The Northern Diamonds celebrated the 2024 season at the team’s final annual awards ceremony at The Queens Hotel, Leeds, yesterday (Monday, 23 September).
The event, presented by the former BBC Sports presenter, Tanya Arnold, saw the senior team, academy, support team and staff across Yorkshire Cricket come together for the special evening.
On the night there were a number of special tributes to celebrate the final farewell for the Diamonds, and a number of blue caps were given out by Diamonds’ Captain Hollie Armitage and experienced leg-spinner, Katie Levick, who were both award winners on the night.
In terms of performances, this year the Diamonds reached the semi-final stage in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy (RHFT), winning nine of their 14 matches and finishing top of the table before the knock-out stages. In the Charlotte Edwards Cup, they finished sixth in the table with three wins from ten matches.
Pictured, Northern Diamonds’ Erin Burns celebrates taking a wicket
Northern Diamond Awards 2024
In the Academy awards left-arm spinner Freya Rook was a double winner on the night. Rook scooped the top bowling accolade after she finished the season as leading wicket taker with 41 Academy wickets at an incredible average of 11.54. Rook also won ‘Coaches Player of the Year’ with her performances resulting in a call up for the Diamonds 2nd XI and being selected for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) North v North event at the end of the season.
Amelia Oliver took home ‘Batter of the Year’, after she scored 328 Academy runs, with a highlight including 55 not out against Southern Vipers to help chase down 147 off the final ball in a T20. Oliver’s Academy performances saw her selected for both the ECB events, North v North and the School Games this season.
‘Players Player of the Year’ went to Trudy Johnson after she stepped up this year and showed just how good she is. Batting in the middle order Johnson was described as “being trusted in all aspects of the game,” with her batting in particular getting “stronger and stronger” as the season went on.
In the senior awards Armitage took home two top awards after receiving ‘Batter of the Year’ for an exceptional season. In the T20 competition she scored 323 runs across 10 games, averaging 36, while in 50 over cricket, she scored 435 runs at an average of 44, scoring two magnificent centuries. Her standout performances caught the eye of England selectors and this season Armitage made her senior IT20 debut for her country. Armitage also won the much sought after ‘Players’ Player of the Year’.
Pictured from left Dani Hazell alongside Hollie Armitage.
Levick, arguably the most consistent and experienced Diamonds bowler, once again dominated in the wickets column this season and she was rewarded with the ‘Bowler of the Year’ award on the night. Levick took 44 wickets across all formats and another standout season in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy resulted in 20 wickets taken at an average of 25 and economy rate of 4.2, and averaging just 14 balls per dismissal in T20.
Pictured, Dani Hazell presents Katie Levick with her award at the End of Season Dinner, at Queens Hotel, Leeds, England.
Meanwhile Emma Marlow won ‘Player of the Year,’ in a closely contested award, after hard work and dedication saw her make huge strides to her overall game. This season Marlow took the responsibility of opening the batting and thrived in the role, with performances on the field testament to this. This was evident in her final game for the Diamonds’ where she top-scored with a measured 63 off 102 balls in the RHFT semi-final against Sunrisers.
Emma Marlow won ‘Player of the Year,’ while on the night a number of new caps were handed out.
On the night, a special mention was also given to Phoebe Turner who had a remarkable season with bat and ball and a number of new caps were given out to players. These went to Sophia Turner ( Cap no. 33), Erin Burns (Cap no. 34) and Maddie Ward (Cap no. 35).
