Adam Lyth has been crowned 2014 PCA player of the year and his Yorkshire opening partner Alex Lees PCA young player of the year at the PCA Awards, which were held last night at Old Billingsgate is association with the ECB.
Other notable awards saw James Andersonnamed Investec Test player of the summer and Charlotte EdwardsWaitrose women’s player of the summer.
Left-handed Lyth was the standout batsman in Yorkshire’s first County Championship success for 13 years. The 27-year-old scored 1,489 runs at an average close to 70. He compiled six hundreds, including two double-tons, as well as six half-centuries and finished as the leading first-class run-maker in the country.
Lyth also performed admirably in the shorter formats of the game, including two half-centuries in the Royal London One-Day Cup, ending the season with almost 1,900 runs in all cricket. Previously selected for an England Lions tour of the West Indies in 2010, Lyth is travelling to Sri Lanka this winter for a training camp as part of the England Performance Programme.
“It’s a very proud moment to be voted for by your peers who you’ve played against all year,” he said.
“It’s been a fantastic season for both Yorkshire and me and I’ll never forget the feeling on that Friday when we took the final wicket against Notts at Trent Bridge to clinch the title.”
Lyth’s Yorkshire team-mate and opening partner Lees finished just short of 1,000 championship runs in his first full season for the Tykes, averaging more than 44 in hitting two hundreds and five half-centuries.
The left-hander was also productive in white-ball cricket, scoring 105 against Northants Steelbacks in the One-Day Cup on his way to 368 runs at an average of 46 in the competition. In the NatWest T20 Blast he scored 315 runs, finishing 2014 with an astonishing 1,654 runs in all forms of the game. He was awarded his county cap at the end of the season and will be joining Lyth at the England training camp in Sri Lanka.
Lees, who follows Joe Root and Ben Stokes in winning the young player award, said: “To join such a long list of illustrious players is very humbling.
“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed batting with Adam Lyth and we’ve thrived on each other’s successes. But we couldn’t have played how we did without the support of our bowling attack and the rest of the team.”
The first-wicket partners also took the top gongs at Tuesday’s Cricket Writers’ Club Awards where Lyth was named the William Hill CWC championship player of the year and Lees picked up the CWC young cricketer of the year award. Earlier in September Lees won LV= County Championship Breakthrough Player for 2014.
Speaking about Wednesday night’s awards, PCA chief executive Angus Porter said: “Many congratulations to Adam and Alex on being voted by their fellow professionals as 2014’s player and young player of the year.
“The list of past winners bears testament to the fact that the people best placed to judge outstanding performances are fellow professionals.”
We bumped into @StuartBroad8, @jimmy9, @crwoakes19 and more on the red carpet at the @PCA awards last night http://t.co/Tem3bRF1yp
— England Cricket (@ECB_cricket) October 2, 2014
The full list of award winners is as follows:
Reg Hayter Cup for the PCA player of the year
Adam Lyth (Yorkshire)
John Arlott Cup for the PCA young player of the year
Alex Lees (Yorkshire)
ECB special award
David Collier
PCA special merit award, sponsored by Lycamobile
Micky Stewart
NatWest T20 Blast player of the year
Darren Stevens (Kent Spitfires)
Royal London One-Day Cup player of the year
Paul Collingwood (Durham)
Sky Sports sixes award
Luke Wright (Sussex)
England FTI MVP of the summer
James Anderson
FTI team of the year
Adam Lyth (Yorkshire)
Daryl Mitchell (Worcestershire) - captain
Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire and England)
Joe Root (Yorkshire and England)
Gary Ballance (Yorkshire and England)
Tom Smith (Lancashire)
Darren Stevens (Kent)
Jos Buttler (Lancashire and England)
Jack Brooks (Yorkshire)
Jeetan Patel (Warwickshire)
James Anderson (Lancashire and England)
Waitrose women’s player of the summer
Charlotte Edwards
Investec Test player of the summer
James Anderson