Flintoff Wins PCA Player Of The Year Award — 23/09/2004

Flintoff Wins PCA Player Of The Year Award – 23/09/2004 The Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) Players Awards Dinner 2004, in association with NatWest and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) took place on Tuesday 21st September, 2004 at the Royal Albert Hall, London. Star-studded This prestigious event, which included the coveted PCA Player of the Year and PCA Young Player of the Year, voted for by the players themselves, was attended by stars from both the cricketing and sporting world, and a number of other celebrities and PCA business partners. PCA Player Of The Year The Winner of the Reg Hayter Cup, and the PCA Player of the Year 2004, sponsored by NatWest was Andrew Flintoff of Lancashire and England. 2004 has seen Flintoff dominate proceedings for England. He has struck 603 runs in seven Test matches this summer at an average of 60, including a career best 167 versus the West Indies at Edgbaston. He took 24 wickets during that time, at an average of 25. In one-day international cricket (pre ICC Champions Trophy), Flintoff smashed 383 runs, including two centuries with an incredible average of 128! PCA Young Player Of The Year 2004 The Winner of the John Arlott Cup, and PCA Young Player of the Year 2004, sponsored by CostCutter, was Ian Bell of Warwickshire and England. Bell has scored over 1700 runs for Warwickshire this season, helping to guide his team to the County Championship title, averaging nearly 80 in the process. Bell also marked his Test debut at The Oval with a hard-fought 70 against West Indies and a superb catch Nasser Hussain Nasser Hussain was presented with an ECB Special Merit Award 2004 to kick off the awards ceremony. Hussain, a top order batsman, made his England debut in 1989/90 in the West Indies and has gone on to represent his country 96 times at Test level, 45 of which as captain. With 5764 runs to his name at an average of 37, Hussain has had a massive impact on the England side both as a player and as captain. Nasser received an ECB Special Merit Award from Mike Soper of the ECB. Awards Other award winners included; Slazenger Sheer Instinct Award 2004 Paul Collingwood’s superb catch at backward point for England against the West Indies won him the ‘Catch of The NatWest Series 2004′ award, and also the Slazenger Sheer Instict Award 2004. Collingwood leapt like a salmon to catch the ball one-handed at full stretch to dismiss Ramnaresh Sarwan at Headingley. The award was presented by Essex captain Ronnie Irani. MCC Spirit of Cricket Award 2004 Glamorgan PCA In The Community Award 2004 The PCA in the Community Award 2004, sponsored by totesport was won by former Sussex and Durham wicket keeper Martin Speight. PCA ‘In Safe Hands’ Award 2004 The PCA ‘In Safe Hands’ Award 2004, sponsored by Brit Insurance was won by retiring wicket keepers Jack Russell (Gloucestershire) and Steve Rhodes (Worcestershire). PCA Umpire Of The Year 2004 The PCA Umpire Of The Year 2004, sponsored by Accenture was won for the fourth year running by Neil Mallender. The PCA Dream Team Awards The PCA One-day and Four-day Dream Team 2004, sponsored by LBM were captained by Glamorgan’s Robert Croft and Surrey’s Mark Ramprakash respectively. The full teams follow below. One-day XI Matthew Elliot (Glamorgan) Vikram Solanki (Worcs) Nick Knight (capt.) (Warwicks) Matthew Maynard (Glamorgan) Darren Maddy (Leics) Andrew Flintoff (Lancs) Paul Weekes (Middlesex) Matt Prior (Sussex) Alex Wharf (Glamorgan) Johannes Louw (Northants) Simon Cooke (Middlesex) Four-day XI Robert Key (Kent) Craig Spearman (Gloucs) Ian Bell (Warwicks) Mark Ramprakash (capt.) (Surrey) Usman Afzaal (Northants) Dougie Brown (Warwicks) Chris Read (Notts) Mushtaq Ahmed (Sussex) Johannes Louw (Northants) Mark Davies (Durham) Jon Lewis (Gloucs) For More Information Please contact: Andrew Baud, BANC, +44 (0) 7775 715775 Lee Atkins, PCA, +44 (0) 20 7544 8670