By Catherine Goble
October 27 2003

Here is a report about the Surrey awards dinner. This report has been writen by Surrey fan Catherine Goble, who was present at the dinner. The Surrey CCC End of Season Awards Dinner was held in the Ken Barrington Centre on Thursday 25 September. It was an evening glittered with stars; from the strings of tiny white fairy lights adorning the blackened walls, to the smartly dressed Surrey cricketers enjoying the end of what was another successful season.

The delicious three course meal consisted of a smoked salmon, quails eggs and caviar starter (no wonder the management have decided that they need to cut costs next year!), a very palatable sirloin steak on a bed of mashed potato, carrots and parsnips, followed by an exceedingly sharp lemon tart with summer fruit coulis. The whole meal was a perfect accompaniment to a delightful evening in which to celebrate the achievements of individual performances and of the Surrey team.

Although the County Championship had eluded them this year, something for which Adam Hollioake was unable to hide his disappointment, Surrey were victors in both the inaugural, and highly popular, Twenty20 Cup and Division One of the National Cricket League. Certainly a season of which to be proud. And, as Richard Thompson (Chairman of Cricket) pointed out in his opening speech, if Surrey only won one trophy in the next 18 years, they will have earned themselves a place as the most successful county of all time, beating the likes of Yorkshire’s Geoff Boycott and Fred Trueman.

Charles Colvile, Master of Ceremonies for the evening, and not one to hold back on his praise of Surrey CCC, led the tributes to their season by presenting a special Sky recording of highlights of the 2003 cricketing year. And each time a Surrey player was featured on the screen a round of applause echoed around the 27 tables scattered about the hall. With that slightly sentimental seasonal round-up completed, Marcus Hook of the Surrey Supporters’ Club was called on to the stage to present the awards to the players, as voted for by their membership. It can’t have been too difficult a decision for them to make this year as each recipient was most deserving of their award.

The Sylvester Clarke Large Rum Moment (for an incident Sylvester himself would have appreciated) went to James Ormond for his four wickets in four balls in an over against Middlesex at Guildford. It was certainly a moment that I enjoyed, and I imagine that Ormond himself may have celebrated it with something more than a large rum.

As Colvile, in his inimitable style deduced, the Most Improved Player of 2003 “must be getting very good indeed because he got this award last year” – Jon Batty. And if his Championship century against Lancashire at the end of the season is anything to go by, he is indeed getting to be very good. It was a masterful mix of control and aggression, good sense and style, that enabled him to make 154* and carry his bat (becoming the first Surrey player to ever achieve that feat at Old Trafford).

Rikki Clarke was also awarded the Young Player of the Year for the second season in succession. In a squad which features, in the main, a group of elder statesmen of the game, it is perhaps inevitable that Clarke should have received this award. But no one could begrudge him it. Consistent performances at county level led to him making his ODI debut (at the same ground he made his Surrey first-class debut last year, coincidentally) and he is a useful member of the vibrant Surrey team. This was again emphasised by him being awarded the RAC sponsored Young Cricketer of the Year, and the Peter Frost Fielder of the Year awards. Anyone who saw his electric fielding displays in an NCL match against Gloucestershire, which resulted in two very important run-outs, can’t argue with that. He was certainly on fire that night. His family may need to invest in a larger mantelpiece if he continues his good form against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka this winter.

Speaking of which, Charles Colvile won my award for the most ridiculous comment of the evening when he asked Rikki, “How did it feel to be called up to the Test Squad this winter? Did it feel good?” Hardly likely to say ‘No’, is he Charles?! And to compound things further, he asked whether Rikki had ever been to Bangladesh or Sri Lanka before. You’ve clearly forgotten Rikki’s first International squad call-up for the Champions Trophy, in Sri Lanka, this time last year then, Mr Colvile? His presence did ensure that there was a montage of Sky video clips of each player to accompany them to the stage to collect their awards though, which was a nice, if not somewhat pretentious, addition to proceedings.

However, Azhar Mahmood was evidently not impressed with Charles’ questioning technique either. On collecting his award for being Surrey’s Twenty20 Man, he gave one word answers and obviously didn’t want to engage in conversation. So, Colvile moved on to introduce the awards made by RAC, the club’s main sponsors.

Once again, the Batsman of the Year award came as no surprise. Mark Ramprakash topped the averages for Surrey in all forms of the game and was the highest placed England qualified batsman in the First-Class Averages list (at 4th). He was described by Colvile (in the only sensible comment he made all evening) as “The best English batsman in the county game and someone who, I’m sure many of you will agree, really should still be on England duty.” He’s not wrong. Mark’s talents had not gone unrecognised by his colleagues or followers either, who had almost unanimously voted him as both the Surrey Player of the Year and the Supporters’ Club Player of the Year – awards richly deserved and consolation for just missing out on being awarded the PCA Player of the Year four days previously, after being one of four nominees for the accolade.

The RAC Bowler of the Year was no more surprisingly awarded to James Ormond who had had a fantastic season with the ball in all competitions, taking a total of 68 wickets, and was being touted for an England recall. That recall eventually went to Martin Bicknell, after 14 years service in county cricket and he, in Ormond’s absence, went up to collect the award on his behalf. He also took the opportunity to thank his personal sponsors and present them with his signed and framed England shirt from the Oval Test match. It made a refreshing change to see a player making an award to his sponsor, rather than the other way round, and his speech and generosity was warmly received.

One of the most coveted awards on this Surrey occasion is the Graham Kersey Team Man of the Year. The trophy isn’t necessarily awarded to someone who has been particularly successful on the field, but is awarded to the person who has performed best for the team both on and off of it. This year it went to Ben Scott who had an excellent season in the 2nd XI, which resulted in him making his Championship debut, against Essex, in which he made a useful 58*. Adam Hollioake had the pleasure of making the award and praised Ben for his exemplary attitude both on the pitch and in the dressing room.

To conclude the awards section of the evening, a special presentation was made to Alec Stewart for his years of dedicated service to the club, following his decision to retire at the end of the 2003 season.

And then it was time for the social part of the night. The DJ started to play, the wine continued to flow freely and the dance floor began to fill, led not unpredictably by Alex Tudor, whose injury problems this season did not seem to be hampering his dance moves! The celebrations finally drew to a close just after 1am, and I am sure I am not alone in heralding the evening as a complete success and testament to the club’s dominance in all areas. Surrey really do know how to throw a party!