Victorian Premier Cricket: Joint-winners crowned for Ryder and Paisley medals
It was a night of firsts for the Victorian Premier Cricket Awards, including the men’s and women’s tying together for the first time in history — with Ringwood featuring heavily.
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History was made on Friday night as Victorian Premier Cricket’s men’s and women’s medals tied for the top honour — with Ringwood featuring in both.
Usually hosted in front of a big turnout at the Crown Palladium, this year’s event was presented live on YouTube due to coronavirus but there were still plenty watching as all-rounders David King (Ringwood) and James Seymour (Essendon) take out the, the Ryder Medal, in what was the fourth tie for the men’s medal in league history.
In a first for the women’s competition, all-rounders Bhavi Devchand (Ringwood) and Kimberley Garth (Dandenong) shared the honours.
For King, the medal caps off a decade of top-five finishes and adds to an already illustrious career as arguably the club’s greatest-ever. The Rams legend polled in nine of his 16 matches, finishing with 571 runs including a knock of 106 against Kingston Hawthorn in round four and 25 wickets for the season.
Meanwhile, Essendon’s James Seymour finished the season with 666 runs and 22 wickets from 15 appearances, including five-wicket hauls in round eight and round 14, along with a topscore of 90 against Northcote in round 13.
In a Victorian Premier Cricket-first, each of the winners joined in a virtual presentation and spoke with MCs Pete Lazar and Megan Hustwaite.
“It’s a bit of a thrill,’’ Seymour said. “Obviously finding out on the stream just now is a bit of a different way of doing things instead of having the big function but it’s great to be recognised for the season that I had and congratulations must go to David, he’s been consistent for a very, very long time now.
“I think I’ve been around for a little bit, but even when I started David was churning out runs, so it’s great to be able to share the award with him as well.”
King also paid tribute to his co-winner.
“He’s been tearing Ringwood up the last two or three years we’ve played against him so obviously an absolutely deserving winner of the award as well,” he said.
Twice runner-up for the Ryder Medal, King conceded that while his batting numbers were down on previous years, improved bowling numbers made for more rounded performances.
“I think it’s probably the bowling which might’ve helped me a little bit this year, I think I was definitely a lot more consistent with the ball, I was able to contribute to the team in more matches,” he said.
“I was probably a bit underwhelming with the bat for what I would’ve liked … but definitely contributing with the ball more helped.”
First-year Ram and now Paisley medallist Bhavi Devchand, made the move from Western Australia where she’d previously played with the Scorchers and most recently, state cricket. Playing 13 matches this season for the Rams, Devchand finished with 539 runs and took 20 wickets, and also finished in second spot for most runs in home and away matches.
“I didn’t come across with any expectations or chasing any sort of personal accolades, for me just Ringwood were completely welcoming within five minutes of meeting the coach and some of the organisers there,” she said.
“I knew it was a place that I really wanted to go and find the enjoyment of cricket again which is something I’d lost in previous years, so to be able to go over and have a good season personally, but more importantly, see the team grow from very young and a tough start the season before to getting to that mid-table section was really rewarding.”
Devchand, who became Ringwood’s first-ever Paisley medallist, couldn’t speak higher of her fellow winner.
“Kim’s dominated the Melbourne league for a long time and to come in and win this award playing maybe less than 50 per cent of the games, I think she would have well and truly run away with it if she played anywhere near as many games as I did … it’s very humbling to be able to share it with her,” she said.
Having played all over the world including in the WBBL, Dandenong’s Kimberley Garth amassed 34 votes in just nine matches, after missing the opening half of the season due to playing with the Perth Scorchers.
The Irish import has forged an undeniable legacy across the past decade, after debuting at international level at just 14 in 2010.
The 2015 Cricket Ireland Women’s Player of the Year made 485 runs this season with a top knock of 132 not out, ranking third in most runs scored, as well as taking 19 wickets.
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“I’ve been working really hard on my batting and just trying to become a bit more of an all-rounder, so it was nice for that to be able to finally come together and put a few scores together in the back-end of the season and get a few wins as well,” Garth said.
“I’d just like to thank everyone at Dandy for the last three years and have absolutely loved all my seasons there.
“To Cricket Ireland who’ve supported me coming over here for the last three years, I definitely wouldn’t have been able to do it without having them back there, and my family as well.”