The Wests opener had a great season with the willow and picked up the Fred Allen Memorial trophy as the best and fairest first grade player – much to his surprise.

He certainly hadn’t been expecting it, and described it as a huge honour.

“It’s a really humbling thing,” he said.

The win continues the recognition after Mudaliar was adjudged the Clubperson of the Year for Wests.

He tallied 408 runs for the season with a highest score of 77 and was dismissed three times within sight of a half-century. That was really the only disappointment  – not turning his starts into half-centuries or bigger scores with time in hand.

Linking up with Wests last season, Mudaliar also assumed the captaincy, and by his own admission probably tried a bit too hard and didn’t get the results.

This season, stepping back from the captaincy he was a bit more relaxed, and able to focus more on his batting.

“Last season it was tough opening and captaining,” Mudaliar said.

Mudaliar’s season mirrored an improved season for Wests overall. They made the finals for the first time in a while and fell heartbreakingly short of the grand final.

“We probably could have challenged Old Boys. We beat them twice and they beat us once,” he said.

“But that’s all hypothetical because we couldn’t get past Souths.”

Young tearaway Tom Scoble was also outstanding for them. Playing his first season in Tamworth, he won the first grade bowling average with 17 wickets at 8.18.

“He was phenomenal. He was a handful every time he bowled,” Mudaliar said.

Champions Old Boys figured prominently among the night’s winners with Abel Carney topping the batting average with 353 runs at an average of 58.67, while spinner Jack Richards topped the wicket count with 30.

Paceman Aaron Hazlewood meanwhile scooped the grand final man of the match award and President Cup for the best individual performance of the year for his amazing major semi-final effort, and was just pipped by Jaryd Stevens (8-14) for the John Muller best bowling performance.

Bective East skipper Adam Jones won the first grade batting aggregate with 513 runs, while South Tamworth allrounder Ryan Meppem capped off his first season in Tamworth with the Most Outstanding Junior Cricketer award after scoring 326 runs and claiming 25 wickets, and young sensation Jessica Davidson was adjudged the Ron George Junior Cricketer of the Year.

On the representative front, City quick Tait Jordan received the Rep Player of the Year award ahead of club-mate Tom Fitzgerald.

Jordan was Tamworth’s leading wicket-taker with 19 at 8.16, while Fitzgerald was the top run-scorer with 228. Michael Rixon won the average and was also named the Most Outstanding Player for the McDonalds Twenty20.