Hinds is J'ca Cricketer of Year

West Indies opener Wavell Hinds, who unveiled the steely side of his personality to quickly fight his way back after being dropped by the regional selectors earlier this year, was named Tuesday night as Jamaica's Cricketer of the Year for 2003.

Dropped by the West Indies selectors after two Tests of the Australia series in April, the 27 year-old Hinds bounced back to dominate the West Indies batting in the one-dayers, scoring 352 runs in five matches for a leading average of 117.33.

He has subsequently been a major force with the bat in two two-Test series against Sri Lanka at home and most recently, Zimbabwe in that country.

Nineteen year-old fastbowler, Jerome Taylor, who broke into the West Indies team against Sri Lanka after a dream debut first-class season for Jamaica, was named Young Cricketer of the Year. Taylor took 36 wickets at 21.52 each in his first year of first class cricket.

With both Hinds and Taylor away with the West Indies team in southern Africa, their trophies and prizes were collected by a relative and a friend, respectively, during Tuesday night's annual awards function at the Hilton Kingston Hotel.

Hinds' brother, Hugh, collected the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA)/KFC Cricketer of the Year award and a cash prize of $50,000, while batsman, Shawn Findlay, accepted the prize on behalf of Taylor, his long-time team-mate at St Elizabeth Technical High School and St Elizabeth (parish).

Other top awards on the night included the Derief Taylor Trophy for Coach of the Year to Robert Lewis of Wilco-Headley Cup and all-island high school champions, Holmwood Technical, and Manchester (parish).

The Laurie Williams Trophy, which honours the memory of the Jamaica all-rounder who died in a car crash a year ago, went to Williams' Kensington club-mate, David Bernard, for 'Most Disciplined Jamaica Senior Team Player'.

Johnny Gayle, a former Test umpire, former president of the Jamaica Cricket Umpires Association (JCUA) and former secretary of the West Indies Umpires Association, received the President's Award from JCA president, Jackie Hendriks, for his services to cricket administration.

The annual Capital and Credit scholarships went to young batsman, Damion Henry, who is attending the University of the West Indies (UWI), and under-19 wrist-spinner, Gavin Wallace, a student at the University of Technology (UTech).

The Jamaica Under-15 team, which won the regional under-15 championship earlier this year, got special recognition. So too did the participants at this year's Shell Academy session in Grenada. They are Tamar Lambert, who took the academy's prize of top cricketer; Dwight Washington, rated most improved fastbowler at the academy; Maurice Kepple (most disiplined player); batsman Danza Hyatt; fast bowler Andrew Richardson; batsman Shawn Findlay and Taylor.

For Hinds, the award is a big personal triumph. Since making his Test debut for the West Indies in 2000, his international career has been up and down without the run-scoring consistency that he insisted, earlier this year, he was now focused on.

Since returning to the Test team against Sri Lanka, he has averaged over 50 in his four Tests so far. He scored 161 runs in three innings against Sri Lanka for an average of 53.66 and against Zimbabwe in four innings, he managed 212 runs for an average of 53.

Hinds' swinging medium-pace has also improved in value over the last year. At the World Cup in southern Africa he took seven wickets at 12.57 each.

* Republished from the Jamaica Observer.