Photo Credit: Adelaide Strikers
Adelaide Strikers vice-captain Megan Schutt has been named the Strikers’ WBBL|08 Most Valuable Player in their Championship winning season, while unsurprisingly, BBL|12 Player of the Tournament Matthew Short won the Strikers’ men’s MVP award for the second consecutive year.
Schutt took 23 wickets at to finish equal first in the BKT Golden Arm Award during WBBL|08, whilst another four wickets during the successful final series took her to a total of 27 wickets for the whole tournament.
After nine three-vote games, Schutt finished on 27 votes ahead of spinner Amanda-Jade Wellington (13) and batter Laura Wolvaardt (12).
A record-breaking performance against the Sydney Thunder at North Sydney Oval saw Schutt take League-best figures of 6-19 in November, the first WBBL player to take a six-wicket haul.
Adelaide’s vice-captain, Schutt’s efforts during the season helped lead the Strikers to their maiden WBBL title.
Short’s impressive BBL|12 season saw him become the first Adelaide Striker to earn the Player of the Tournament honour in the Big Bash League, along with the Strikers MVP.
Finishing with 14 three-vote games, Short was top of the MVP standings on 46 votes, with batter Chris Lynn and all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme rounding out the top three.
The tournament’s leading run-scorer with 458 runs, Short became just the third player in 12 seasons to hit 400 runs and take 10 wickets in a BBL season.
Short hit his maiden BBL century this season when he carried his bat in the biggest successful chase in BBL history of 230 runs at Adelaide Oval against the Hurricanes – bringing up both the win and his ton with a four.
Along with his powerful batting, Short took a career-high 11 wickets at an economy rate of 7.14 and took seven catches in the tournament, making him a worthy two-time winner of the Strikers MVP award.
Both Schutt and Short were recognised for their impressive seasons at SACA’s Dansie McCauley Medal night on Thursday.
Wolvaardt was also recognised on the night for being the WBBL teams leading run-scorer, with 403 runs, while Wes Agar was also called out for taking the most wickets (18) for the Strikers’ men’s side.
