PCA Awards: Why Two Somerset Stars Stole the Show

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Somerset's Craig Overton and Sophie Luff won top honors at the PCA Awards, while Sonny Baker and Tilly Corteen-Coleman took the young player prizes in West London.

Every so often, an awards night delivers a story that feels bigger than the trophies themselves. That's exactly what happened at the PCA Awards in West London, where Somerset's Craig Overton and Sophie Luff walked away with the top honors — and honestly, the cricket world is still buzzing about it. ### Craig Overton and Sophie Luff Win Top PCA Awards Players voted for these awards, which makes them extra special. It's one thing to impress the media, but it's another to earn respect from the people who actually share the pitch with you. Overton and Luff, both Somerset teammates, claimed the men's and women's Player of the Year prizes after seasons that left little room for debate. Overton put together a monster year. He scored 734 runs, including three centuries, and took 53 wickets in the County Championship. Warwickshire may have won the title ahead of Somerset, but Overton's individual numbers were impossible to ignore. He also dragged Somerset to Blast Finals Day with an unbeaten 79 off 30 balls in the quarter-final against Yorkshire at Headingley. Then he helped Trent Rockets reach the Hundred final. "It's a phenomenal feeling," he said. Keep in mind, this is a guy who hasn't played international cricket since 2022. That kind of comeback story? Yeah, it hits different. ### Sophie Luff's Quiet Breakthrough Luff, Somerset's captain, moved up to open the batting this year and finished as the club's top run-scorer in both the T20 Blast and the Metro Bank One-Day Cup. She played every single game for Trent Rockets as they won the women's Hundred for the first time. Here's a stat that jumps out: Luff is the first uncapped player to win the women's award since Eve Jones in 2021. She said she had unlocked something by taking on the new role at the top of the order. Sometimes a small positional change is all it takes to flip a career into another gear. ### Sonny Baker and Tilly Corteen-Coleman Take Young Player Awards Baker, another Somerset academy product, won the men's young player award after making his Test debut for England at The Oval. He also played in the recent T20I series against Sri Lanka. In the Blast, he took 21 wickets for Hampshire, with five-wicket hauls in both the quarter-final and the final. Then he won the Hundred with Manchester Super Giants. Baker said he had dreamed of a Test debut since he started playing cricket at the age of 11. That's a long wait for a dream to come true — and a reminder that patience still matters in this game. Corteen-Coleman, a 19-year-old left-arm spinner from Surrey, made her England debuts in ODI and T20I cricket this summer. She finished as the joint-highest wicket-taker in the Hundred. Her goal? Complete her set of international caps by playing a Test at Headingley in next summer's Ashes series. She also hopes to join the red-ball camp ahead of 2027. ### Heather Knight and Tammy Beaumont Receive Special Awards Heather Knight, who retired from international cricket this summer, received the PCA Outstanding Contribution award. She previously served as the association's vice-chair. Her former England teammate Tammy Beaumont received the ECB Special Merit award. Toyota sponsored the awards. PCA chief executive Daryl Mitchell called the event the most prestigious awards ceremony in cricket and said it lets the game finish the year by recognizing its players. ### PCA Awards: Full List of Winners - Men's Player of the Year: Craig Overton (shortlisted: Joe Clarke, George Hill, Dan Lawrence) - Women's Player of the Year: Sophie Luff (shortlisted: Maia Bouchier, Sophia Dunkley, Mady Villiers) - Men's Young Player of the Year: Sonny Baker (shortlisted: Charlie Allison, Naavya Sharma) - Women's Young Player of the Year: Tilly Corteen-Coleman (shortlisted: Jodi Grewcock, Charley Phillips) - Outstanding Contribution: Heather Knight - ECB Special Merit: Tammy Beaumont - Umpire of the Year: Ian Blackwell (men's) and Gabi Brown (women's) > "It's a phenomenal feeling." — Craig Overton So what's the takeaway here? Awards nights like this remind us that cricket's best stories often come from players who grind away without the spotlight. Overton and Luff didn't just win trophies — they showed that patience, adaptability, and a bit of belief can still change everything.

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