Accolade honour for Steve Elworthy (10 October 1998)

10 October 1998

Accolade honour for Steve Elworthy

Trevor Chesterfield

JOHANNESBURG - Some sponsors are in the habit of grinning for the camera, hogging the limelight when handing out their awards and then all too happy to make a swift exit.

Then there are those in the blue chip bracket who believe in follow up action and honouring their commitment with the sort of quiet statement which has become synonymous with their brand name.

Now South Africa and Northerns all-rounder Steve Elworthy was given an exclusive lunch with specially selected guests by Standard Bank, who hold the rights to all limited-overs matches in South Africa (domestic and international). Known to the players and some habituates of the game as Shots, Elworthy received a unique award for his impressive performances in the slog events the first two seasons of the bank's sponsorship.

The top provincial player in the Standard Bank League and Standard Bank Cup, Elworthy was given a gift of R5000 (about $US1000) in unit trusts as part of the bank's recognition of his outstanding efforts. His won six accolades in 1996/97 and eight in the 1997/98 season.

Although recognised more as a bowler than a batsman, nine of his 14 accolade medals (made of sterling silver) have been awarded for batting rather than bowling for which finally earned him recognition from the national selectors.

John Holloway, who runs the bank's highly smooth limited-overs operation and gets around to watch as many of the games as possible, even last season after a hip-replacement operation related how, after the record batting partnership of 240 between Mike Rindel and Roy Pienaar, Elworthy walked in and smashed the winning runs off Hansie Cronje at Bloemfontein where Northerns Titans beat the Free State Eagles by eight wickets.

"To me it personified the efforts which have made him the highest winner of accolades in Standard Bank matches," he said.

The accolades are in four categories: bowling, fielding, wicketkeeping and batting. Of the 104 dished out the previous season Elworthy's contribution helped Northerns to collect 14, one more than Western Province; Gauteng won 12, Natal 10 Border nine, Free State and Boland eight each, Griqualand West seven, Easterns six, Eastern Province five and North West managed two.

But as Holloway suggested, Elworthy's achievement of winning most accolades in two successive seasons needed "special recognition".

Source :: Trevor Chesterfield, Pretoria News