After nearly 30 years of watching and reporting on cricket in the North East, nothing pleased me more than each November sitting down with cricketers of mixed ability at the annual dinner to reflect on another season in the local game.
Seeing the cream of cricket in the Aberdeen area picking up their awards for achievements with the bat and ball was a yearly pleasure not to be missed. Even the disappointment among those who came up short is interesting, as intent to do better is written all over their faces as the awards are dished out.
The venues for the occasion were generally good, and in my time included the Queens Hotel, the Northern Hotel, Pittodrie Stadium, and the Westhill Inn. The latter being my favourite, ticking all the boxes, including good food, a near perfect function hall, and quality accommodation for the guests.
Having said that a move to Mannofield was a wise one, as having a cricket ground available for the functions of one of the oldest sports organisations in the North East of Scotland made perfect sense.
The events were always well organised, led by the president of the year, but like all functions their were stalwarts who year in year out, not least former treasurer Ian Stephen with his side kick Tariq Butt, who ensured even the whims of the hardest to please were met.
Wonderful nights with people who really cared about the game, made all the better by the many fine speakers who in the main came from the ranks of the top clubs in the English County game.
They included Graeme Fowler of Lancashire who shrugged off his mental health issues, while admitting to his demons to deliver his own hilarious version of just how bad his own county were in the early part of the 1980’s.
Two more Graemes, followed in later years. Graham Gooch of Essex, Graeme Thorpe of Surrey, both outstanding players for England but like Fowler, all dished up genuinely funny stories. Sadly Thorpe died a few months after his talk. His battle with mental health was well documented.
There were many others, but the stand out for me was New Zealand captain Jeremy Coney who successfully mixed in his own brand of humour with some serious comments on the international game, including his nothing less amazing record of captaincy of the Black Caps against all the big nations.
All in all, nights to remember, and hopefully to be repeated as we meander through the 21st century.
Colin Smith, capped 175 times by Scotland, is this years inductee to the NESC Hall of Fame, and on his own home track bound to impress the audience.
FULL LIST OF NESC AWARD WINNERS FOR 2026
NESC Grade 1 Fair Play award – Knight Riders
NESC Grade 2 Fair Play award – Banchory
NESC Grade 3 Fair Play award – Methlick
NESC Grade 4 Fair Play award – 2nd Stonehaven Thistle
NESC Wicketkeeping award – V Vivekanandan (2nd Knight Riders)
NESC Grade 1 Batting Average – P Dhami (Bon Accord)
NESC Grade 2 Batting Average – M Nadim (Aberdeen Tigers)
NESC Grade 3 Batting Average – Y Perera (Ceylon Deeside)
NESC Grade 4 Batting Average – V Basavaraju (3rd Mannofield)
NESC Junior Batting award – O Vila (Mannofield)
NESC Grade 1 Bowling Average – P Palaniyandi (Knight Riders)
NESC Grade 2 Bowling Average – O Henderson (Huntly)
NESC Grade 3 Bowling Average – S Karunarathna (Ceylon Deeside)
NESC Grade 4 Bowling Average – A Raza (Granite City)
NESC Junior Bowling award – O Henderson (Huntly)
Aberdeenshire Cup – Player of the Match – P Dhami (Bon Accord)
Bon Accord Cup – Player of the Match – M Nadim (Aberdeen Tigers)
Grade 4 Cup – Player of the Match – R Paul (3rd Grampian)
NESC Grade 1 winners – Mannofield
NESC Grade 2 winners – Huntly
NESC Grade 3 winners – 2nd BonAccord
NESC Grade 4 winners – 3rd Knight Riders
Aberdeenshire Cup winners – Bon Accord
Bon Accord Cup winners – Aberdeen Tigers
Reid Cup winners – Ceylon Deeside
Grade 4 Cup winners – 3rd Grampian
NESC Umpire of the Year – Ian Sutherland
Jack Nixon Junior Player of the Year Award – (Announced on the Night) Nominees –
E Shedbal (Aberdeenshire)
A Saraswat (Aberdeenshire)
M Vila (Aberdeenshire)
NESC Player of the Year – (Announced on the Night) Nominees –
S Naseer (Crathie)
F Awan (Bon Accord)
P Dhami (Bon Accord)
M Nadim (Aberdeen Tigers)
NESC Grade 1 Batting Aggregate – P Dhami (Bon Accord)
NESC Grade 2 Batting Aggregate – M Nadim (Aberdeen Tigers)
NESC Grade 3 Batting Aggregate – Y Perera (Ceylon Deeside)
NESC Grade 4 Batting Aggregate – V Basavaraju (3rd Mannofield)
NESC Grade 1 Bowling Aggregate – P Palaniyandi (Knight Riders)
NESC Grade 2 Bowling Aggregate – A Burr (Portcullis)
NESC Grade 3 Bowling Aggregate – A Bhuvanendran (Stonehaven Thistle)
NESC Grade 4 Bowling Aggregate – A Raza (Granite City)
NESC Hall of Fame Inductee – Colin Smith (Aberdeenshire and Scotland)
Alan Forbes Trophy – Announced at the Dinner