Cambridgeshire Young Cricketers' presentation afternoon rewards future stars' performances and development

Freya Houlden and Reuben Thain collected the leading prizes at the Cambridgeshire Young Cricketers’ (CYC) presentation afternoon earlier this month.

A total of 241 players represented CYC throughout the summer, combining to play 239 matches against other counties.

Eighteen centuries were scored, as well as 16 five-wicket or more hauls by 14 different bowlers.

And it was Houlden who caught the eye to win the Overall Girls’ Player of the Year accolade, having turned out for both the under-15 and under-18 teams in 2022.

She took plenty of wickets with the ball in hand and scored a number of runs, with her best performance being a knock of 114 not out.

Meanwhile, the Rajen Mahendra Trophy for Overall Boys’ Player of the Year was claimed for a second campaign in a row by Thain.

The batter scored 16 runs short of 1,000 during the season, which included three centuries and seven half centuries.

Individual age group trophies were also awarded to the Player of the Year, Most Improved Player of the Year and Sportsperson of the Year.

Player of the Year winners: Jivin Jospeh, Ellie Howland, Neel Kumar, Ed Leedham, Jess McCrum, James Mitchell, Reuben Thain, Freya Houlden, Alex James, Ben Kavanagh, Beth Matthews, Will Routledge

Most Improved Player of the Year winners: Neil Gulati, Bella Lloyd, Zach Winslow, Chaneth Udagampola, Athene Ross, Lucas Mudkavi, Oscar Parsonson, Tanisha Biswas, Toby Weston, Noah Vintner, Izzy Rumsby, Tom Newman

Sportsperson of the Year winners: Henry Bowler, Jemima Tasker, Ben Compton, Oscar Black, Phoebe Biggs, Harrison Mitchell, Nikhil Subramanian, Sarah Higgins, Pi Codrington Fernandez, Siddarth Kambli, Jemaira Vesty, Kaif Iqbal