Ford takes out GCA1 Champion Player gong

Lara's Vishesh Malhotra impressed with the bat and the wicketkeeping gloves to finish second in the GCA1 Champion Player leaderboard. Photo: Supplied

ST Peter’s captain Luke Ford has capped off an impressive GCA1 campaign to finish first in the Champion Player leaderboard for the home and away season.

Points for the Champion Player are awarded for general statistics with both bat and ball, including runs, wickets, catches and stumpings, to indicate top-performing players.

Ford made the most runs in the league, with a whopping 690, and averaged over 86 per match.

His top score came against South Barwon when he made 129, which was his third ton on the season.

The all-rounder also took 14 wickets across the season to finish with 1,000 Champion Player points.

Lara gun battter Vishesh Malhotra finished second on 895 points and battled for the most runs with Ford for most of the season.

Malhotra made a famous 209 runs off 153 balls to open the season and also wicket-kept for his side, where he took 22 catches and two runouts.

The Cats were well-represented in the Champion Player leaderboard, with Daniel Weigl and Kaden Marum finishing third and fourth with 759 and 731 respective points.

Grovedale’s Jordan Moran rounded out the top five, with 727 points. Moran made two tons across the season and took eight catches as a wicketkeeper.

GCA1 home and away season Champion Player leaderboard:

Luke Ford (St Peter’s) – 1,000 pts

Vishesh Malhotra (Lara) – 895

Daniel Weigl (Lara) – 759

Kaden Marum (Lara) – 731

Jordan Moran (Grovedale) – 727

GCA1 home and away season runs leaderboard:

Luke Ford (St Peter’s) – 690 (86.25 avg)

Vishesh Malhotra (Lara) – 620 (56.36 avg)

Luke Inglis (East Belmont) 596 (66.22 avg)

Jordan Moran (Grovedale) – 577 (57.7 avg)