Ashwell Prince capped off a magnificent final season in County cricket by being named in the BBC Team of the Year.
He comes in at No 3, having scored 1 427 runs in the Championship before the start of the final match of the season, and helped Lancashire to the T20 Blast trophy.
‘To be the country’s leading run-scorer in his final season as a cricketer speaks volumes for his skill, drive and determination to succeed even at the very end of his career,’ the citation reads. ‘This season, Prince has shown all his international class, which saw him capped 119 times across all formats by South Africa, with fight and flair in equal measure. His contribution has been as strong and as significant as in any of his previous five seasons at Old Trafford.’
The full team is: Alex Hales (Notts), Michael Klinger (Glos), Ashwell Prince (Lancs), James Hildreth (Somerset), Luke Wright (Sussex), Jonny Bairstow (Yorks), Zafar Ansari (Surrey), James Harris (Middx), Tom Curran (Surrey), Jack Brooks (Yorks), Chris Rushworth (Durham)
At the other end of the honours spectrum, Northamptonshire’s Rory Kleinveldt has been reprimanded for being rude in in the match against Glamorgan in mid-September. He was reported for a Level 1 offence, ‘using language that is obscene, offensive or insulting and/or making an obscene gesture’. The reprimand stays on his record for two years.
Meanwhile, the Cape Town-born veteran Somerset seamer Alfonso Thomas is to leave the club after a long and distinguished career. He joined the county ahead of the 2008 season and has taken over 550 wickets for them across the various formats.
‘I plan to take a few weeks over the off-season to consider several alternative options, before deciding exactly which path to take. I hope that at some point in the future I will get the opportunity to be involved in the club in some capacity,’ he said.
Thomas, who played one T20 for South Africa in 2007, is renowned for his skills as a limited-overs bowler and his services have been in great demand in T20 cricket. He is the fourth highest T20 wicket-taker in the world.
‘It was a great privilege to be asked by Gary Kirsten to work with his bowlers during the IPL in India this year and one I really enjoyed,’ he said.
Compiled by Mark Salter
