Medallists Celebrated

Prolific Norths batter Mitch Doolan won the Peter Burge Medal for the first time whle Queensland Fire captain Georgia Redmayne also celebrated her inaugural Kath Smith Medal win in a tie with Tess Cooper, who claimed her second medal.

As determined by the Queensland Cricket Umpires, Doolan finished with a flurry of votes to pip Ipswich allrounder Noah Emmerson to claim the peak award, 

The 24-year-old right-hander from Mackay scored almost 1000 runs for Norths across all formats, including a highest score of 181, after starting the season in second grade for the Vikings.

He is the first winner from Norths since Nathan McSweeney in 2020-21.

Doolan, who has hard to content with Crohns' disease during his career, also played in Summer Showcase Series for the Queensland Premier Cricket side against the Queensland Cricket Academy line-up.

It was the second time in the history of the Kath Smith Medal that there was a tie, with 2019-20 winner Cooper rewarded for another consistent season for Sandgate-Redcliffe.

Redmayne, who led Queensland to its second WNCL title during the season, was also a dominant force for premiers Western Suburbs when she was available and took out her first medal as a result.

The Bulls Masters First Grade Team of the Year and the Katherine Raymont Shield Team of the Year were also announced.

The Peter Burge Medal is awarded each season to the best and fairest First Grade cricketer as judged by the first-grade umpires. 

The award is named in honour of Peter Burge, widely regarded as one of Queensland's finest home-grown batsman.

Burge enjoyed a 15-year Sheffield Shield career, scoring 7,627 runs at an average of 56.08, including 24 centuries, in 91 matches. He captained Queensland 29 times. He also played 42 Test matches for Australia, scoring 2,290 runs at 38.16, including four centuries.

The Kath Smith Medal is awarded each season to the best and fairest women's cricketer playing in Queensland Premier Grade Competition - Women's First-Grade, known as the Katherine Raymont Shield, as judged by the umpires.

The award is named in honour of Kath Smith, who played six Tests for Australia in the 1930s and was vice-captain of the Australian team that played the very first women's Test against England at the Brisbane Exhibition Ground in December 1934 and for the two subsequent Test matches played during January 1935 in Sydney and Melbourne. 

She was also the vice-captain of the Australian team for the tour to England in 1937, again playing in the three Test matches played.