Warwickshire stars celebrated at Annual Player Awards

Abbey Freeborn & Ethan Bamber - Players- Player of the Year

Warwickshire County Cricket Club’s Annual Player Awards took place on Thursday 1 October, with several players recognised for their outstanding contribution during the 2026 season.

2026-10-02T11:40+01:00

Edgbaston’s Banqueting Suite played host to the celebratory evening, with Warwickshire Access teams, and both the men’s and women’s squads present alongside Club management, support staff and members.

Ethan Bamber, Katie George, Vansh Jani, Abbey Freeborn, Beau Webster, Charis Pavely and Sam Hain were all recognised for their performances in red and white-ball cricket for Warwickshire, while Warwickshire Access players Noah Eyles and Haroon Irshad also took home awards, and Alan Oakman was recognised for his performances for Warwickshire Seniors.

Less than a week on from taking the final wicket of Warwickshire’s title-winning Rothesay County Championship campaign, Bamber received two awards, including the County Championship Player of the Season Award, as voted for by members, and the Men’s Players’ Player Award, sponsored by Mainstream Print and voted for by his teammates.

Bamber has had an extraordinary season, ending the red-ball campaign with 69 wickets – the most in Division One this season – at an average of 19.39, taking four five-wicket hauls and surpassing 100 wickets for the Club in just his second full season.

While playing a key role throughout the title-winning campaign, Bamber was outstanding over the final six fixtures, taking 32 of his 69 wickets at an average of 12.71.

“It’s been very special to celebrate a very momentous occasion for a group that have put a lot of hard work in,” Bamber said after receiving his award.

“You’re always particularly happy to be able to contribute to successful moments in games and to successful seasons, so I’m obviously incredibly happy.”

Freeborn also picked up two awards on the night, receiving the Women’s Players’ Player Award, sponsored by Mainstream Print, and the Women’s Vitality Blast Player of the Season Award, as voted for by members, sponsored by C&C Insurance.

The top-order batter enjoyed a stellar white-ball season, scoring 365 runs during the Bears’ Blast campaign that included five half centuries and a top score of 86 not out, while also notching two half centuries in the Metro Bank One Day Cup.

“I’m really pleased,” Freeborn said. “The T20s especially was something that I wanted to work on, and it’s just so nice knowing that I performed well, and that I can do it on the big stage.”

Webster, who played a starring role across formats throughout the first half of the year, was named as the winner of the Men’s Vitality Blast Player of the Season Award, as voted for by members, sponsored by C&C Insurance.

He ended the T20 campaign as the competition’s second highest run-scorer with 578 runs that included a match-winning 112 against Somerset. That century was complemented by four half-centuries and eight wickets at 23.50.

The Men’s & Women’s Metro Bank One Day Cup Player of the Season, as voted for by members and sponsored by Dennis Mowers, were awarded to Vansh Jani and Katie George.

Jani produced a stunning run of form in this year’s One Day Cup, averaging 62 across eight innings, that included four half-centuries in five innings – with a List A career-best 98 against Kent.

George, who took over the captaincy for the final five fixtures of the 50-over competition for Bears Women, led the batting averages in the Women’s One Day Cup in 2026, averaging 77 across 12 innings which included two centuries and four half-centuries.

“It’s been a good year both personally and as a Club,” Jani said. “It was a pleasure to do well for the team in one day cricket.

“Leading into the tournament, I had a good run going towards the back end of the T20s, and I felt really confident with the bat and sort of just trusted my game.”

After picking up her award, George said: “I’m pretty ecstatic actually. At the start of the year I wanted to try and lead the way in scoring big runs, and it’s not something I’ve done in the past, so it was a big goal of mine to try and do that.

“I wanted to try to be really consistent, so to do that is really pleasing. To be relied on a little bit to score runs, it shows how far I’ve come, but also really excited to see how I go next season.”

There were several players shortlisted for the Men’s & Women’s Kim Jones Performance of the Season, voted for on social media, but it was Hain and Pavely that took home the awards.

Hain’s outstanding 164 not out - his highest score of the season - came from 319 balls and included 16 fours in a mammoth 404 minutes, as he led the Bears to a 377-run win against Yorkshire at Edgbaston.

Pavely was recognised for her dazzling 127 off 103 balls that powered the Bears to a comfortable win over Somerset at The People’s Home of Cricket. It was Pavely’s second century in four days, as she helped the Bears from 113 for five to a match-winning 336 all out.

The Warwickshire Seniors Alan Oakman Player of the Season Award went to Allen who contributed with bat and ball across 60s and 70s cricket. He took 23 wickets at an average of 18.13 with an economy rate of just 2.30, while also scoring over 300 runs with a match-winning top score of 75.

Two awards were also presented to stand-out performers for the Warwickshire Access Team that represents Warwickshire in disability cricket, competing in Super 9s and D40 competitions.

Eyles was presented with the Warwickshire Access Coaches Player of the Season Award, having led from the front this season by getting the team off to fast starts opening the batting. He scored over 200 runs across 5 games, while also chipping in with key wickets throughout the season.

Irshad was named as the winner of the Warwickshire Access Steve Carter Cup for Players Player of the Season, recognised by his teammates for scoring runs at crucial times. His leadership qualities and high standards in the field were also noted in his nominations.