Nominees Revealed for NatWest PCA Awards – 20/09/11

The Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA), in association with NatWest and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), has revealed the nominees for the NatWest PCA Awards, which will take place at the Roundhouse, Camden this Thursday (September 22).

The Awards are universally supported by the players, with the main awards voted on by the players themselves. The major award categories are the NatWest PCA Player of the Year and NatWest PCA Young Player of the Year, while the NatWest ODI Player of the Year will be voted for by cricket fans on Facebook.

Nominees for NatWest PCA Player of the Year:

• Dale Benkenstein (Durham) - the prolific batting all-rounder has made 1,915 runs in all cricket this summer, helping to guide Durham to a third place LV= County Championship finish and a CB40 semi-final.
• David Masters (Essex) - took an incredible haul of 93 wickets in the LV= County Championship including figures of 8-10 versus Leicestershire.
• Alan Richardson (Worcestershire) - his 73 wickets in the LV= County Championship were a key factor in Worcestershire's successful fight to retain their Division One status.
• Marcus Trescothick (Somerset) - skippered his side to the CB40 and Friends Life t20 Finals and made 2,518 runs in all cricket, despite missing a number of matches towards the end of the season through injury.

Nominees for NatWest PCA Young Player of the Year:

• Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire) - this wicketkeeper-batsman made over 1,000 runs in the LV= County Championship and hit 64 boundaries in one-day cricket, finishing his summer with a sensational England ODI debut.
• Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire) - an 1,800-run season, which included more than 1,000 runs in the LV= County Championship, earned this opening batsman an England Twenty20 debut in the summer.
• Tom Maynard (Surrey) - has prospered after his move from Glamorgan, scoring freely in all forms of the game to tally 1,895 runs in all cricket.
• Chris Woakes (Warwickshire) - the allrounder has built on his one-day debut in January for England versus Australia, by scoring 786 runs and taking 76 wickets in total this

Over the years, the staging of the NatWest PCA Awards has raised significant funds for the PCA Benevolent Fund. The Fund is part of the PCA's commitment to helping current and former players and their dependants in times of hardship, upheaval or to readjust to the world beyond the game.

The host of the proceedings is former England captain Nasser Hussain, and the awards to be presented are:

• ECB Special Award
• PCA Special Merit Award, sponsored by Brit Insurance
• Sky Sports Sixes League Winner
• NatWest ODI Player of the Year
• England FTI MVP of the Summer
• LV= County Championship Player of the Decade
• Friends Life t20 Player of the Year
• Clydesdale Bank 40 Player of the Year
• FTI Team of the Year
• John Arlott Cup for the NatWest PCA Young Player of the Year
• Reg Hayter Cup for the NatWest PCA Player of the Year.

Notes to editors

Winner's announcement

The details of winners for each award will be announced to the media under strict embargo at 5pm on the evening of the awards. 

Photography

The official Awards photographers are Getty Images, who can provide images of the players arriving and winners collecting their awards.

For further information and to request accreditation, please contact Simon Cleaves at BowlesAssociates on 0115 982 1210 or email simon@bowlesassociates.com. Please note accreditation for this event closes at 5pm on Tuesday September 20.

The NatWest PCA Awards is the biggest fundraising event of the year for the PCA Benevolent Fund - registered charity number 1120088. The PCA Benevolent Fund raises vital monies to help current and former players and their dependants in times of hardship, upheaval or to readjust to the world beyond the game.

The Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA) is the collective and representative voice of first class cricketers in England and Wales. Its role is to safeguard the rights of present, past and future first class cricketers.

ECB, the England and Wales Cricket Board, is the governing body of cricket in England and Wales.

For more than 30 years, NatWest has been an innovative and passionate presence at the heart of international, domestic and grassroots cricket in England. NatWest has been title sponsor of the NatWest PCA Awards since 2003.

As well as continuing to provide support for the biggest names in today's game, NatWest is helping to nurture the leading players of tomorrow with a variety of schemes at the grassroots level through the development of the NatWest Cricket Club. New this year, the NatWest Cricket Club has been created to raise awareness of the challenges facing cricket at grassroots level and aims to generate £20m of additional support for local clubs through a combination of volunteering, fundraising and contributions from local businesses and communities. The initiative will galvanise the support of fans across the country in order to address these issues locally and reward participation.

For more information please visit www.natwest.com/cricket

The Roundhouse is an iconic, Grade II* listed building which operates as a charity. It is home to an exciting programme of international contemporary performing arts and a state-of-the-art creative centre exclusively for 11-25-year-olds, giving them a chance to realise their creativity. Since reopening in 2006, over 15,000 young people have developed their creative talents in the Roundhouse Studios. www.roundhouse.org.uk