WHITE FERNS skipper Melie Kerr and BLACKCAPS paceman Jacob Duffy have starred on a memorable night at the ANZ New Zealand Cricket Awards, Kerr securing an unprecedented fourth straight Debbie Hockley Medal and Duffy claiming the Sir Richard Hadlee Medal.<\/p>\n
Kerr\u2019s fourth consecutive Debbie Hockley Medal reflects her place among the all-time greats of women\u2019s cricket, the Wellington Blaze captain contributed to her side\u2019s third straight Super Smash title while delivering consistently across all formats for the WHITE FERNS.<\/p>\n
She topped the WHITE FERNS\u2019 T20I run-scoring with 354 runs at an average of 70, earned the ANZ Women\u2019s T20I Player of the Year award, and ranked second in wickets taken in women\u2019s T20Is over the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cQuite simply, we\u2019re talking about a dominant force in every facet of the game, and one of the most influential players in women\u2019s cricket history,\u201d said Debbie Hockley as she presented the medal.<\/p>\n
Duffy was rewarded for a season of relentless, high-quality bowling across all formats, the fast bowler claiming 25 Test wickets at an outstanding average of 16, including three five-wicket hauls in just four Tests.<\/p>\n
The Southlander delivered over 150 overs in the three-test series against the West Indies, more than any other New Zealand bowler, highlighted by a marathon 43-over stint against the West Indies in the first Test at Christchurch.<\/p>\n
Duffy also picked up the ANZ Test Player of the Year award and the Winsor Cup for men\u2019s first-class bowling, becoming one of the few players to claim three major awards in a single evening.<\/p>\n
\u201cJacob\u2019s durability, consistency, and ability to take wickets in pressure moments made him the most complete bowling performer of the season,\u201d said Sir Richard Hadlee.<\/p>\n
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Other Award Winners<\/p>\n
Tim Seifert claimed the ANZ Men\u2019s T20I Player of the Year after an outstanding campaign with the bat.<\/p>\n
His 739 T20I runs (300 more than the next-best BLACKCAP) came at a strike rate of 154 and average of 41, playing a key role in New Zealand\u2019s run to the ICC Men\u2019s T20 World Cup Final in India.<\/p>\n
Daryl Mitchell was a clear winner of the ANZ Men\u2019s ODI Player of the Year, piling up 692 runs at a remarkable average of 138 across eight innings, including three centuries and three fifties.<\/p>\n
His form was central to the BLACKCAPS\u2019 historic first ODI series win on Indian soil and saw him rise to ICC No. 1 ranked men\u2019s ODI batter.<\/p>\n
Brooke Halliday took out the ANZ Women\u2019s ODI Player of the Year, leading the WHITE FERNS\u2019 ODI run-scoring with 391 runs at an average of 71.<\/p>\n
Her composure under pressure was a highlight of New Zealand\u2019s ICC Women\u2019s Cricket World Cup campaign.<\/p>\n
Henry Nicholls swept the domestic batting honours, winning the Redpath Cup for men\u2019s first-class batting (793 runs at 99, with four centuries and a high score of 226) and the Men\u2019s Domestic Player of the Year award after also topping the Ford Trophy run charts.<\/p>\n
Jess Kerr was the standout on the women\u2019s domestic scene, claiming the Women\u2019s Domestic Player of the Year, Super Smash Women\u2019s Player of the Year, and Phyl Blackler Cup for women\u2019s domestic bowling.<\/p>\n
The Wellington Blaze captain featured in the top ten run-scorers and wicket-takers in both competitions and led her side to both domestic finals.<\/p>\n
Katene Clarke was named Super Smash Men\u2019s Player of the Year after topping the tournament run charts with 431 runs at a blistering strike rate of 172, helping the Northern Brave to the title and earning his maiden BLACKCAPS call-up and debut.<\/p>\n
Kate Anderson won the Ruth Martin Cup for women\u2019s domestic batting with 776 runs across the season, including 560 at an average of 70 in the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield.<\/p>\n
Chris Gaffaney was named G.J. Gardner Homes Umpire of the Year after another outstanding season on the ICC Elite Panel, including appointments to the Ashes and the ICC Men\u2019s T20 World Cup semi-final between India and England.<\/p>\n
