PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad CMC – Stroke-maker Ramnaresh Sarwan walked away with top honours when he copped the Player-of-the-Year award at the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) Awards Ceremony here Tuesday night. The award was one of two for the diminutive right-hander who also picked up the Test Cricketer-of-the-Year award at the annual event held at the Hyatt Regency.
Sarwan had a prolific series against touring England last year, scoring 626 runs in the five-Test series, including a career-best 291 at Kensington Oval in the fourth Test.
He then chalked up his 15th Test century on the two-Test tour of England, though he gathered a meagre 136 runs from four innings as West Indies were swept clean by the hosts, after winning a nail-biting five-Test series 1-0 at home two months before.
The West Indies limited overs Player-of-the-Year award was won by veteran left-hander Shivnarine Chanderpaul while all-rounder Dwayne Bravo took the West Indies Twenty20 Player-of-the-Year award for performances at the World T20 Championship in England last year.
Bravo lashed 154 runs during that tournament, including two half-centuries, and also finished with 10 wickets as West Indies reached the semi-finals before bowing out.
His younger sibling Darren was also successful on the night, after being voted the WIPA T20 Club Championship Player-of-the-Year while Trinidad and Tobago’s national captain Daren Ganga walked away with the First Class limited overs top award and his side captured the First Class Team-of-the-Year honour.
Rookie speedster Kemar Roach, who has made a great impression with his express pace at the international level, was also a winner on the night as he clinched the Emerging Player-of-the-Year award and Jamaican leg-spinner Akeem Dewar, a star in the regional TCL Under-19 Championships, the Top Youth Cricketer while Stefanie Taylor was the women’s Cricketer-of-the-Year.
The full list of awardees is as follows:
Under-19 Team-of-the-Year – Jamaica
Under-19 Player-of-the-Year – Akeem Dewar
First Class Team-of-the-Year – Trinidad and Tobago
First Class Limited Overs Player-of-the-Year – Daren Ganga
First Class Player-of-the-Year – Narsingh Deonarine
Emerging Player-of-the-Year – Kemar Roach
ODI Player-of-the-Year – Shivnarine Chanderpaul
Test Player-of-the-Year – Ramnaresh Sarwan
WIPA T20 Champions League Player-of-the-Year – Darren Bravo
WI T20 Player-of-the-Year – Dwayne Bravo
WI women Player-of-the-Year – Stefanie Taylor
WI Player-of-the-Year – Ramnaresh Sarwan