JOE Leach has won Worcestershire County Cricket Club's Arctic Spas players' player of the year award for 2015 with Joe Clarke lifting the young player accolade.

Leach and Clarke received their honours when Worcestershire staged their 150th anniversary gala evening awards night at New Road last night.

Chairman Stephen Taylor paid tribute to Steve Rhodes and David Leatherdale who are both celebrating 30 years service with the County. The duo each received a long service award.

All-rounder Leach ended the season with 59 LV= County Championship Division One wickets and nearly 500 runs as well being an integral part of the Rapids side which reached the NatWest T20 Blast quarter-finals.

Clarke broke into the senior side in June and scored his maiden centuries at first team level against Gloucestershire in the Royal London One-Day and Sussex in the LV= CC before being called up by the England Lions for their winter programme.

Worcestershire director of cricket Rhodes has hailed the contribution of the pair.

He said: "The players' player is a lovely award because you want to earn the respect and accolades from your team-mates more than anybody.

"For Joe to come up with it, he has done it simply on his performances and his attitude and approach to his game and the team cause.

"He has done really well.When you think, he didn't even start the season in the team initially and he has taken over when we had the injury to Gareth Andrew and he has got the award through performances of runs and wickets.

"He has got both strings to his bow and he has got a first class 100 under his belt so he can certainly bat and he has proved he is a very effective and has opened the bowling."

"With Joe Clarke, if you think of where he has come from, second team cricket with a couple of double hundreds at an early age and done well for Shropshire, done well in league cricket, done well in the second team and when given his chance in the first team, he has done well too.

"For him to go and make it into the Lions squad is terrific news for him and us but quite a rapid rise in many ways.

"He has got character, self belief in the way he can play, and has got an uncanny knack of finding the middle of the bat.

"They are good qualities for batting and moving forward and trying to make it at England level."