Simon Swigelaar scooped the Khaya Majola Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2011 SA Cricket Awards Breakfast in association with KFC at the Johannesburg Country Club on Tuesday. Swigelaar has dedicated nearly 50 years of his life to the game and walked away with the highly acclaimed award named after the late Khaya Majola, one of the pioneers of rural cricket development in the country.

The Awards Breakfast celebrates the achievements of the budding talent in the country as CSA drives its vision of making cricket a truly national sport of winners.

Other big winners were SA Under-19 captain, Keaton Jennings, who was named as the SA U19 Player of the Year. Jennings excelled with both bat and ball, and showed strong leadership qualities as he led the SA U19 squad to a series whitewash against Zimbabwe U19.

The Coca-Cola Khaya Majola U19 player of the Tournament was awarded to Gauteng batsman, Quinton de Kock. De Kock had a dream tournament scoring 346 runs at an average of 69.20. He was also named as the best batsman at the week.

CSA CEO, Gerald Majola said: “CSA’s heartiest congratulations go to these award winners as they represent the future of South African cricket.

“CSA places a high value on these contributions and this is why this award ceremony opens the batting for us on Cricket South Africa Day.

“The standard set by these award winners will ensure the future success of South African cricket on the world stage.”

Dane Paterson and Matthew Hulett won the premier CSA First- Class awards as the three-day and one-day players in the respective competitions. Western Province bowler, Paterson, was the runaway leading wicket-taker in the CSA First-Class Three-Day competition, with 54 wickets at an average of 13.40. KwaZulu-Natal batsman, Hulett was impressive in the shorter format of the competition, scoring two centuries including a high score of 119 off 74 balls.

Keelan Dorasamy from KwaZulu-Natal won the CSA Intellectually Impaired Cricketer of the Year award for the second consecutive year, and is a shining example of achieving success against all odds.

Sunette Loubser won the top women’s award as she walked away with the CSA Women’s Cricketer of the Year title, well-deserved recognition after a hard-working and successful season for the national women’s team. Akhona Nyiki was the first recipient of the CSA Girls U19 player of the Tournament, an award that was brought in to reward aspirant girls cricketers at the annual week.

The Eastern Province and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) claimed the double when two of their players won major awards. Off-spinner Simon Harmer was named as the Student Cricketer of the Year and fellow team mate, David White was named as the CSA Club Championships player of the Tournament. 

Christopher Atherstone claimed the CSA Rural Cricketer of the Year award due to his spearhead performances representing the SA Rural XI as well as the Limpopo Impalas.

Sarah Swartz walked away with the biggest prize in KFC Mini Cricket when she was named as the KFC Mini-Cricket Coach of the Year. She has served the development programme for more than 20 years and coached Proteas batsman Loots Bosman as well as Chevrolet Knights bowler, Victor Mpitsang.

The Awards Breakfast is followed by the 2011 CSA Golf invitational where key stakeholders of cricket are given the opportunity to play a round of golf with the Proteas. Tonight, the cricket family gathers at Gallagher Estate in Midrand, to pay tribute to the stars of professional cricket at the 2011 SA Cricket Awards Gala Dinner. 

Fans will be able to follow all of the live action across CSA’s online social platforms. CSA’s Facebook and twitter pages, which boast a combined number of  nearly 150 000 members will be a hive of activity with first hand news, pictures and comments from those attending all three events, as and when they happen.

2011 SA Cricket Awards Breakfast Winners

CSA Under-15 Player of the Tournament                                           Jurie Snyman

Standard Bank Schools Pro20 Player of the Tournament                  Diego Rosier

CSA Under-17 Player of the Tournament                                           Rigardt Vester

CSA Girls Under-19 Player of the Tournament                                  Akhona Nyiki

Coca-Cola Khaya Majola Under-19 Player of the Tournament         Quinton de Kock

CSA Under-19 Cricketer of the Year                                                   Keaton Jennings

CSA Student Cricketer of the Year                                                      Simon Harmer

CSA Club Championships Player of the Tournament                         David White

CSA Rural Cricketer of the Year                                                         Christopher Atherstone

CSA Blind Cricketer of the Year                                                          Sonwabile Bidla

CSA Deaf Cricketer of the Year                                                          William Hendricks

CSA Intellectually Impaired Cricketer of the Year                             Keelan Dorasamy

CSA Provincial Three Day Cricketer of the Year                                Dane Patterson

CSA Provincial One Day Cricketer of the Year                                   Matthew Hulett

CSA Women’s Cricketer of the Year                                                   Sunette Loubser

KFC Mini-Cricket Coach of the Year                                                   Sarah Swartz

Khaya Majola Lifetime Achievement Award                                      Simon Petrus Swigelaar