Graeme Smith completed a year of huge achievement when he was named both SA Cricketer of the Year and Castle Test Cricketer of the Year at the glittering 2009 SA Cricket Awards Gala Dinner held at the Sandton Convention Centre on Tuesday evening.

The other major winners were AB de Villiers (Standard Bank One-Day International Cricketer of the Year and SuperSport Fans' Cricketer of the Year) and JP Duminy (Standard Bank International Pro20 Cricketer of the Year, SA Players' Player of the Year, and KFC Taste the Action Performance winner).

The awards were all hotly contested after a year of stunning achievement that surpassed all previous successes and nowhere was this better illustrated than in the category of SA Newcomer of the Year where Roelof van der Merwe managed to beat off the challenges of Wayne Parnell and Lonwabo Tsotsobe.

Also indicative of this competition was the fact that there were no fewer than five finalist nominees for the supreme award of SA Cricketer of the Year compared to the customary three.

The awards cover the period from the start of the tour of England up to the end of the home series against Australia and thus do no include the recent ICC World Twenty20.

Gerald Majola, CSA CEO, said "We are most grateful to sponsors Standard Bank, Castle and MTN for playing such an integral role in this prestigious awards function, and for their contribution to the prowess of the Proteas.

"These awards mark a golden era in the history of South African cricket.

"It is most fitting that the SA Cricketer of the Year award goes to Graeme Smith, who led the Proteas to their best season ever.

"The awards also take note of an impressive crop of young stars whose outstanding achievements on the international stage have ensured the continued success of the Proteas."

Smith had an outstanding year both as leader and player. He led the Proteas' Castle Test squad to away Test victories over both England and Australia — something that had never been achieved before — in the space of six months and, although injury ruled him out of much of the ODI programme, his guiding hand was very much in evidence as the Standard Bank squad dethroned Australia as the No. 1 ODI combination in the world.

As a player he was the leading runs scorer in Test cricket in the calendar year of 2008, becoming the first South African to score more than 1 600 runs in a 12-month period. He also played one of the memorable Test innings of all time when his unbeaten 154 at Edgbaston in the fourth innings clinched the series against England.

It was one of the top 10 fourth innings scores of all time in a successful runs chase. His century at Perth also laid the foundation for the Proteas' epic 414 runs chase in the first Test in Australia. It is significant that these two victories are two of South Africa's four highest successful runs chases of all time, the 414 being only three runs shy of the world record.

Although he failed to score a century in either of the key Australian ODI series, De Villiers had a wonderful year with the bat, averaging 63 in Australia (strike rate 87) and 60 at home (strike rate 95). He also confirmed his reputation as the best fielder in world cricket.

Duminy played two innings of innovative genius in the Pro20 matches in Australia. He finished the summer with a career average of 31 and a strike rate of 133 that was only beaten by Albie Morkel (139) and Van der Merwe (160).

Van der Merwe was a story of remarkable success. He made his debut in the Standard Bank International Pro20 at SuperSport Park and never looked back after a man-of-the-match debut that earned him a permanent place in the Standard Bank ODI squad as well.

Both he and Parnell will be strong contenders to be named ICC Young Cricketer of the Year at their awards ceremony in Johannesburg in September.

In the domestic professional category the three main awards went to Van der Merwe (MTN Domestic Championship Cricketer of the Year), Charl Langeveldt (Standard Bank Pro20 Cricketer of the Year) and Imraan Khan (SuperSport Series Cricketer of the Year).

In the Operations category there was recognition for Nashua Titans' Richard Pybus (Coach of the Year) and Marais Erasmus (Umpire of the Year).

2009 SA Cricket Awards Winners

PROFESSIONAL AWARDS:

OPERATIONS Coach of the Year: Richard Pybus
Groundsman of the Year: Louis Kruger
Scorers' Association of the Year: Gauteng
Umpire of the Year: Marais Erasmus

PROFESSIONAL AWARDS: DOMESTIC

MTN Domestic Championship Cricketer of the Year: Roelof van der Merwe
Standard Bank Pro20 Cricketer of the Year: Charl Langeveldt
SuperSport Series Cricketer of the Year: Imraan Khan
Domestic Newcomer of the Year: Dane Vilas
SACA Most Valuable Player: Claude Henderson
Domestic Players' Player of the Year: Claude Henderson

PROFESSIONAL AWARDS: SA TEAM

SA Newcomer of the Year: Roelof van der Merwe
Standard Bank One-Day International Cricketer of the Year: AB de Villiers
Standard Bank International Pro20 Cricketer of the Year: JP Duminy
Castle Test Cricketer of the Year: Graeme Smith
KFC Taste the Action Performance: JP Duminy
SA Players' Player of the Year: JP Duminy
SuperSport Fans' Cricketer of the Year: AB de Villiers
SA Cricketer of the Year: Graeme Smith

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