BIG WINNERS AT QC GALA

The big individual winners at tonight’s Queensland Cricket Gala Awards Dinner at The Star Brisbane were no strangers to taking out the main player honours.

Neser became the first person to win five Ian Healy Trophies as the best Queensland Bulls player, as well as taking out the Sheffield Shield Player of the Year award tonight.

Knott was rewarded for a record season for the Queensland Fire and another impressive summer for the WBBL Brisbane Heat as she played key roles in getting both teams into their respective Finals.

She was also named the Fire Player of the Year in the wake of her best all-round season in the WNCL this summer, with her haul of 542 the most runs hit by a Queenslander in a single season.

She is only the second Fire player to pass the 500-run mark, after Georgia Redmayne, while her breakthrough first WNCL hundred came against South Australia at the Adelaide Oval. 

With the ball she was again the model of consistency, taking 12 wickets. Fittingly, she was called into the Australian squad for the first time for the T20 International series win over New Zealand last month. 

Despite suffering a hamstring injury while playing for Australia A that sidelined him midway through the season, Neser produced a string of telling performances that propelled the Bulls into last week’s Sheffield Shield Final.

He made an impact in each of the seven Shield games he played, finishing as the equal leading wicket-taker alongside Mark Steketee with 31 wickets at 20.90, including 21 in his last five games.

Fire and Heat captain Jess Jonassen also enjoyed the spotlight tonight, claiming the WBBL Heat MVP award and being on hand for the first presentation of the newly-named Jess Jonassen Award for the Queensland Country Women’s Payer of the Year, won by Monto’s Tarah Staines.

Jonassen, who will start her 11^th season with the Heat as the all-time leading wicket-taker in the Big Bash with 179 wickets, was also the joint WBBL player of the tournament alongside Ellyse Perry from the Sixers.

Jonassen finished WBBL|10 with 17 wickets and 218 runs, which included an unbeaten 44 in the decider won by the Melbourne Renegades at the MCG.

Just as Jonassen was recognised with an award celebrating country cricket, the men’s award was also renamed in honour of one of the finest Queensland players to emerge from the bush.

The inaugural Carl Rackemann Award for the Queensland Country Men’s Player of the Year was presented to Gold Coast batter Josh Nelson, an Australian Country selection earlier this year.

Elsewhere, rising Bulls left-hander Lachlan Hearne was the Bulls One Day player with the former Australian Under-19 batter and ex-NSW product catching the eye in the white ball format.

Hearne, 24, made his Shield and One Day debuts for the Bulls this season, finishing as Queensland’s second leading runs-scorer in the one-dayers, including his maiden List A century.

Wicket-keeper Jimmy Peirson won the Andrew Symonds Medal as the Bulls Players’ Player for the second year in a row while pace bowler Nicola Hancock earned the Fire Players’ Player award for the first time.

First-season Test selection Nathan McSweeney was the BBL Heat MVP, adding to his list of impressive achievements in a career that promises to deliver more highlights in the future.

Bulls and Heat allrounder Jack Wildermuth was awarded the Pike-Maher Medal for his coaching and mentoring efforts for Valley at Premier Club and Junior Cricket level.

The Pike-Maher Medal is named in honour of former Queensland and Australian players Kirsten Pike and Jimmy Maher and presented to a Queensland male or female player who has played a major role in creating a positive difference in their communities through charitable and community contributions.

2024-25 Queensland Cricket Award Winners

Ian Healy Trophy – Michael Neser

Jodie Purves Trophy – Charli Knott

Pike-Maher Medal – Jack Wildermuth

Queensland Fire Player of the Year – Charli Knott

Marsh Sheffield Shield Player of the Year – Michael Neser 

Marsh One Day Cup Player of the Year – Lachlan Hearne

Andrew Symonds Medal (Bulls Players’ Player) – Jimmy Peirson 

Queensland Fire Players’ Player – Nicola Hancock

Brisbane Heat WBBL MVP – Jess Jonassen 

Brisbane Heat BBL MVP – Nathan McSweeney

Qld Country Player of the Year – Carl Rackemann Award – Josh Nelson 

Qld Country Player of the Year – Jess Jonassen Award – Tarah Staines

Match Official of the Year – Riki Wessels

Queensland Cricket Volunteer of the Year – Mischa Grummitt (Mt Isa Cricket)

Graham Dixon Award for Staff Achievement – Eliza Flynn