Amla, de Villiers dominate CSA awards

Hashim Amla has become the third South African to be named as Cricket South Africa (CSA) Cricketer of the Year on two separate occasions, after previously winning the award in 2010. Amla joins Makhaya Ntini (2005 and 2006) and Jacques Kallis (2004 and 2011) as the only dual winners of the award.

That was not all for Amla, as he picked up four awards on the night, including Sunfoil Test Cricketer of the Year, SA Fan's Player of the Year and the KFC 'So Good' Award for his unbeaten 311 against England last year.

The awards night, organised by CSA in Sandton on Monday, sought to hail international and domestic players who put in remarkable performances over the 2012-13 season. The period under consideration ended in June, so South Africa's poor Champions Trophy campaign and series in Sri Lanka were excluded.

Haroon Lorgat, the CSA chief executive, gave full praise to the team and Amla for their performances over the year. "This has been another amazing year for our top players," Lorgat said. "It is not easy to keep finding special words to speak about Hashim. He has set South Africa record Test scores against both England and Australia, and he is the first player to score a Test treble century for our country. As if that is not remarkable enough, he is also the No. 1 rated player on the ICC rankings for Test and ODI batsmen.

"The greatest quality he brings to the game is his attitude and humility, which aptly displays the true spirit of cricket. This transcends all his international statistics and we are indeed very lucky to have such a wonderful role model for our children to emulate."

AB de Villiers, the South Africa ODI captain, was also among the accolades as he was named Momentum ODI Cricketer of the Year and the SA Players' Player of the Year. Dale Steyn was the KFC T20 International Cricketer of the Year, while Kyle Abbott, who picked up 7 for 29 on Test debut against Pakistan in February, was the SA Newcomer of the Year. Marizanne Kapp, who played for South Africa during the 2013 Women's World Cup in India, rounded off the evening with the award for Momentum women's Cricketer of the Year.

On the domestic front, Cape Cobras' Johann Louw was selected as Sunfoil Series Cricketer of the Season. Geoffrey Toyana, the Lions coach, who this season became the first black African coach in the domestic structure, was handed the distinction of Coach of the Year. Richard Levi, who also plays for Cobras, was awarded Momentum One-Day Cup Cricketer of the Year, while Lions' Quinton de Kock picked up Ram Slammer of the Season.

Kyle Abbott was hailed as the Domestic Player's Player of the Year, while Lions were handed the CSA Fair Play Award. Roelof van der Merwe, playing for Titans, was awarded as SACA Most Valuable Player, while Warriors' Ayabulela Gqamane was given the distinction of being Domestic Newcomer of the Year.