UAE before changing allegiances to her country of birth and made her England debut this summer.
Held in East London, the cinch PCA Awards were attended by 500 guests, including current and former players, partners and stakeholders, to celebrate the 54th edition of the most prestigious awards ceremony in English and Welsh cricket.
The evening also saw Georgia Adams and Liam Dawson presented their PCA Domestic Overall MVP trophies while the Rado Recognition award went to the England Women’s squad for their record-breaking summer.
The PCA Outstanding Contribution Award was also revealed, with Gloucestershire spinner Tom Smith acknowledged for his inspirational work in securing critical health cover for all professional cricketers in England and Wales.
The ECB presented their Special Merit award to two recently retired England legends, Katherine Sciver-Brunt and Stuart Broad.
The cinch PCA Awards also recognised Anna Harris and Michael Gough as Umpires of the Year, as voted for by the players.
Funds raised throughout the evening went directly to the Professional Cricketers’ Trust, the players’ charity that provides support for PCA members and their immediate families when they need it most.
PCA Chief Executive, Rob Lynch, said: “This year was a momentous one for the game. To be able to celebrate all our winners at the most prestigious awards ceremony in cricket was the perfect end to a summer to remember. Congratulations to the four main award winners at this year’s cinch PCA Awards, all of them performed at an inspiring level and are deserving of their prizes.
“Well done to all award winners from this season, your phenomenal performances have helped make this an unforgettable summer.
“I would like to thank cinch for making the PCA Awards possible and for supporting the professional game.”
