Linde, Jones scoop top WPCA awards; Hendricks eyes success in upcoming season

CAPE TOWN - Western Province celebrated the best performances from the 2024/25 season at their awards evening on Wednesday, with men's all-rounder, George Linde and women's seamer Leah Jones the big winners.

Faye Tunnicliffe walked away as the One Day Cup Player of the Year but was quick to admit that the team had its sights set on more success in 2025/26.

"It's been a lot of hard work. The ladies are putting in the hard graft, which is good. Obviously, we have a target on our back this season because we did the double and are now hoping to go for the three-peat in the T20s and then it's been a goal for a lot of seasons now to get the double, so we really want to do the 50 over and the T20 but we'll see how the season pans out."

Tunnicliffe spoke on the shift in mentality from the squad ahead of the new season.

"We're trying to introduce a mentality of we're training to dominate, not just to win. I think we really want to make a statement as Western Province to not just win and get over the line, but we want to destroy the line, so it's sort of what we're training towards. We want to be the best athletes we can be, we want to be the best cricketers we can be and naturally that will transpire into us becoming really good holistic people, so that's kind of been the focus of the pre-season."

The 26-year-old harbours hopes of becoming a regular in the Proteas Women setup and said she was trusting the process.

"I trust in what the management is doing up there, I think they have a vision and I need to trust that I am part of the plans for the future. The camps are really good though, really inclusive, it's cool to be around that group of players."

Proteas all-rounder, George Linde, was named as the Men’s Player of the Year as well as the Player’s Player of the Year but was unable to attend the ceremony. Instead, captain Beuran Hendricks was able to provide some insight into the team’s pre-season preparations.

"We can definitely see the results in the way the guys are training, the strength programmes, the running programmes, it's been very meticulous in terms of what guys need to do. We do have a few Asian players, as well as a lot of young players, so he's given guys room to make sure they get enough volume to prepare for the season."

The left-arm seamer believes there is a lot of talent and quality in the squad and is confident that hey’ll be able to express themselves.

"Honestly, the young guys that we have in the team now are very talented, so it's not a case of trying to bring out their talent or boost their talent, it's more just making sure the mental side is taken care of and they can express themselves to their full potential."

Hendricks revealed he’s feeling fit and ready to fire after struggling with a few injury troubles last season and revealed that he’s been given extra responsibility by coach Rory Kleinveldt.

"Actually, I'm feeling really good. Rory's put a little more responsibility on my shoulders now but I've really tken this winter to look after my body and get fit, get stronger, with things that have been put in place, we've got yoga in place now, obviously looking after the body as well, putting those things in place, it's given me a sense of confidence."

The 35-year-old urged WP fans to show their support ahead of an exciting new campaign.

"I know in the past, things haven't gone our way, it's not the results we wanted to put on the field. My experience of the Newland faithful is always that they're passionate about their sport, they're passionate about cricket and I'm going to urge them to come to Newlands, come into the stadium, it's exciting times for us with the talent that we have in the squad."

Hendricks added that promising times lie ahead for The Boys in Blue under the guidance of coach, Rory Kleinveldt.

Kleinveldt revealed that his squad had put in the hard yards during the winter and were ready for a busy summer of cricket.

"I think we're going into it on a good footing. The guys have had a good winter; they've really worked hard on their fitness, in particular, and some skill development, so from that perspective, the cricketing side of things, the boys are raring to go. We've spent quite a bit of time indoors, like I mentioned earlier, today was our first outdoor session and the guys are happy to be outdoors now."

The former seamer admitted that the team was determined to bring more silverware to the WP trophy cabinet.

"The expectation of playing for Western Province is huge. The Cape Town public is very demanding, there's always a demand for trophies and that's something that we have to live with and deal with... we've got to present to the people of Cape Town, we've got to win. We've won one trophy in the last eight or 10 years, which is not good enough for Western Province, to be brutally honest and we're looking to change that."

Western Province Cricket Association Awards winners:

Men's winners:

George Linde - Player of the Year
George Linde - Players’ Player of the Year
George Linde - 4-Day Domestic Series Player of the Year
Kyle Simmonds - One-Day Cup Player of the Year
Eddie Moore - T20 Challenge Player of the Year

Women's winners:

Leah Jones - Women’s Player of the Year
Leah Jones - Women's Players’ Player of the Year
Kayla Reyneke - Women’s Young Player of the Year

Kayla Reyneke - Women’s T20 Player of the Year
Faye Tunnicliffe - Women's One-Day Player of the Year