Over the past twelve months Daryl Mitchell has made a statement on the international stage with a range of stellar performances for the Blackcaps. None more emphatic than during the Test series in England last June where Mitchell piled up a mammoth run-fest, aggregating a record 538 runs with an average of 107.60 in the three-match series. Mitchell also became the first New Zealand batsman to score centuries in three consecutive Test matches in England – incidentally the tour that kicked off The Players’ Cap voting period.
Once again, this year's busy schedule saw the end of the New Zealand home summer overlapping with the IPL, which meant the traditional post season presentation of The Players’ Cap was delayed until the players gathered within the team hotel in Birmingham yesterday, where on Sunday night Mitchell was named as the recipient of the 12th edition of The Players’ Cap.
The Blackcaps All-Rounder was humbled by the award stating “I am very grateful to receive The Players' Cap, to be recognised by your fellow teammates is an honour and something I will really cherish. It's always been a dream to be a part of this Blackcaps environment and to be able to help contribute on the field, as well to the values we have as a team off it is really cool. The environment plays a massive part in allowing guys to be themselves while doing what is best for the team. To receive this award is a testament to the players before and the leaders now that have set up our culture as a group."
The players’ own aggregate voting format was once again fiercely contested this year with a host of players in line to receive this highly regarded honour. Mitchell's impact across the Test format in particular saw him edge out captain Kane Williamson and Tom Blundell who were tied for 2nd on the overall voting tally.
Blackcaps captain and three times recipient of The Players’ Cap Kane Williamson had the honour of presenting The Players’ Cap to his team-mate.
Williamson acknowledged “to be part of a group of players with a collective approach toward achieving success is something we are all really proud of and this is such a special award to receive as your team-mates have recognised the impact you’ve made. Daryl has made an outstanding contribution over the past year, he has been one of those guys who just consistently delivers for the team and it’s great to see him receive this award.”
Aside from his exploits abroad Mitchell had an outstanding season for the Blackcaps at home, in particular against Sri Lanka where he added another century in the first innings of the first Test and followed that up with 81 runs in the second innings.
The 2023 cap is the 12th edition of The Players' Cap and once again the player voted award highlighted the contribution’s made from many players across all formats. Daryl Mitchell led the player votes in the Test format just ahead of Kane Williamson and Tom Blundell (equal second). In white ball cricket it was Matt Henry whose performances through the year saw him take out the ODI voting tally, and Glenn Phillips topped the T20i format.
The Players’ Cap leading vote recipients per format were:
Test Daryl Mitchell
ODI Matt Henry
T20i Glenn Phillips
Previous The PLAYERS’ Cap Recipients:
2023: 12th Daryl Mitchell
2022: 11th Devon Conway
2021: 10th Kyle Jamieson
2020: 9th Tim Southee
2019: 8th Ross Taylor
2018: 7th Trent Boult
2017: 6th Kane Williamson
2016: 5th Kane Williamson
2015: 4th Kane Williamson
2014: 3rd Ross Taylor
2013: 2nd Tim Southee
2012: 1st Brendon McCullum
About The Players’ Cap
Voting takes place after each match by Players and Coaches, who have a unique insight into the tactics, role and impact of each players performance and how they each contributed to the team effort.
Weighting of Votes
In order to compensate for the uneven number and length of Test, ODI and T20i matches, and to ensure that players from all three formats of the game have a fair chance of winning the award, a weighting system applies to all votes.
Test match votes have a ‘weighting factor’ of 6,
ODI match votes have a ‘weighting factor’ of 3
T20i match votes have a ‘weighting factor’ of 2
To find out more about The Players’ Cap