Ishwar Sookoonsingh walked away with the prestigious Cricketer of the Year honour when the South-East Zonal Council of the T&T Cricket Board (TTCB) staged its annual prize distribution function for the 2014 season, on Saturday.
Cedar Hill United collected the Club of the Year prize at the well-attended function held at the spacious Haji Ralph D Khan Hall of the Ashmead Ali Sporting Complex at Jordan Hill, Princes Town.
The function was chaired by zone chairman Kelvin Mohammed and was also graced with the presence of Minister of Public Utilities Nizam Baksh, Member of Parliament for Naparima and top officials of the TTCB.
Sookoonsingh, who plays for Blended in the South-East Zone's Division One competition took 48 wickets for the season, the most by any bowler to finish with an outstanding average of 10.9 and land the top award.
The spinner took five or more wickets on three occasions, the identical number of times he also recorded match-hauls of eight or more scalps which also earned him a place among the zone's Five Cricketers of the Year.
Joining Sookoonsingh in this elite group were the brother of the world's number one rated T20 bowler Samuel Badree, Charanlal Badree of Renown; Faoud Bassarath of St Mary's; Mike Smith of Nazarite; and Kelly Seecharan of Union.
The other top performer in Divison One was batsman Smith of Nazarite who scored the most runs, 501, to finish with an average of 62.63 for the season which in no small way helped Nazarite clinch the top spot in Division One.
Also taking pride of place at the awards function were the Four Youth Cricketers of the Year headed by Under-19 allrounder Justin Persad and including Jervon Webber (U-17), Cephas Cooper (U-15) and Isiah Gomez (U-13).
Cooper, who made 543 runs in the season for an average of 90.5, also captured five wickets on his way to being adjudged the zonal council's Youth Cricketer of the Year.
Also being recognised for their outstanding results of the last year were Coach of the Year Shiva Rambaran; Umpire of the Year Inskip Watson; Administrator of the Year Neil Ramdass; and Patrick Harriot who was hailed for his long and meritorious service to the South-East Zonal Council and cricket in general.
A special award was also presented by Minister Baksh to Krishna Balgobin, a representative of Cedar Hill who was rewarded for coming out on top in the 35-overs competition.