Whoever said ‘it’s not the winning it’s the taking part’ had clearly never been eligible for a Mallards end-of-season award.
Each year, at the annual dinner, awards are handed out to a host of players who have contributed to the season in a memorable way. For the record ‘memorable’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘impressive’ or ‘skillful.’
These awards, mostly hand-crafted miniature works of art, are much prized and keenly fought over. The current holders are as follows:
The Peter Nitsch Cross-Bat Trophy:
Rob Nyenhuis – basically for being extremely good with the bat!
Mallard Ball Trophy:
Liaquat Latif – for his 4 for 22 against Genetics
Swoop Fielding Trophy:
Colin McCaffery – for his general enthusiasm in the field and behind the stumps, belying his age!
Asti Spumante Trophy:
Peter Beacock – for his impeccably-timed exit from the WhatsApp group following a load of holiday spam pictures from McCaffery!
Friendly Fire Trophy:
Alistair Wilson – for running Ian Stone out for a duck in Ian’s final home game vs KSOB
Leon Mexter Gentleman Mallard Trophy:
Ian Stone – for his unbelievably calm reaction to the aforementioned run-out
Jon Robinson Balletic Batting Trophy:
Ankush Kumar – for his 54* vs Belmont Knights (especially when we retire at 30! Very Job Rob-esque!)
Pen is Mightier than the Bat Trophy:
Dave Cox – for writing a couple of reports this year, for remembering to submit them, and also for being extremely kind to the skipper when describing his run-out in the game vs Genetics
Mallard Duck Trophy:
Mark Butcher – for getting 2 ducks in his 5 innings over the season!