Walter Lawrence Trophy
The trophy was instituted in 1934 by Sir Walter Lawrence, a builder and cricket enthusiast from Hertfordshire, the first recipient being Frank Woolley. At this stage in its history, the criterion was the time taken to score a hundred rather than the number of balls faced. The award was made every season up to and including 1939 when Lawrence died. When first class cricket resumed in 1945 after the Second World War, Lawrence's son Guy left the presentation of the Trophy in abeyance. It was finally re-instated by Guy's son-in-law, Brian Thornton for the 1966 season. The recipient was then the player who had scored the fastest England Test century in terms of balls faced, at home or away, in the calendar year. The 1970 award was made to Geoffrey Boycott for "the most meritorious innings of the England v The Rest of the World series", but in 1971 the original version of the award was restored. Since 1985, the trophy has been decided in terms of balls faced rather than minutes spent at the crease.
University games were eligible for the trophy until 1995 and from 2001 to 2003. Until 2007, only first-class centuries could qualify for the award, but eligibility was widened in 2008 to include limited overs cricket. Graham Napier became the first man to win the trophy under these new conditions by scoring a 44-ball hundred in a Twenty20 match. Matches involving individual university sides (i.e. University Centre of Cricketing Excellence matches and the Varsity Match) are excluded, although games involving the combined British Universities team are eligible. Three other variants of the Walter Lawrence Trophy are also awarded annually: Walter Lawrence Women's Award, Walter Lawrence MCC Universities Award and Walter Lawrence Schools Award.
Four batsmen have won the main award on more than one occasion, twice each: Ian Botham, Graham Lloyd, Leslie Ames and Viv Richards. Kent have the most winners (8) followed by Somerset (6). The winner of the main award for the 2021 English cricket season is England batter Liam Livingstone, who struck 100 in 42 balls against Pakistan in the first T20 international match.
Winners
References
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- ^ "Hall of Fame". Walter Lawrence Trophy. Archived from the original on 6 July 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
- ^ "Fleming wins the Walter Lawrence Trophy and £5000". ESPNcricinfo. 23 September 2002. Archived from the original on 3 September 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
- ^ Levison, Brian; Martin-Jenkins, Christopher (20 September 2012). All in a Day's Cricket: An Anthology of Outstanding Cricket Writing. Constable. p. 108. ISBN 978-1472117199. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
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- ^ Bracegirdle, Dave (4 April 2016). "Cambridge MCCU vs Nottinghamshire: Statistical Preview". Trent Bridge. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
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- ^ Boycott, Geoffrey (28 May 2009). The Best XI. Penguin. p. 129. ISBN 978-0141037219. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
- ^ "Vivian Richards – Batting machine". Trinidad and Tobago Guardian. 11 April 2010. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
- ^ "Gilchrist wins Walter Lawrence Trophy". Lord's. 7 October 2010. Archived from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
- ^ "Archive – Tuesday, 21 September 1999". Lancashire Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
- ^ Duncan Hamilton, ed. (25 March 2011). Wisden on Yorkshire: An Anthology. John Wisden & Co Ltd. p. 146. ISBN 978-1408124628. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
- ^ Randall, Charles (2 October 2003). "Olonga will ply trade at higher pitch". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 29 February 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
- ^ Pringle, Derek (20 September 2004). "Tale of a summer when England were kings". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 1 March 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
- ^ "Blackwell smashes fastest hundred of 2005". ESPNcricinfo. 24 September 2005. Archived from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
- ^ "O'Brien wins Walter Lawrence Trophy". Lord's. 19 October 2011. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
- ^ "Scott Styris hits equal third-fastest T20 ton as Sussex beat Gloucestershire". BBC Sport. 24 July 2012. Archived from the original on 7 November 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
- ^ "Knight among Walter Lawrence Trophy winners". Lord's. 8 October 2013. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
- ^ Lawrence Booth, ed. (9 April 2015). The Shorter Wisden 2015: The Best Writing from Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2015. John Wisden & Co Ltd. ISBN 978-1472913562. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
- ^ "The Walter Lawrence Trophy". The Walter Lawrence Trophy. Archived from the original on 9 August 2020. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
External links