Mahika Gaur and James Rew collect Young Player awards at end-of-season event
ESPNcricinfo staff02-Oct-2023Tammy Beaumont and Harry Brook have been voted winners of the cinch Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) Player of the Year awards, with Mahika Gaur and James Rew collecting the Young Player awards.Beaumont, winner of the women’s award in 2016, collected the accolade for a second time after a stellar summer in which she broke the record for the highest individual international score for England Women with her double-hundred in the Ashes Test at Trent Bridge, as well as finishing as the second-leading run-scorer in the women’s Hundred.Brook, who won Men’s Young Player of the Year in 2021 and 2022, added the senior award to his collection on the back of a prolific run of form in the Test team, as well as helping England to win the 2022 T20 World Cup.”I’m really pleased to win it,” Beaumont said. “I was shocked just to be nominated with lots of players having really good individual summers in Nat [Sciver-Brunt], Georgia [Adams] and Bryony [Smith]. I’m very grateful that my peers have voted for me and I think that’s what makes the PCA Awards so special because it’s voted for by your team-mates and opposition.”I tend not to look at my statistics, yes the double-hundred was nice but we didn’t win that game, so I should have got more in the second innings but I’m very proud of that achievement.”Brook, who forced his way into England Men’s ODI World Cup squad after hitting a 41-ball century in the Hundred, said: “I wasn’t expecting to win this award if I’m honest, the last 12 months have been a dream come true and this is a huge honour. To contribute to wins for my country has been fantastic and I want to continue doing that. I’ve had the experience of playing in different conditions with and against some of the best players in the world so to help win games of cricket for England has made it even sweeter.Harry Brook was named PCA men’s player of the year•Getty Images for PCA
“It’s a great feeling having players vote for you and I want to say thank you to them. Looking at the high profile names on this trophy and to be alongside them is incredible. To have done what I have in the last 12 months in international cricket is a dream and hopefully it continues.”Left-arm seamer Gaur became the third 17-year-old in succession to win the PCA Women’s Young Player award, after Alice Capsey and Freya Kemp. Gaur, who had previously been capped by UAE, made her England T20I and ODI debuts against Sri Lanka last month.”It means a lot more to me than a normal award because with the cinch PCA Awards, it’s the other players voting for you,” she said. “I’ve really enjoyed moving over from Dubai and I’ve learnt lots this season, I didn’t think at the start of the year that I’d be playing for England so I’m really grateful.”Rew, meanwhile, enjoyed a breakthrough summer with Somerset. The 19-year-old wicketkeeper scored 1086 runs in Division One of the County Championship, including five hundreds, to become the first teenager to win the PCA Men’s Young Player award since James Taylor in 2009.”I was just trying to keep it simple and score runs, I was overjoyed just to be nominated for an award that has some amazing names on it, it’s really special for me,” Rew said.”I want to keep performing well for Somerset and try and put in a title challenge and hopefully I can break into the Somerset white-ball side and try to get into the England Test team in the future.”The PCA awards, held at the Troxy in east London, also saw Liam Dawson and Georgia Adams acknowledged for their domestic performances, Gloucestershire’s Tom Smith receive the Outstanding Contribution Award, and Special Merit prizes handed out to retiring England greats Katherine Sciver-Brunt and Stuart Broad.PCA Chief Executive, Rob Lynch, added: “This year was a momentous one for the game. To be able to celebrate all our winners at the most prestigious awards ceremony in cricket was the perfect end to a summer to remember. Congratulations to the four main award winners at this year’s cinch PCA Awards, all of them performed at an inspiring level and are deserving of their prizes.”Well done to all award winners from this season, your phenomenal performances have helped make this an unforgettable summer.”I would like to thank cinch for making the PCA Awards possible and for supporting the professional game.”
