Ben Way, Kim Bessell take home Gisborne District Cricket Association top honours
It wasn't the medal Ben Way wanted this week but the Romsey star says his third Sullivan Medal remains a proud moment, while Kim Bessell was named Women’s MVP.
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Ben Way capped a memorable Gisborne District season with his third Sullivan Medal on Wednesday night.
The Romsey captain collected 27 votes to finish ahead of Gisborne ace Riley Vernon (22) and Sunbury Kangaroos all-rounder Jason King (19).
The win is six years since his last in 2017-18, while he also claimed the medal in 2015-16.
Way smashed 915 runs at an astounding average of 91.50 in the home-and-away season and broke the 1000-run barrier in finals, finishing with 1051 at 87.58.
It wasn’t the medal he wanted after Romsey’s hopes of back-to-back McIntyre Cups was dashed by Gisborne on Sunday but Way remained proud of his achievement.
“It’s not something you play for but it’s good to be recognised and something I’m proud of,” Way said.
“It’s up there in terms of runs I scored in any one year, I had a pretty good run with the bat and it’s luck of the draw sometimes how votes fall.
“I did all right, I thought I had a decent year and kept putting scores on the board.
“We’re in it together as a team and we only lost one for the year, so we had a successful year.
“We didn’t get the job done in the last game, we played a good game but weren’t quite good enough and things didn’t quite fall our way.
“We move on quickly, you’re disappointed at the time, but you walk off the ground, we have a beer and a laugh and go ‘how can we get better’.”
Way also took home the competition batting award and was named captain of the Team of the Year.
Romsey teammate Jamie Taylor won the bowling award with 28 scalps at 13.18 and together with Matt Milne also earned a place in the Team of the Year.
Vernon led the competition for runs, scoring 1015 runs in the regular season and finishing with 1129 at 80.64 after finals.
Sunbury United’s Senura Perera was the season’s outstanding bowler, claiming 35 scalps and 40 for the year after a 5-55 in the semi-final.
Meanwhile, Kim Bessell claimed back-to-back Women’s League MVPs after another dominant campaign for Darley, leading the club to premiership glory.
The star all-rounder topped the league’s run-scoring charts with 254 at an average of 63.5 and finished second in wickets with 12 at 5.17.
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She finished with 394 runs at 49.25, including a match-winning 72 not out in the grand final win over Bacchus Marsh, and 17 wickets at 4.53.
Sarah Bamford (Bacchus Marsh), Brooke Jeffery (Lancefield) and Taylah Logie (Kilmore) all finished second, five votes behind, on 12 votes.
Elsewhere, McIntyre Cup premier Gisborne won the club championship with 119 points, ahead of Aintree (102) and Lancefield (101).
The Redbacks took home the Kookaburra “Spirit of Cricket” award.
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