Medal favourite Plenty Valley champion Sean Ayres hatches the Val Holten

PLENTY Valley champion Sean Ayres was the clear winner in Friday’s Val Holten Medal count.

EVERYONE was expecting Sean Ayres to win last Friday’s Val Holten Medal count as Sub-District’s player of the season.

And he did, comfortably. Having amassed 825 runs and 38 wickets in 2013-14, the award could have gone to no one else.

The Plenty Valley champion polled 26 votes, six more than the runner-up, Werribee’s Heath Pritchard, and eight more than the third placegetter, Malvern’s Mike Jones.

Ayres, 41, and with 17 Subbies seasons behind him, said the award was among the highlights of his long career and it was satisfying to receive it from a cricketer so synonymous with the competition.

“Val Holten is an absolute legend of our game and here he is giving something like this to me,’’ he said. “It’s really special. I admire him so much. We all know his record.’’

He said he’d always been in “awe’’ of winners of the Hatch Medal (the award was rebadged the Val Holten Medal two months ago) and aspired to join them. But he never thought it would happen.

“I’ve had seasons where I made 500 runs and took 40 wickets and never really got close. So I was wondering if I belonged in that sort of company, whether I could actually ever do enough to get there. This year it all clicked.’’

Ayres dedicated his win to his father, John, who died last year. He took great pleasure in watching his son play cricket and was a regular at Sub-District grounds.

“He pretty much came to every game I played in, from under-14s,’’ he said. “He was a great supporter of mine. I just wanted to make him proud. I wish he was around to see it. Not to be unfortunately.’’

Holten said Ayres had been a leading Sub-District player for a long time and was a worthy winner.

Ayres (north), Malvern’s Nick Gill (south), Pritchard (west) and Noble Park paceman Rizan Mawzoon (east) were named the media’s players of the season.

All four were also selected in the team of the year, which, in batting order, was Ayres, Sean Flynn (Bayswater, captain), Aaron Maynard (Altona), Lorenzo Ingram (Plenty Valley), Micke Jones (Malvern), Rick Damiano (Caulfield), Gill, Leigh Alford (Malvern), James Wild (Ormond), Pritchard, Mawzoon and Adam Warren (Caulfield).

Bayswater’s Tim Sugumar was judged young player of the year, named after prolific Melton runmaker Anthony Gale.

The count was held at the RACV Club in the city and former Australian swingman Damien Fleming was guest speaker, raising gusts of laughter as he talked about his time in Test cricket.

Other awards:

James Earle Medal (2nd XI Player of the Year): Stuart Wilson (Melton) 18 votes, Daniel Shaw (Plenty Valley) 14, Mitchell Ferrie (Williamstown) 12.

William Tucknott Medal (3rd XI Player of the Year): Joseph O’Brien (Ivanhoe) 15 votes,

Harshad Dixit (Plenty Valley) 14, David Buchanan (Werribee).

Ted Plant Medal (4th XI Player of the Year): Cameron Milnes (Brighton) 15 votes, Ian Aitken (Kew) 13, Steve Viccars (Mt Waverley) 12.