Jamie Porter took home the prize of Men’s Player of the Year at the 2024 Essex Cricket End of Season Gala Dinner, held at Braxted Park Estate on Wednesday 02 October.
Tilly Callaghan’s run-soaked season earned her the Women’s Player of the Year award, while Charlie Stack secured the Ability Player of the Year accolade.
Meanwhile, the most-recognised player of the night was Michael Pepper, who scooped a treble, lifting the White-Ball Player of the Year, Players’ Player of the Year, and Performance of the Year gongs.
Read on for a full list of every award winner.
2024 Award Winners
Community Award: Ekota Academy
Sponsored by Tiptree
Translated from Sanskrit as ‘unity’ and from Cree as ‘the place to be’, Ekota are a diverse volunteer-driven social wellbeing hub for the East London community, based at Goodmayes Park.
Ekota already run a not-for-profit cafe in the park that funds their programmes, and this year they received additional funding for their summer programmes from the Mayor of London, enabling further delivery of a wide variety of programmes.
Participants are recognisable through their orange tops, and in July, Ekota won the prestigious King’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest award that a local community group can receive in the UK and which is equivalent to an MBE.
Over 50s Player of the Year: Roy Smith
Sponsored by Ambassador Cruise Line
Smith scored 500 runs this season at an average of 80.
He also made his England debut, where he scored 303 runs at an average of 75.75.
Seniors Player of the Year: Nigel Bloch
Sponsored by Price Forbes
Bloch’s sheer weight of runs scored in over-70s cricket made him the obvious winner of the Seniors Player of the Year award.
In 13 innings, he hit a total of 860 runs at an average of 122, including five centuries and a strike rate of 95. Alongside that, he made a further 453 runs for the over-60s, giving him a total of 1,313 runs scored.
Ability Young Player of the Year: Conor Berry
Sponsored by Devines
Berry had an exceptional first year with the Ability squad, averaging over 85 with the bat, as well as taking a couple of wickets as well.
His 92 against Yorkshire was the highest score of any Ability player, in any team this season.
Men’s Young Player of the Year: Luc Benkenstein
Sponsored by Thirteen Accounting
Benkenstein made both his First Class and T20 debut for Essex this year, hitting a top score of 54 in the Vitality Blast.
In addition, he also scored two half-centuries in the Metro Bank One Day Cup and captained England Under-19s v Sri Lanka at The Cloud County Ground, scoring 51 runs.
Women’s Young Player of the Year: Amu Surenkumar
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Surenkumar had a standout season scoring 448 runs, with a top score of 95, as well as taking 16 wickets at an average of just over 17.
Academy Player of the Year: Tom Arnold
Sponsored by Your Claim
Arnold claimed 24 scalps across his 16 matches, whilst also adding some vital lower order runs with the bat.
Second XI Player of the Year: Luc Benkenstein
Sponsored by Price Forbes
Benkenstein was Essex’s top run scorer within the Second XI Championship with 466 runs at an average of just over 42, including three 50s and a high score of 92.
He was also the second-highest wicket-taker with 27 scalps at an average of just 19, including four five-wicket hauls and a best of 7/89.
Bowler of the Year: Jamie Porter
Sponsored by The Kenton Group
Porter took more wickets than any other bowler in Division One of the Vitality County Championship this season, with 56 at an average of under 20, as well as becoming the first Essex bowler in almost 25 years to claim 500 first-class wickets for the Club.
To add to this, he also took seven wickets in three One-Day Cup matches at an average of under 17.
Batter of the Year: Dean Elgar
Sponsored by Spartan FX
Having signed for Essex to fill the shoes of the great Alastair Cook, Elgar rose to that challenge with aplomb throughout 2024, hitting 1,000 County Championship runs as well as notching 331 in the T20 Blast.
He opened his account with 80 on debut away to Nottinghamshire before striking his first century during his first home game against Kent, and went on to add two further centuries and four more fifties in all formats.
Performance of the Year: Michael Pepper’s 120* v Sussex Sharks
Sponsored by Thirteen Accounting
Pepper may have caught attention with his first career T20 century against Middlesex in June, but that paled compared to his exploits at Sussex six weeks later, when he crunched one of the best shortest-format innings in Essex history.
Chasing 208 in Hove, the Eagles were struggling at 90-5, only for Pepper to enter the fray and slam a barely-believable unbeaten 120 in 53 balls, ultimately guiding his side home with nine balls to spare.
White-Ball Player of the Year: Michael Pepper
Sponsored by Woodland Group
Although Pepper’s two T20 centuries were the undoubted highlight of his white-ball season, his exploits in the limited-overs arena did not stop there, as he totalled 535 runs in this season’s Vitality Blast.
In addition to his three figure-knocks against Middlesex and Sussex, that tally included fifties in the return match against Sussex and away to Kent, and he also hit 32 sixes, more than any other player in the entire tournament.
Players’ Player of the Year: Michael Pepper
Sponsored by Eastern Crane Hire
Not content with his hugely profitable T20 season, Pepper also added 523 runs in the County Championship, giving him a total of 1,058 for the season.
It was the first time ever he had passed 1,000 in all formats, and he also impressed with his wicketkeeping, standing behind the stumps in ten Championship matches and claiming 32 catches.
Ability Player of the Year: Charlie Stack
Sponsored by Devines
Stack was the leading run scorer in his team, scoring three 50s in seven games, averaging 71 with the bat.
His runs were instrumental as Essex secured the Super 9s title this season.
Women’s Player of the Year: Tilly Callaghan
Sponsored by Woodland Group
Callaghan scored 367 runs this season, averaging over 33 with the bat, whilst also contributing seven wickets.
Her score of 97 was the highest from the team this season, made sweeter by being at Chelmsford.
Men’s Player of the Year: Jamie Porter
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Taking 63 wickets in all competitions, Porter also made the PCA Team of the Year for his outstanding performances across all formats this season.
PCA Inclusion Award: Aaron Beard
Retiring seamer Beard has been awarded the PCA Inclusion Award on account of his selfless attitude and approach to playing, going out of his way to mentor and support young players.
Having been involved in the Essex Player Pathway since childhood, Beard retired from the game at the end of the 2024 season after winning four trophies with the Club.
Enter the ballot for international tickets
The 2025 international fixture list has been revealed, with Chelmsford braced for high-octane action as England Women take on West Indies Women on Monday 26 May at 2:30pm.
In what’s set to be an unmissable afternoon of IT20 cricket, some of the world’s best T20 cricketers will go head to head in a T20 set in the heart of Essex.
What’s more, the game will be played on the Spring Bank Holiday making it the perfect day out with friends and family.
Demand for tickets will be high, so make sure to enter the ticket ballot and share with family and friends for the best chance to get your hands on tickets before public sale.
You’ll also have the chance to earn an extra entry to the ballot by sharing with the person you’d like to bring with you.
The ballot will close at midnight on Monday 04 November and ballot winners will be contacted with a unique link to purchase tickets on Tuesday 05 November.
