WOORINEN’S Darren Rushton has capped a sensational season in the Swan Hill District Cricket Association with a clean sweep of the competition’s A Grade awards.
Rushton walked away from the Swan Hill Club presentation night with awards including the best-and-fairest Bill Gurnett Medal and Murray Downs Golf & Country Club Medal.
The latter is regarded as the league’s MVP award and Rushton’s value was on display with bat and ball this season, leading all comers in batting and bowling.
Rushton scored 657 runs at an average of 43.8 and took 36 wickets at 13.78.
Rushton, a man of few words, gave thanks to his teammates, a teammate’s new dog and the batsmen he dismissed in his acceptance speech.
After the ceremony Rushton said that each weekend his plan was to “just go out there to have some fun and hope for the best”.
“It feels pretty good to win,” he said.
“Our captain Dean (Morpeth) put a fair bit of trust in me to bat up the top, unlike in other years, and he thew me the ball a lot this season as well.
“I knew that I’d had a strong last half of the year, but I’d seen that a few players’ names would be coming up a lot as well.
“I’d thought that (Nyah’s) Joel Walsh had been pretty good this year, and it was getting pretty tight towards the end.
“I couldn’t keep up with the numbers, I thought I hadn’t done quite enough.”
While Rushton admitted that “there’s not much more you can really do in one season”, he said team honours were the goal at Woorinen.
“It’s been a pretty good competition this season, especially with the new teams coming in,” he said.
“It adds a few more players to add to the mix on a night like this.
“We just didn’t make the finals last season; we were kept out by a game that we lost by only a couple of runs.
“We went one step further this season, but it’s still disappointing.
“We’re looking forward to coming back next season and giving it another crack.”
Woorinen is home for Rushton, the club where he has played all of his cricket and followed in father Bruce’s footsteps.
“I’ve always played at Woorinen,” he said.
“Being the son of the president, for however long Dad was there, we kind of just grew into the club.
“I probably started playing around the age of 9 or 10, but I was always out playing cricket in the backyard with my younger brother.”
The B Grade best-and-fairest award was claimed by Nullawil-Culgoa skipper George Forrester and C Grade honours went to Murrabit’s Nick Hein, while Nyah young gun Max Thompson won the Under 16 best-and-fairest trophy.
Swan Hill District Cricket Association
2023-24 Team of the Season
1. Ryan Hinton (captain, wicketkeeper)
2. Jonty Chaproniere
3. Charlie Boulton
4. Darren Rushton
5. Joel Walsh
6. Toby Gray
7. Ethan McKnight
8. Chameera Akurugoda
9. Alex Wilson
10. Jordan King
11. Oscar Hier
