The recent Grades Dinner held at Mannofield celebrated the 140th anniversary of the formation of the Aberdeenshire Cricket Association, which is now the North East Scotland Cricket SCIO. Having been around for so long it seemed that enough history was in place to justify the setting up of the North East Scotland Cricket Hall of Fame. It was great to see ‘retired journalist’ Jack Nixon at the Dinner supporting his Junior Player of the Year award, and Jack has provided a journalistic overview of the evening below.
After the contribution from Jack you will find a full list of winners from the evening, plus the NESC is very grateful to Gilles Gardner for providing a link to the photos he took at the Dinner.
Former Scotland Captain Inducted to the Grades Hall of Fame Jack Nixon
North East Cricket’s annual dinner was given an additional boost by the presence of one the region’s most successful cricketers who was inducted into the North East’s Cricket Association’s Hall of Fame.
Kyle Coetzer, a former Stoneywood-Dyce player who went on captain Scotland was warmly received by a large number of members from clubs in and around Aberdeen, headed up by Robin Taylor, the current chair of the 140 year old association.
Taylor, who is serving in his second term in the prestigious post, having held the position 12 years ago. ”I am not alone in being a president who has made a comeback,” said Taylor in a reference to political affairs in the USA before going on to list the achievements of the 40 year old Coetzer.
”Kyle has been a marvellous ambassador for Scotland and of course the North East, captaining his country at the time of their greatest triumphs on the national stage. We are all very proud of the way in which he has conducted himself. His talk went down very well on a night when we celebrated our club achievements in the region 140 years on from being formed,” said Taylor.
Coetzer took the opportunity to reflect on his career in the game, including learning the basics with his father Peter and brother Shaun at Stoneywood-Dyce. ”I have been privileged to play cricket all around the world, while having spells at English county sides, Durham and Northampton, but it’s my time playing in the Aberdeenshire Grades that means as much as anything,” said an emotional Coetzer, visibly delighted to be back with his ”ain folk.”
Educated at Aberdeen Grammar School, Coetzer captained Scotland at most of the under age groups before landing the big one in 2017 and numbered among his most memorable moments as captain of the national side, the ODI in Edinburgh at the Grange on June 10th 2018 when Scotland scored 378 for five of which he scored 58, leaving England the then World ODI champions six runs short.
In addition to the domestic honours for the season, Isobel Reid was named the winner of the Alan Forbes Memorial Trophy, donated and presented by the widow of Alan Forbes in memory of one of the most charismatic players in the Grades.
Isobel has scored for Kintore and now Gordonians for the last 26 years, laying claim to have notched up more runs than most teams in that time. Jeanette Forbes, a leading local business woman and entrepreneur in Aberdeen said: ”Isobel has been a stalwart who will be hard act to follow when she hangs up her pencil. Tonight has been a marvellous night; holding it in a cricket club has given the event a status it richly deserves.”
The Jack Nixon Junior Player of the Year Award was won by Lewis Myron-Petrie from the progressive Huntly club, holding off the fierce challenge of a number of youngsters from clubs in the North East, confirming the ambition of the Association to bring youngsters back into the game.
The region may currently not have any clubs in the top flight of the club game, the Eastern Premier, but if the policy of promoting juniors cricket is any guide, that is about to change.
Stuart Grant, the chairman of Aberdeenshire was present, and said: ”We are delighted to have played host to this event. it’s good to see clubs coming together.”
NESC 2024 AWARD WINNERS –
| NESC Grade 1 Fair Play award 2024 | Banchory |
| NESC Grade 2 Fair Play award 2024 | Portcullis |
| NESC Grade 3 Fair Play award 2024 | 2nd Methlick |
| Aberdeenshire Cup 2024 Player of the Match | Somu Kumarasamy (Knightriders) |
| Bon Accord Cup 2024 Player of the Match | Charlie Kennedy (Huntly) |
| Reid Cup 2024 Player of the Match | Subin Sunny (2nd Grampian) |
| NESC Umpire of the Year 2024 | Steve Murphy |
| Jack Nixon Junior Player of the Year | Lewis Myron-Petrie (Huntly) |
| NESC Player of the Year 2024 | Abhinav Kache (Master Blasters Aberdeen) |
| NESC Grade 1 Batting Aggregate 2024 | Fazal Awan (Bon Accord) |
| NESC Grade 2 Batting Aggregate 2024 | Jeby George (Grampian) |
| NESC Grade 3 Batting Aggregate 2024 | Will Redpath (2nd Banchory) |
| NESC Grade 1 Bowling Aggregate 2024 | Ash Bashir (Gordonians) & Bijin Vijayaraj (Knightriders) |
| NESC Grade 2 Bowling Aggregate 2024 | Chris Gospel (Fraserburgh) |
| NESC Grade 3 Bowling Aggregate 2024 | Zakir Hussain (Aberdeen Tigers) & Shahmir Naseer (Crathie) |
| Aberdeenshire Cup (G1) | Knight Riders |
| Bon Accord Cup (G2) | Huntly |
| Reid Cup (G3) | 2nd Grampian |
| Bain Cup (G1 League) | Master Blasters Aberdeen |
| Junior League Cup (G2 League) | Grampian |
| Ross Cup (G3 League) | 2nd Grampian |
| Walker Cup (G1 Batting) | Akhlaq Bashir (Gordonians) |
| Urquhart Cup (G1 Bowling) | Murthy Kakarla (Master Blasters Aberdeen) |
| Dor Nor Cup (G2 Batting) | Jeby George (Grampian) |
| Porter Cup (G2 Bowling) | Sebin Joseph (Grampian) |
| Donald Cup (G3 Batting) | Mahesh Patel (3rd Gordonians) |
| Morrison Cup (G3 Bowling) | Zakir Hussain (Aberdeen Tigers) |
| Wilson Cup (wicket-keeping) | Yashwanth Yarasani (2nd Gordonians) |
| Abdul Hayee Cup (u18 Batting) | Marcus Vila (Mannofield) |
| Jamila Akhtar Cup (u18 Bowling) | Calum McLeman (Fraserburgh) |
| Alan Forbes Memorial Trophy | Isobel Reid (Kintore/Gordonians) |
| North East Scotland Cricket Hall of Fame | Kyle Coetzer |
LINK TO PHOTOS – https://www.flickr.com/gp/gillesgardner/C5U0370997