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Bert Sutcliffe Medal<\/p>\n
Former New Zealand player, board director, board chair, and NZC chief executive Martin Snedden was recognised with the Bert Sutcliffe Medal for outstanding services to cricket, considered the most prestigious of the non-playing categories at the annual awards.<\/p>\n
Snedden has essentially been playing, supporting and advocating for the game in one form or another for the past 46 years, since he was first selected in the national team in 1980.<\/p>\n
NZC Chair Diana Puketapu-Lyndon said of Snedden: \u201cit\u2019s widely agreed the time, energy, and passion Martin\u2019s provided, as well as the scope of his influence, places him in a very small club of those who have made the greatest single contribution to cricket in New Zealand.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Hall of Fame and Special Honours<\/p>\n
Jeremy Coney and Haidee Tiffen were formally inducted into the NZC Hall of Fame, the first additions since the inaugural \u201cFirst Eleven\u201d class last summer. Coney captained New Zealand through its first golden era in the 1980s, while Tiffen was one of the world\u2019s premier all-rounders between 1999 and 2009.<\/p>\n
The evening also celebrated two historic international milestones. Suzie Bates became the first woman to play 350 internationals during the ICC Women\u2019s Cricket World Cup in Indore in October and has since reached 360 matches, with more than 10,000 runs and 144 wickets to her name. In the same match, Sophie Devine played her 300th international, only the seventh woman to achieve the feat.<\/p>\n
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Farewells<\/p>\n
Tributes were paid to five retiring players: Doug Bracewell, Lauren Down, Hayley Jensen, Mikaela Franks (n\u00e9e Greig) and Felicity Robertson (n\u00e9e Leydon-Davis).<\/p>\n
Bracewell retires as one of the few modern New Zealand all-rounders to complete the elite first-class double of 4,000 runs and 400 wickets. He will be remembered for his match-winning six for 40 in Hobart in 2011, the decisive contribution in New Zealand\u2019s only Test win in Australia since 1985.<\/p>\n
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Full List of 2026 ANZ New Zealand Cricket Awards Winners<\/p>\n
Debbie Hockley Medal: Melie Kerr<\/p>\n
Sir Richard Hadlee Medal: Jacob Duffy<\/p>\n
Bert Sutcliffe Medal for Outstanding Services to Cricket: Martin Snedden<\/p>\n
ANZ Test Player of the Year: Jacob Duffy<\/p>\n
ANZ Men\u2019s ODI Player of the Year: Daryl Mitchell<\/p>\n
ANZ Women\u2019s ODI Player of the Year: Brooke Halliday<\/p>\n
ANZ Men\u2019s T20I Player of the Year: Tim Seifert<\/p>\n
ANZ Women\u2019s T20I Player of the Year: Melie Kerr<\/p>\n
Men\u2019s Domestic Player of the Year: Henry Nicholls<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s Domestic Player of the Year: Jess Kerr<\/p>\n
Super Smash Men\u2019s Player of the Year: Katene Clarke<\/p>\n
Super Smash Women\u2019s Player of the Year: Jess Kerr<\/p>\n
Redpath Cup (men\u2019s first-class batting): Henry Nicholls<\/p>\n
Ruth Martin Cup (women\u2019s domestic batting): Kate Anderson<\/p>\n
Winsor Cup (men\u2019s first-class bowling): Jacob Duffy<\/p>\n
Phyl Blackler Cup (women\u2019s domestic bowling): Jess Kerr<\/p>\n
G.J. Gardner Homes Umpire of the Year: Chris Gaffaney<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WHITE FERNS skipper Melie Kerr and BLACKCAPS paceman Jacob Duffy have starred on a memorable night at the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":565404,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":["post-565403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cricket","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=565403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/565404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=565403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=565403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=565403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}