Rabada sweeps South Africa awards

Young gun Kagiso Rabada has capped a stunning year of international cricket by sweeping Cricket South Africa's annual awards.

Rabada became the first player to win six individual awards on Tuesday and at just 21 years old, is by far the youngest Protea to ever be named SA cricketer of the year.

In addition to the main award, the fast bowler was named Test Cricketer of the Year and ODI Cricketer of the Year, while he was also honoured by his peers and fans, receiving the SA Players’ Player of the Year and SA Fans Player of the Year.

Rabada was also handed the Delivery of the Year, for a ball that claimed the wicket of England’s Jason Roy in a T20 International at the Wanderers Stadium.

Both captain AB de Villiers and batsman Hashim Amla had previously won five individual awards.

Rabada made his international debut in a T20 International against Australia in late 2014, before breaking into both the ODI and Test XIs last year, in July and November respectively.

In just six Tests, the right-arm quick has snared 24 wickets at an average of 24.70, while his 20 ODIs have yielded 37 wickets at an average of 21.45 with an economy rate of 4.78.

"Congratulations to Kagiso on recording one of the most remarkable debut years that any young cricketer has achieved in our history," CSA Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat said.

"Added to his record-breaking performances and statistics, is his humility and level headedness that you would normally associate with a senior player.

"With injuries to our main fast bowlers during this past year, he has had to step up and lead the attack.

"This may not have been the best year for the Proteas in a team sense but there have been some great individual performances, especially from newcomers to the side. Temba Bavuma and Stephen Cook."

The only awards Rabada did not win were the T20 International Player of the Year award – claimed by spinner Imran Tahir - and the 'So Good' award that was handed to batsman Temba Bavuma.

Stephen Cook was named International Newcomer of the Year after making a century on Test debut, while the new Proteas captain Dane van Niekerk was named Women’s Cricketer of the Year.

Van Niekerk, who represented the Melbourne Renegades in last summer's Women's Big Bash Legaue, replaced Mignon du Preez as skipper last month.

Meanwhile, South Africa will formally introduce racial quotas at national team level, the CSA board said on Tuesday.

The organisation has come under fire from the South African government for a lack of transformation in its national teams, leading to a ban on bidding for international tournaments that will be reviewed next year.

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President Chris Nenzani said in a statement CSA will seek to "move with the times" and set a minimum number of black players to be selected in all their national teams.

He added that these "targets" would be calculated over a year and not apply on a match-by-match basis.

"In the past we had never set targets in our national teams but with changing circumstances we feel it is essential to move with the times," Nenzani said.

"The precise targets will depend on work to be undertaken by relevant committees to determine what is realistic and sustainable. This will be announced in due course."

The Proteas had already been seeking to introduce more black players into the national teams in all formats and have done so with some success.

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CSA have already introduced quotas for the country's domestic franchise competitions where teams must field at least six players of colour, including three black African players.

South Africa's sports minister Fikile Mbalula has been critical of what he says is the slow rate of transformation in the country's major sporting codes, bar football.

He banned the federations from rugby, cricket, netball and athletics from bidding for or hosting international events until they met their targets, with a review of this decision scheduled for this coming April.