daryl mitchell is on the short list for the sports personality of the year at the 2017 herefordshire and worcestershire sports awards.
the worcestershire opener is amongst the six nominees – individuals and clubs – put together by the readers of bullivant media publications along with a panel of experts.
mitchell enjoyed a prolific 2017 season at New Road and played a major role in worcestershire winning the specsavers county championship division two title.
the 33-year-old scored seven centuries in 14 matches – the highest tally in a season since tom moody in 1996.
daryl rated his hundred in the win over promotion rivals nottinghamshire at trent bridge as the best of his career.
he also made a significant contribution to the county topping the north group in the royal london one-day cup and securing a money-spinning home semi-final.
mitchell became the 25th worcestershire player to score 10,000 first class runs for the county and also overtook moeen ali to become their leading run-scorer in t20 cricket.
the awards evening will take place at sixways on thursday, november 23 and you can cast your vote by clicking onto the www.sportspartnership.co.uk website
the other nominees are:
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bromsgrove sporting fc
there is no denying bromsgrove sporting fans have been taken on quite a journey this year.
after three years of promotion heartache, the rouslers finally claimed the title of midland league division one champions in april.
however, that is not the jewel in the crown, it is the fact paul smith’s men managed to win the league without losing a single game, winning 33 and drawing five.
what is even more incredible is that from the turn of 2017, sporting won 20 league games on the spin to cruise to promotion.
away from their league success, the rouslers came to within an inch of gracing the turf at wembley in the final of the fa vase.
sporting’s vase run captured the imagination of the town with four-figure crowds watching the wins over higher ranked sides bristol manor farm and buckland athletic.
now into the semi-finals, smith’s men were given the task of taking on lincolnshire side cleethorpes town and a fantastic crowd of 3,349 turned up at the victoria ground to witness the sides draw 1-1 in the first leg.
with dreams of playing at the home of football just 90 minutes away, sporting’s vase endeavours came to a sad end as gary king’s first-minute goal was enough to ensure it was the owls who would be going through.
droitwich rugby
it has been quite a turnaround for droitwich rfc over the past year.
following their crushing relegation from midlands two west (south) last term, the glyn mitchell memorial ground club have had to rebuild from the very bottom.
adam drew came in as the club’s new director and, with a string of new signings and promotion of youth, droitwich have finally reached their potential.
led by captain james shewell, who arrived from local rivals bromsgrove, droitwich cruised to the midlands three west (south) title to secure an immediate return to midlands two west (south).
the rampant yellow and blacks showed no mercy, winning all 22 of their league games and conceding an average of just under ten points per game – a remarkable achievement for a club which only won once the year before.
away from their league success, droitwich also won the midlands senior vase and got the chance to play at twickenham in the final of the rfu senior vase.
unfortunately surrey side farnham proved too good for drew’s men in the final but, for a town with a population of around 23,000, droitwich should be proud to have got the chance to have played at the home of rugby.
evie richards
rising star evie richards continued to make a name for herself this year.
the malvern rider has built on her success of 2016 and started 2017 on a very positive note by claiming a bronze medal at the cyclo-cross world championships in luxembourg.
although the 20-year-old failed to retain her title, the malvern cycle sport member went on to achieve second place in the first cross country uci mountain bike world cup in the czech republic in may.
it could have been a victory for richards had it not been for a small crash on the first lap which allowed eventual winner kate courtney to take an early lead.
the u23 category rider never let this deter her from clinching more success and it was not long before she was celebrating her first ever world cup win just weeks later.
richards dominated the climbs in albstadt, germany, to claim her maiden victory.
hereford fc
hereford fc have continued their surge up the non-league ladder with more resounding successes in 2017.
a season after storming to the midland league premier division crown with 107 points and reaching the fa vase final at wembley, the bulls went marching on as they captured the 2016/17 southern league division one south & west title with 108 points.
peter beadle’s men topped the pile with a sensational 108 points as they lost just four matches, finishing 26 points clear of second place.
the 2017/18 campaign has also begun in hugely encouraging fashion for the edgar street club – reformed in 2014 as a phoenix club for hereford united – with them firmly in the title race.
hereford’s success has clearly not gone unnoticed this season, with the bulls watched by a mightily impressive average home crowd of just over 2,600 in the southern league premier at the time of writing.
furthermore, the newly-formed club have reached the fa cup first round proper for the first time in their history, setting up a tie at home to afc telford united
jonny arr
worcester warriors centurion jonny arr was awarded a testimonial season this year to honour a decade of service with his hometown club.
since making his first team debut in 2007, having initially started playing rugby in the club’s mini junior set-up, the prolific scrum half has featured in 193 games for warriors across all competitions, with 104 in the aviva premiership – making him the club’s most capped active player.
arr’s testimonial season will see a number of key events taking place throughout the 2017/18 campaign to honour him and raise funds for the warriors community foundation and restart rugby.
the 28-year-old former royal grammar school student featured ten times for warriors in the 2016/17 premiership campaign as he helped to steer the club away from relegation earlier this year.
with fellow number nine francois hougaard away on international duty with south africa as the 2017/18 season got under way, director of rugby gary gold again put his faith in arr, with the half back featuring in five of warriors’ six premiership games so far.
during his time at sixways, arr has helped worcester secure promotion to the premiership both in 2010/11 and 2014/2015 and has picked up the club’s young player of the season, most improved player of the season and player of the season awards.
he was also part of the england u20s side which won the six nations grand slam in 2008.
