Record-Breaker O’Brien

Gloucestershire’s record-breaking Irishman, Kevin O’Brien, is the 2011 winner of the Walter Lawrence Trophy, awarded for the fastest hundred of the season. The big-hitting all-rounder smashed a 44-ball century against Middlesex on June 26 in the Friends Life t20 South Group match at Uxbridge that saw records tumbling. The 27-year-old Dubliner and his opening partner Hamish Marshall, whose 53-ball ton in the game made him the Trophy’s runner-up, put on an awesome opening stand of 192, the highest partnership for any wicket in domestic T20 cricket. In addition, Gloucestershire became the first side to boast two centuries in the same T20 innings, and the team’s total of 254 for 3 is the highest in domestic T20 matches and was only 4 runs away from equalling the world record.

Kevin O’Brien - 26/06/2011
Photograph by Martin Bennett

O’Brien thumped 9 sixes and 7 fours in his hundred, finishing with 119 off 52 balls, reviving memories of his amazing 50-ball World-Cup century for Ireland against England in March – the fastest in the competition’s history. Capping a momentous year, he rates the Walter Lawrence Trophy-winning knock as on a par with his earlier feat: ‘It’s up there with the Bangalore innings,’ he commented. ‘I was hitting it as well as I did in the World Cup against England. You can’t go out and smash every ball from the start so we took an over or so to assess the pitch and the bowling. Then I started teeing off and it was just my day. I had a bit of luck as a couple of catches went down, but you always need that in 20-over games. It was a smallish ground and I kept managing to clear the ropes.’

O’Brien will receive the Trophy and a cheque for £5,000 at the special presentation dinner in the Long Room at Lord’s on October 18.

Now in its 77th year, the Walter Lawrence Trophy, awarded for the fastest hundred of the season, is open to all domestic county competitions as well as One-Day Internationals, Twenty20 Internationals and Test Matches in England.

Jones Hits The Heights

The winner of this year’s Walter Lawrence Trophy award for the highest-scoring batsman from the six MCC Universities is Durham’s Chris Jones, who recorded a monumental 252 not out in the MCCU Championship match against Oxford at The Parks on April 22.

Scored off just 271 balls, Jones’ unbeaten 252 included 40 fours and one six and is the highest score recorded since the award was introduced in 2006. Maintaining his rich vein of form, the 20-year-old opener registered a second double century on May 5, scoring 202 against Cambridge MCCU at Fenner’s.

Jones, who also plays for Somerset, is the first Durham University batsman to win award, which is for the highest scorer in an innings played against one of the other five MCCUs or against one of the first-class counties. He will receive a silver medallion and prize of £1,000 at the Walter Lawrence Trophy presentation dinner in The Long Room at Lord’s.

Parsons Knows The Score!

Stuart Parsons is the inaugural winner of a new award launched by the trustees of the Walter Lawrence Trophy this season for the highest score by a school batsman against MCC, who play over 280 schools in their busy season of out-matches.

Representing Reading School and chasing an MCC total of 299 for 9 declared, the 17-year-old went on to make an unbeaten 212 out of his side’s total of 300 for 1. Parsons, whose double century was scored off 182 balls and included 40 fours, wins £250, and receives a special medallion as well as an invitation, with his parents, to the traditional end-of-season Walter Lawrence Trophy presentation dinner in the Long Room at Lord’s.

VIDEO: Middlesex Panthers v Gloucestershire Gladiators – Friends Life t20 match highlights (26June11)