Proud Lyth scoops top PCA Award Yorkshire batsman Adam Lyth tonight expressed his delight after fellow professionals voted him the 2014 PCA Player of the Year. ” It’s a very proud moment to be voted for by your peers who you’ve played against all year,” added Lyth, who collected the award in front of players, former players, officials and guests during the PCA Awards at Old Billingsgate in London. He said: ” It’s been a fantastic season for both Yorkshire and me and I’ll never forget the feeling on that Friday when we took the final wicket against Notts at Trent Bridge to clinch the title.” Yorkshire team-mate and opening partner Alex Lees was named PCA Young Player of the Year, which he described as ” very humbling” . He said: ” To join such a long list of illustrious players is very humbling. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed batting with Adam Lyth and we’ve thrived on each other’s successes. But we couldn’t have played how we did without the support of our bowling attack and the rest of the team.” The Awards, hosted by the PCA in association with the ECB, is recognised as the culmination of the domestic season and is a major fundraiser for the PCA Professional Cricketers’ Trust, part of the association’s ongoing commitment to supporting players and their dependents who might be in need of a helping hand to readjust to a world beyond cricket, as well as helping current and past players who may have fallen on hard times or are in need of specialist advice or assistance. Tonight’s PCA Awards is likely to have raised more than £ 100,000, which will go towards the vital work of the PCA Professional Cricketers’ Trust. Angus Porter, PCA Chief Executive, commented: ” Many congratulations to Adam and Alex on being voted by their fellow professionals as 2014’s Player and Young Player of the year. The list of past winners bears testament to the fact that the people best placed to judge outstanding performances are fellow professionals.” Left-handed opener Lyth was the stand-out batsman in Yorkshire’s first LV= County Championship success for 13 years, as the 27-year-old scored 1,489 runs at an average close to 70. He compiled six hundreds, including two double tons, as well as six half-centuries and finished as the leading first-class run-maker in the country. Lyth also performed admirably in the shorter formats of the game, including two half-centuries in the Royal London One-Day Cup, ending the season with almost 1,900 runs in all cricket. Previously selected for an England Lions tour of the West Indies in 2010, Lyth has been widely tipped for an England Test call-up and is travelling to Sri Lanka this winter for a training camp as part of the England Performance Programme. Alex Lees finished just short of 1,000 LV= County Championship runs in his first full season for the Tykes, averaging over 44 in hitting two hundreds and five half-centuries. The left-hander was also productive in white-ball cricket, scoring 105 against Northamptonshire in the Royal London One-Day Cup on his way to 368 runs at an average of 46 in the competition. In the NatWest T20 Blast, he scored 315 runs, finishing 2014 with an astonishing 1,654 runs in all forms of the game. He was awarded his county cap at the end of the season and will be joining Lyth at the England training camp in Sri Lanka. The full list of award winners is as follows: Reg Hayter Cup for the PCA Player of the Year Adam Lyth (Yorkshire) John Arlott Cup for the PCA Young Player of the Year Alex Lees (Yorkshire) ECB Special Award David Collier PCA Special Merit Award, sponsored by Lycamobile Micky Stewart NatWest T20 Blast Player of the Year Darren Stevens (Kent) Royal London One-Day Cup Player of the Year Paul Collingwood (Durham) Sky Sports Sixes Award Luke Wright (Sussex) England FTI MVP of the Summer James Anderson FTI Team of the Year Adam Lyth (Yorkshire) Daryl Mitchell (Worcestershire) – Captain Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire and England) Joe Root (Yorkshire and England) Gary Ballance (Yorkshire and England) Tom Smith (Lancashire) Darren Stevens (Kent) Jos Buttler (Lancashire and England) Jack Brooks (Yorkshire) Jeetan Patel (Warwickshire) James Anderson (Lancashire and England) Waitrose Women’s Player of the Summer Charlotte Edwards Investec Test Player of the Summer James Anderson {{ak_sharing}}
