Lehmann named ING Cup Player of the Series
Southern Redbacks captain Darren Lehmann is the 2001-02 ING Cup Player of the Series for the second year running, the Australian Cricket Board announced today.
Lehmann pockets $5000 for the award, which was voted by umpires on a 3-2-1 basis after each game of the series. He will also receive a trophy from ING upon his return from national duties on the 2002 Travelex Australian Tour of South Africa and Zimbabwe.
It is the third time the prolific left-hander has won the award.
Lehmann polled 22 votes for the series, claiming the award ahead of Redbacks' team-mate Greg Blewett in a count-back.
ING Cup count-back rules state that if two players are locked on equal votes at the end of the season, the player who has polled three-votes in more matches during the series will be awarded the title.
This year, after an initial count-back found that Lehmann and Blewett had received the same amount of three-votes, the award was presented to Lehmann because he polled two-votes on more occasions than his team-mate.
Queensland Bulls batsman Martin Love finished in third place with 18 votes, while his team-mate Andrew Symonds polled 15 votes to finish fourth.
In his eight ING Cup matches for the Redbacks, Lehmann (374 runs) was the fifth highest run-scorer for the domestic one-day season, despite playing fewer games than the Western Warriors' Michael Hussey (440 runs from 10 matches), Blewett (436 runs from 10 matches), Victorian Bushranger Matthew Elliott (431 runs from 10 matches) and Queensland Bulls opener Jimmy Maher (381 from 10 matches).
The 32-year-old's highest score of 101 came against the New South Wales Blues at Coffs Harbour on 12 January. He also scored three fifties and finished with a strike rate of 82.02.
Lehmann, who is the all-time leading run-scorer in domestic one-day cricket (2623 runs), enjoyed a consistent season and his form helped him gain Australian selection for the final preliminary match of the VB Series.
He was also honoured at this year's Allan Border Medal presentation, being named the 2002 State Player of the Year.
Speaking from South Africa, Lehmann said:
"I am delighted to have won this award, given that so many players enjoyed good seasons.
"I have no doubt the ING Cup gave me the opportunity to press for national selection, and I was happy to eventually gain a spot in the Australian team for the last match of the VB Series.
"Individual accolades are nice, and one day I will look back on them with pride. However being the captain of my state, I would far prefer that we enjoyed team success.
"It was disappointing that the Redbacks couldn't make it though to the ING Cup final, especially as our form had been pretty good throughout the year."
© 2002 Australian Cricket Board
| Teams | Australia. |
| First Class Teams | South Australia. |
| Players/Umpires | Darren Lehmann, Greg Blewett, Martin Love, Andy Symonds, Mike Hussey, Matthew Elliott, Jimmy Maher, Allan Border. |
| Season | Australian Domestic Season |
| Internal Links | ING Cup, 2001/02. |
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