ADCA 2023-24: Bulls star Nathan Crudeli wins major A-grade gongs ahead of gun Tigers import Joe Stanley

Brilliant Mt Barker all-rounder Nathan Crudeli was recognised for another stellar season, winning two of the three major A-grade awards at 2023-24 Albany and Districts Cricket Association presentation night on Saturday. Many touted either Crudeli or Englishman Joe Stanley to clinch the awards after the pair each had outstanding seasons with both bat and ball. However, Crudeli was named captains’ and umpires’ cricketer of the year after a sensational campaign with the ladder-topping Bulls as a key contributor to his side’s automatic grand final qualification. The WA Country XI all-rounder piled on 489 runs at an average of 81.5, which also gained him the batting average award and snared 24 wickets at 13. Crudeli secured the captains’ player of the year award with 30 votes, ahead of Railways’ Stanley (28 votes) in second and Bulls teammate Jeremy Wood (21) in third. “It was a real honour, you obviously don’t play for individual accolades but it was really nice to be recognised,“ Crudeli said The 30-year-old will take an extended break from playing in the ADCA as he takes his talents overseas to the Netherlands during the European summer before returning to play WA Premier Cricket in Perth next season. The Country XI All-Australian is set to play for Quick Den Haag in the Netherlands’ second division for the 2024 season. Stanley, one of six overseas players in the ADCA this season, claimed the Mike Storm Memorial All-Rounder of the Year Award after a fantastic season with the Tigers to finish with 1004 points. The youngster was a hot favourite heading into the presentation after leading the competition in runs and wickets with 519 at 37.07 and 25 at 16.88 respectively. The talented England international also claimed the prestigious Syd Harper Award for best under-21 cricketer in the competition. Fellow Englishman Cam Jones (Collingwood Park) was tied with Stanley as the leading wicket-taker for the competition, while Bulls’ Paul Osborne took out the bowling average trophy with 10.24 from 17 wickets. Whalers’ captain Coen Marwick awarded Tuck Waldron medallist and gun Royals’ batter Lincoln Joy as ADCA’s best representative cricketer after a super WA Country Championships campaign and country week tournament. In the B-grade, Denmark run machine Matthew Burton claimed a host of awards including all three major B-grade trophies. Burton’s seemingly unbelievable season netted him the captains’ and umpires’ player of the year award with 30 votes each while also claiming the all-rounder award with 977 points. The gun batter plundered 862 runs at 86.2 this year which included three unbeaten centuries. Magpies teammate Oliver Pluckhahn won the bowling aggregate with a staggering 30 wickets while Bulls’ Seth Davis won the bowling average with 17 wickets at 9.31. Park’s Graeme Weinert won the C-grade captains’ player of the year with 30 votes, while Nathan Benson (Magpies) took out the all-rounder of the year award with 672 points and the bowling aggregate with 33 wickets. Lions’ Wayne Harrington won the batting aggregate with 457 runs and Damien Schwarzbach had the best average with 222 runs at 74, while Manypeaks veteran Keith Kinnear’s 17 wickets at 9.18 was the best bowling average in the league.