Sturt all-rounder Brooke Harris rewarded for standout season by winning Karen Rolton Medal
Sturt’s Brooke Harris rarely drinks alcohol. But after being named the Karen Rolton Medallist amid the coronavirus pandemic, a sneaky trip to the bottle-o was a perfect way to celebrate.
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Brooke Harris is not usually much of a drinker.
But after the Sturt allrounder claimed a second Karen Rolton Medal there was only one thing for her to do.
“My brother Daniel just said ‘let’s go to a bottle-o’,” Harris, 22, said.
“We don’t really drink, especially my parents, they don’t drink ever.
“But I walked into the lounge room after we got back from the bottle-o and mum was having a brandy – it was so weird.
“We had a drink to try and celebrate and then I had a FaceTime session with the Sturt girls to all try and celebrate together.”
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Harris took home the Karen Rolton Medal – as SACA’s women’s grade cricket best and fairest – on Wednesday night.
But celebrations looked a little different to when she claimed the competition’s highest individual award after a career-best season with West Torrens in 2017/18.
As the annual presentation dinner was called off and the count staged online amid the coronavirus pandemic, Harris kept an eye on the votes at home with her family.
Her incredible season included taking 34 wickets – the most ever in the first grade women’s competition – while also finishing sixth on the run-scoring leaderboard with 232.
Harris believed switching to Sturt in the off-season helped reignite her passion for the game after losing her contract with the Scorpions for the 2019/20 Women’s National Cricket League.
“I was sitting on the couch with my family, refreshed Twitter and it came up with the round 14 leaderboard and I was 17 votes ahead with one round to go,” Harris said.
“I just sort of started laughing and thought ‘I can’t really be caught’.
“I didn’t really know what to say or what to feel.
“It’s crazy, not just to win it, but to win it for a second time.
“I don’t think it will (sink in) until all this is over.
“All the Sturt girls have planned a big celebration once this (the coronavirus pandemic) is over, so I don’t think it will sink in until then.
“I loved every single minute of this season and even from the first day of training at Sturt it’s been an unreal change and a much-needed change.”