Silk wins Bradman Young Cricketer

Having earned himself global acclaim with the stunning one-handed catch he plucked during the current KFC Big Bash League, Jordan Silk added another feather to his Tasmanian and Sydney Sixers caps by being named Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year at the Allan Border Medal Presentation in Sydney tonight.

Despite being ordained by his former Tasmanian teammate, and ex-Australian skipper Ricky Ponting as the best fieldsman in the country, Silk has shown there’s more to his game than freakish catching and sliding saves over the past 12 months.

The 21-year-old polled more than 43 per cent of the player votes to finish comfortably ahead of South Australian batsman Travis Head and Western Australia’s Ashes Test hero Ashton Agar, both of whom polled 14.3 per cent of the player votes.

Silk adds his name to an elite group of players who have been honoured with the Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year Award over the past 14 years, including Test players Brett Lee, Nathan Bracken, Shane Watson, Shaun Tait, Nathan Hauritz, Phil Hughes and David Warner.

Silk made his first-class debut towards the end of last summer and came to the notice of the cricket community with his calm, assured, seven-hour century in the Sheffield Shield final that helped carry Tasmania to the title.

He has continued to impress in his second season, with centuries in the first rounds of the Bupa Shield competition against Queensland and South Australia, giving him an impressive tally of four hundreds from just 11 first-class appearances.

His one-day record is also noteworthy, having scored 238 runs at the healthy average of almost 40 in the Ryobi Cup domestic limited-overs format.

The Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year is awarded to the most outstanding eligible cricketer over the previous 12 months voted by his peers, taking into account performances in the three major Cricket Australia domestic competitions and for Australia in Tests, One Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals.

Players aged 24 or under who have not played more than 10 first-class matches at the commencement of the voting period are eligible to win the award.