Ireland batter Gaby Lewis won the top honours at the Irish Cricket Awards 2022, which was unveiled on Friday (February 25). The 20-year-old had a terrific year with the bat in both ODIs and T20Is. During the course of the year, she became the first woman to score a century in T20Is for Ireland. Lewis was named in the ICC T20I Team of the Year and scored 325 runs in ten innings with an average of 40.62 at a strike rate of 128.45. Apart from this, she also added 299 runs in five ODI innings with three fifties. She was one of the leading performers during the Zimbabwe tour and the ICC World Cup qualifiers 2021, which was canceled midway through the tournament due to COVID restrictions. For her achievements, she was named the ‘International Player of the Year - Women’. The right-handed batter also received the ‘Super Series Player of the Year’ for her performance in the domestic 50-overs and 20-overs competitions. She was part of the Scorchers’ team, which won both the titles in 2021. “It’s been a great year. Obviously, having such a long break during COVID. It was good to start with a home series and we are so lucky to have those games in the home summer. It was a really successful year as a team,” Lewis said reflecting back on her year. https://twitter.com/cricketireland/status/1497309417750110214
Among other awards, 16-year-old Amy Hunter got the ‘Emerging Player of the Year - Female.’ She made her ODI debut during the Zimbabwe tour. In the final match of that series, she scored 121 not out, becoming the youngest player to score a century in ODI cricket. She also set a record for the highest individual score by an Irish cricketer in the format. ALSO READ: Amy: The new Hunter in townNational captain Laura Delany was awarded the ‘Club Female Player of the Year’ for her unprecedented performance for her club, Leinster, with both the bat and the ball. Apart from that, Barbara McDonald, the former Irish cricketer, was inducted into the ‘Cricket Writers of Ireland Hall of Fame.’ She was a pivotal member of the Irish team through the late 1990s and early 2000s, with close to sixty international matches to her name.