Photo Credit: Cricket Australia
Cricket Australia (CA) and the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) are proud to announce the winners of the peer-voted Domestic and Young Cricketer of the Year Awards ahead of tonight’s 2024 Australian Cricket Awards.
The domestic awards are voted for by the players.
To be eligible for the Young Cricketer of the Year awards, players must be 24 years or less prior to the commencement of the award period and have not won the award previously.
Prior to the award period, male players must have played 10 or less first-class matches and 25 or less combined List A and BBL matches and female players 25 or less matches.
Betty Wilson Young Cricketer of the Year – Emma de Broughe (South Australia/Melbourne Renegades)
Twenty-three-year-old Emma de Broughe is following in Australia’s long tradition of outstanding dual-sport athletes with her cricket blooming after playing for the Australian U21 hockey team.
An opening batter for South Australia and the Melbourne Renegades, de Broughe has thrived in the past year after adding more attacking shots to her repertoire.
De Broughe had an outstanding WNCL making 642 runs at 42.80 including her maiden century (112) and was a handy contributor for the Renegades with 89 runs at 22.25 including a highest score of 42.
Upon accepting the award, Emma de Broughe said:
“A lot of really highly respected players vote for this, so I’m honored. There’s been lots of hitting balls thrown by coaches and teammates, and I’ve got something from every coach I’ve worked with and players I’ve played with and against.
“I’ve played with a few of the previous winners – Sophie Molineux and Georgia Wareham who have been outstanding players themselves, and it’s great to see where they are now. I’d like to thank Cricket Australia and the ACA for this award, and everyone who’s been part of my career so far.”
Previous winners:
2017: Sophie Molineux (Victoria/Melbourne Renegades)
2018: Georgia Redmayne (Tasmania/Hobart Hurricanes)
2019: Georgia Wareham (Victoria/Melbourne Renegades)
2020: Tayla Vlaeminck (Victoria/Melbourne Renegades)
2021: Hannah Darlington (NSW/Sydney Thunder)
2022: Darcie Brown (South Australia/Adelaide Strikers)
2023: Courtney Sippel (Queensland/Brisbane Heat)
Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year – Fergus O’Neill (Victoria/Melbourne Renegades)
Twenty-two-year-old Victorian fast bowler Fergus O’Neill made a bright start to his first class career when he took four wickets on debut including the prized scalps of Alex Carey and Travis Head (twice).
Over the past year he enhanced his reputation as one of Australia’s most promising young quicks with a series of strong Marsh Sheffield Shield performances, including a 10-wicket haul (five wickets in each innings) against South Australia at Adelaide Oval and was also a handy contributor with the bat.
In 10 Sheffield Shield matches O’Neill took 38 wickets at 18.74 and scored 322 runs at 29.27 with a top score of 70*. In six Marsh One-Day Cup matches he took 12 wickets at 15.5.
Upon accepting the award, Fergus O’Neill said:
“To be recognised by my peers in this way is an unbelievable honour, particularly when you look at some of the players that have won this award before.
“I’d like to thank the ACA and Cricket Australia for the award, as well as my teammates and coaches at Victoria, and to everyone who’s supported me on and off the field to enable me to play at this level.”
Previous winners:
2000: Brett Lee
2001: Nathan Bracken
2002: Shane Watson
2003: Nathan Hauritz
2004: Shaun Tait
2005: Mark Cosgrove
2006: Dan Cullen
2007: Ben Hilfenhaus
2008: Luke Pomersbach
2009: Phillip Hughes
2010: John Hastings
2011: Trent Copeland
2012: David Warner
2013: Joe Burns
2014: Jordan Silk
2015: Sean Abbott
2016: Alex Ross
2017: Hilton Cartwright
2018: Jhye Richardson
2019: Will Pucovski
2020: Wes Agar
2021: Will Sutherland
2022: Tim Ward
2023: Lance Morris
Women’s Domestic Player of the Year – joint winners Sophie Day (Victoria/Melbourne Stars) and Elyse Villani (Tasmania/Hobart Hurricanes)
Sophie Day
The 25-year-old all-rounder had a stand-out year with her slow left-arm orthodox bowling causing problems for batters throughout the WNCL and Weber WBBL seasons.
Day’s best figures of 5-25 for the Melbourne Stars against the Sydney Sixers including the prized scalps of Ellyse Perry, Ash Gardner and Suzie Bates was the first time a Stars bowler had taken five wickets in a WBBL match.
