Shai Hope was the biggest winner at the West Indies Players' Association/Cricket West Indies' Awards night held on June 20 in Barbados, winning the three biggest prizes. The 24-year old Barbadian was named the Cricketer of the Year, the Test Cricketer of the Year and the ODI Cricketer of the Year. The T20 Cricketer-of-the-Year award went to explosive left-handed opener Evin Lewis, who scored 234 runs in three T20I innings in the last 12 months, averaging 117.
For the second successive year, captain Stafanie Taylor was named the Women's Cricketer of the Year, as well as the Women's ODI cricketer of the Year. The Women's T20 Cricketer-of-the-Year award was won by allrounder Deandra Dottin. The Emerging Cricketer of the Year went to 20-year old Guyanese Keemo Paul.
After a shaky start to his international career, Hope has had an outstanding last 12 months, particularly in Test cricket. He has accumulated 727 runs in just nine matches over the year. The highlight came last August at Leeds, where West Indies chased down 322 on the last day to beat England by five wickets. Hope was the standout performer, scoring hundreds in each innings - 147 followed by an unbeaten 118 to steer his side to a famous win. In the following series, he scored an unbeaten 90 in Bulawayo in the first Test to ensure West Indies started the series with a win.
Taylor, who has been a consistent performer for West Indies over the past decade, consolidated her position as their leading female cricketer. In ODIs over the last 12 months, she averaged 41.50 with the bat, scoring five half-centuries from 13 innings, including four on the trot from October to March against Sri Lanka and New Zealand. With the ball, she averaged 24.25, taking 16 wickets. Dottin, the Women's T20I Cricketer of the Year, averaged 33.42 with the bat with a strike rate of 147.16, scoring one hundred (112 off 67) against Sri Lanka in October, and took six wickets at 20.66.