Duckett wins PCA Player of the Year

Ben Duckett, the Northamptonshire opening batsman, has become the first player to land the two most prestigious honours at tonight's NatWest Professional Cricketers' Awards ceremony in London.

Duckett, 21, is expected to make his senior international debut in the forthcoming three-match ODI series against Bangladesh, and will fly out on Thursday having been named both the PCA Players' Player of the Year and the Young Player of the Year in the same season.

"It seems to have been good news each week. I keep saying every week: 'that has topped off my summer' and then something else happens," Duckett said.

"I can't keep the smile off my face. I wasn't expecting this. To be nominated for both awards was an honour in itself so to win them both is something very special.

"Most of the guys who have won the awards in the past have played for England or in international cricket so to follow them is a very great honour."

Duckett made 2,706 runs across all formats in 2016 and began the season by scoring a career-best 282 not out in Northamptonshire's Specsavers County Championship match against Sussex at Wantage Road, and followed up with another double-century against Kent at Beckenham earlier this month.

The left-hander also made a maiden List A double century, an England Lions record 220 not out against Sri Lanka A at Canterbury, one of three three-figure scores in one-day cricket, and helped Northants to win the NatWest T20 Blast for the second time in four years.

He was voted Northamptonshire's Players' Player of the Year last week and he collected the Cricket Writers' Club Young Cricketer of the Year Award at their annual lunch on Tuesday.

"It's a tough season but I think no matter what state your body is in, after being picked for England I would be more than happy to go and play for the next 12 months straight for my country. It's a new thing for me and I am absolutely buzzing to get out there," he said.

Tammy Beaumont was voted Waitrose Women's Player of the Summer by her fellow England players after a breakthrough season in which she followed up a maiden ODI half-century against Pakistan with successive centuries against the same opponents.

Her aggregate of 342 runs was a record for a three-match series and Beaumont followed up with 142 runs in the NatWest T20 Series. She also helped Kent complete a Royal London County Championship and NatWest T20 double and will fly to the West Indies with England on Friday to prepare for the forthcoming ODI series.

"It's been a bit of a breakthrough summer for me. I hadn't really cemented my place before so to have a season like that was unbelievable," Beaumont said.

Somerset and former England batsman Marcus Trescothick was presented with the PCA Special Merit Award by the Association's President, Andrew Flintoff, in recognition of his efforts to raise awareness of depression in sportsmen.

Chris Woakes won the Investec Test Player of the Summer after a breakthrough year in red-ball cricket, while Glamorgan's overseas star Colin Ingram joined Duckett in winning two awards - the NatWest T20 Blast Player of the Year and the Sky Sports Sixes award: he hit his first ball of the season for six and ended with 29 in total.

Northamptonshire's slow left-armer Graeme White was awarded the Royal London One-Day Cup Player of the Year after finishing on top of the MVP rankings, while former Durham batsman Michael Gough retained the Harold Goldblatt Award for the PCA Umpire of the Year.

"Huge congratulations to Ben who has made history this evening by being the first man to win the NatWest Players' Player and Young Player of the Year in the same season," said David Leatherdale, the PCA chief executive. "He has had a remarkable summer with Northants and fully deserves all the plaudits that go his way, and I'm sure he will go on to show his talent in the international arena starting in Bangladesh next month."

Reg Hayter Cup for the NatWest PCA Player of the Year Ben Duckett (Northamptonshire)
John Arlott Cup for the NatWest PCA Young Player of the Year Ben Duckett (Northamptonshire)
Waitrose Women's Player of the Summer Tammy Beaumont
ECB Special Award Mike Selvey
PCA Special Merit Award Marcus Trescothick
Investec Test Player of the Summer Chris Woakes
NatWest T20 Player of the Year Colin Ingram (Glamorgan)
Royal London One-Day Cup Player of the Year Graeme White (Northamptonshire)
England FTI MVP of the Summer Jeetan Patel (Warwickshire)
Greene King PCA England Masters MVP Mal Loye
Sky Sports Sixes League Winner Colin Ingram (Glamorgan)
Harold Goldblatt Award for the PCA Umpire of the Year Michael Gough
FTI Team of the Year Adam Lyth (Yorkshire), Keaton Jennings (Durham), Ben Duckett (Northamptonshire), Joe Root (capt) (Yorkshire & England), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire & England), Liam Dawson (Hampshire & England), Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire & England), Keith Barker (Warwickshire), Toby Roland-Jones (Middlesex), Jeetan Patel (Warwickshire)