In 10 WNCL matches Day scored 112 runs at 18.67 and took 14 wickets at 30.21 and in 14 WBBL matches she took 27 wickets at 12.48.
Upon accepting the award, Sophie Day said:
“It’s something a little bit unexpected. To be voted by my peers means a lot to me. I’m always wanting to get better and be a part of the team, but to also be recognised by those who I play against is incredibly rewarding.
“I’d like to thank the ACA and Cricket Australia for having awards that recognise our domestic players, who are so important to the success of Australian cricket. To share this award with Junior (Villani) is something special– she gave me my caps for the Stars and Victoria and she’s someone I’ve always looked up to.”
Elyse Villani
Villani’s incredible consistency was rewarded with a third Domestic Player of the Year award after another outstanding season with Tasmania and the Hobart Hurricanes.
Villani led Tasmania to a second WNCL title amassing 627 runs at 69.67 with a top score of 112 and scored a decisive century (110) in the dramatic finals victory over South Australia.
In her 13 WBBL games for the Hurricanes Villani scored 324 runs at 36 with a highest score of 58.
Upon accepting the award, Elyse Villani said:
“To be voted by your peers is truly special and I feel very fortunate to play the game I love alongside amazing people and athletes from across Australia.
“A special congratulations to Soph on also winning the award, a very deserving winner and someone I have loved watching develop over the last few years. A huge thank you to Cricket Australia, the ACA, and the state organisations for being so committed to making our domestic structure the best in the world and providing so many wonderful opportunities for the playing cohort.
“Finally a big thank you to everyone who has supported me both on and off the field over the last 16 years and continues to do so today. Cricket is a roller coaster and having unwavering support throughout my career has allowed me to continue to love this wonderful game and for that, I will be forever grateful.”
Previous winners:
2017: Meg Lanning (Victoria/Melbourne Stars)
2018: Beth Mooney (Queensland/Brisbane Heat)
2019: Heather Graham (Western Australia/Perth Scorchers)
2020: Molly Strano (Victoria/Melbourne Renegades)
2021: Elyse Villani (Victoria/Melbourne Stars)
2022: Elyse Villani (Tasmania/Hobart Hurricanes)
2023: Annabel Sutherland (Victoria/Melbourne Stars)
Men’s Domestic Player of the Year – Cameron Bancroft (Western Australia/Perth Scorchers)
The prolific West Australian opener had another ultra-consistent season across all formats leading the way as each of the Marsh Sheffield Shield, Marsh One-Day Cup and KFC BBL titles headed West.
In 11 Sheffield Shield matches Bancroft scored 974 runs at 60.68 with a highest score of 174* and in seven Marsh Cup appearances amassed 299 runs at 49.83 with a top score of 90.
For the Perth Scorchers Bancroft made 359 runs at 51 with a top score of 95* before his transfer to the Sydney Thunder.
Upon accepting the award, Cameron Bancroft said:
“I’m really proud to receive this prestigious award. To be recognised by other players around the country is very special and I feel honoured.
“There have been a lot of great players win this award and in years gone by, they were the players I’ve looked up to and aspired to. The award is a recognition of a lot of hard work, and a nice checkpoint to keep working towards what I want to achieve in cricket – and I’d like to thank the ACA and Cricket Australia for recognising the importance of domestic cricket with these awards.”
Previous winners:
2000: Darren Lehmann (South Australia)
2001: Darren Lehmann (South Australia)
2002: Darren Lehmann (South Australia)
2003: Martin Love (Queensland)
2004: Simon Katich (New South Wales)
2005: Andy Bichel (Queensland)
2006: Phil Jaques (New South Wales)
2007: Chris Rogers (Western Australia)
2008: Ashley Noffke (Queensland)
2009: Michael Klinger (South Australia)
2010: Michael Klinger (South Australia)
2011: Usman Khawaja (New South Wales)
2012: Rob Quiney (Victoria)
2013: Phillip Hughes (New South Wales)
2014: Cameron White (Victoria)
2015: Jason Behrendorff (Western Australia)
2016: Adam Voges (Western Australia)
2017: Cameron White (Victoria)
2018: George Bailey (Tasmania)
2019: Matthew Wade (Tasmania)
2020: Shaun Marsh (Western Australia)
2021: Shaun Marsh (Western Australia)
2022: Travis Head (South Australia)
2023: Michael Neser (Queensland)
