Press Release from Zimbabwe Cricket **
National men’s team captain Brendan Taylor was named the CBZ Cricketer of the year at the annual CBZ Bank Zimbabwe Cricket Awards 2011 on Monday night. He scooped another top accolade, the Croco Motors Batsman of the year, while Keegan Meth was named the South African Airways Bowler of the year. Brendan Taylor played three Test matches in the 2010/11 season, scoring 358 runs at an average of 71.6 runs with his highest score being 117 in the Test match against New Zealand at Queens Sports Club, making that his second century for the season. His highest score in ODIs was an unbeaten 145 against South Africa in 2010. From the 27 ODI matches he has played, Taylor scored a total of 1096 runs at an average of 45.66 with four centuries in the process.
New kid on the block, Brian Vitori got two awards on the night; he was named the Tour Africa Rookie of the year and the Interfin Bank Most promising cricketer of the year. Vitori made his international cricket debut in August 2011 in Zimbabwe’s return match to Test cricket against Bangladesh in Harare. From just two Test matches has claimed five wickets at an average of 48 runs –with a personal best of four wickets for 66 runs in the match. He took two consecutive five wicket hauls from his debut ODI matches against Bangladesh, as a result Zimbabwe won both matches and ultimately won the series 3-2.
Matabeleland Tuskers walked away as the most decorated franchise of the year after being accorded the title as the Castle Franchise team of the year and the Best administered franchise award. They also had the official hand over of the Castle Logan Cup title and had two of their team members winning awards as well. Team coach Dave Houghton was named the Afdis Coach of the year while, as mentioned above, Keegan Meth is the bowler of the year.
The Winners List
| Award | Winner |
| CBZ Bank Cricketer of the year | Brendan Taylor |
| Croco Motors Batsman of the year | Brendan Taylor |
| South African Airways Bowler of the year | Keegan Meth |
| Tour Africa Rookie of the year | Brian Vitori |
| Interfin Bank Most promising cricketer of the year | Brian Vitori |
| Coca Cola Female Cricketer of the year | Ashley Ndiraya |
| CBZ Bank Best Schools Cricketer | Sam Curran |
| Castle Franchise team of the year | Tuskers |
| Afdis Coach of the year | David Houghton |
| Most Valuable employee | Talent Zvanyanya |
| Most Valuable employee | Grace Mashingaidze |
| Schools Administrator of the Year | Kevin Atkinson |
| Grounds man of the year | Doug Higgins |
| Scorer of the year | Freeman Chigovera |
| Umpire of the year | Russel Tiffin |
| Best Administered Franchise | Tuskers |
| Special Commemoration | The late Ian Kemp and Basil d’Oliveira |
| Winner-Castle Logan Cup 2010/2011 | Tuskers |
| Winner Stanbic T20 2010/2011 | Mash Eagles |
| Winner Metbank Pro 40 2010/2011 | Southern Rocks |
** Having watched all the World cup matches played in Sri Lanka I consider Brendan Taylor’s innings against Sri Lanka at Psllekelle the best of the lot. Web Editor