The Betway SA20 League has introduced the following awards to reward the excellent performances from the players in the inaugural season.
There have been some striking standout performances in the opening weeks, with more expected as the League enters into the exciting business end.
Faf du Plessis (369) of the Joburg Super Kings and Heinrich Klaasen (363) of Durban’s Super Giants top the run scorers list following their centuries while Pretoria Capitals’ Anrich Nortje leads the wickets chart with 15 scalps.
There will be six awards in total, ranging from the Player of the Season, Batter of the Season, Bowler of the Season, 2023 Rising Star, the Spirit of Cricket team award which will be announced after the completion of the final at the Wanderers on Saturday, 11 February. The League will also reward the Groundsman of the Season.
Player of the Season
For this award Betway SA20 is making use of the South Africa Cricketers’ Association’s (Saca) unique MVP scoring system to determine the winner. The scoring system takes into account a range of factors, including batting, bowling, fielding, captaincy, player of the match awards and even being on the winning team, in calculating the eventual Player of the Season winner.
Batter of the season
This award will be unlike any other regular batting prize where the leading run-scorer is customarily the winner. Instead, the winner of this award will be determined by filtering the Saca MVP scoring system for batting performances including runs scored, per centage of team’s runs scored, strike rate and milestones achieved.
Bowler of the season
Similar to the batting award, the bowling award will be determined by filtering the Saca MVP scoring system for bowling performances including wickets taken - top order wickets count more, runs conceded, milestones and economy rate.
2023 Rising Star
Only players under 25-years-old on 10 January 2023 will be in contention for this award. The winner will be the highest ranked player on the Saca MVP scoring system who meets the aforesaid age-criteria (i.e. is younger than 25 years old).
Spirit of Cricket
The Betway SA20 match officials (match referees and umpires) have scored each team on a game-to-game basis taking into account the spirit of the game, respect to opposition, respect to umpires and respect for laws of the game. The highest ranked team(s) will be the winners of this award.
Groundsman of the Season
This award will be won by the groundsman who receives the highest score for the preparation of his ground. Each ground is scored on a game-to-game basis by the Betway SA20 match referee on the quality of the pitch and outfield conditions and its suitability to the T20 format.