Richard Oliver's fine exploits for Geelong City this winter have led to him being voted the winner of the Jack Sing Medal for the Most Valuable Player in the Geelong Cricket Association.
The Worcestershire opener scored two centuries and was a model of consistency with the bat as he skippered Geelong to third spot in the GCA – a rise of six places on the 2013-2014 campaign.
Oliver, who has made a run-filled start to pre-season with Worcestershire, jointly shared the award with Murgheboluc's Glen Talarico.
The pair of them both received 15 votes and finished ahead of the St. Joseph's pair of Leigh Kentish (13 votes) and Justin Foss (11 votes).
Oliver, who is also Geelong's head groundsman, scored 621 runs in GCA Division One innings at an average of 56.45 with a top score of 121 against Lara CC and 116 off the Murgheboluc attack.
He said: "I had a bit of bad news over the weekend with the boys losing the semi-final (to St. Joseph's) but Geelong had a great season and have gone from ninth to third on the first team ladder.
"The GCA had their awards night before the final this weekend and the Geelong coach Mark Worthington accepted the MVP Jack Sing Medal on my behalf.
"I was quite honoured to have won that because it is something I've been chasing for the last few years.
"I narrowly missed out two years on the trot so it was nice to win that. I was the joint winner.
"Mark Worthington can take some credit because he's been a rock for me in Geelong, working alongside me throughout the grades along with Aaron Randall.
"I do believe it is a collective effort from everyone across the club and two or three lads won their batting and bowling averages across their grades in the league."
Oliver has scored 103, 63 and 37 in his three pre-season knocks to date against a UAE X1, Derbyshire and Gloucestershire respectively.
*We will be featuring Richard Oliver on the Worcestershire CCC website during the next few days as he looks forward to his first full season of county cricket.
