Walter Lawrence Trophy 2022

Stirling Picks Up The Silver

Ireland’s swashbuckling opener, Paul Stirling, stirred the pulses on his debut for Birmingham Bears at Edgbaston on May 26 with a thrilling hundred off 46 balls, which has won him this year’s Walter Lawrence Trophy. Stirling smote 8 fours and 8 sixes in bringing up his century before perishing on 119 in the Vitality Blast match against Northamptonshire on May 26.

Paul Stirling
Photograph: Sam Bagnall

A worldwide, destructive force in limited-over-cricket, Stirling’s 119 was his third and highest T-20 score, featuring 9 fours and 10 sixes – including 34 runs off one over, paving the way for a Bears’ victory, by 125-runs, in a game decided by the Duckworth/Lewis method.

Of his winning knock, Stirling commented : ‘You’re never quite sure how your first game’s going to go, so it couldn’t have gone much better. It’s a case of getting in, and if it’s your day, it’ll come out of the middle of the bat, and I think that’s what happened – it just happened to be my day!

Born in Belfast, Stirling made his debut for Ireland in 2018, aged 17, and has played in 3 Tests, 139 One-Day Internationals and 114 T-20 Internationals to date. Made vice-captain of his country in 2020, he has scored 13 ODI hundreds, including Ireland’s highest ODI innings of 177 against Canada at Toronto in 2010. Stirling became the first Ireland player to score 5,000 ODI runs and in the annual ICC Awards in January he was included in ICC Men’s ODI Team of the Year for 2021.

After playing in their youth sides and the county’s 2nd XI, Stirling signed a three-year contract with Middlesex in 2009. However, his future with the county ended in 2019 after Ireland’s ascent to Test match status led to him being classed as an overseas player and since then his supreme attacking talents in the one-day game have seen him concentrate on the limited-over franchise.

As well as Ireland, Middlesex and Birmingham Bears, the 32-year-old all-rounder has represented Northamptonshire, Guyana Amazon Warriors, Kerala Kings, Khulna Titans, Bengal Tigers, Chitwan Tigers, Islamabad United, Dambulla Viiking, Kandahar Knights, Sylhet Royals, Paarl Rocks, Boost Defenders, Royals, Northerns and Southern Brave.

Paul will receive £2,500 plus a special medallion at the Walter Lawrence Trophy Presentation Dinner in the Long Room at Lord’s on November 2.

Birmingham Bears v Northamptonshire scorecard
Paul Stirling’s career statistics

The Walter Lawrence Trophy, now in its 88th year, is awarded for the fastest hundred of the season and is open to all domestic county competitions as well as One-Day Internationals, T20 Internationals, The Hundred and Test matches in England.

VIDEO:Birmingham Bears v Northamptonshire, Vitality Blast, 26 May 2022

It’s A Nat Trick!

England all-rounder Natalie Sciver, has won this year’s Walter Lawrence Women’s Award for the third time, thanks to a highly impressive innings of 169 not out for England against South Africa in the one-off, drawn, Test match at Taunton on June 29. Nat’s unbeaten innings was scored off 263 balls, which included 21 fours, and was her maiden Test century. The 29-year-old vice-captain shared a sixth-wicket stand of 207 with debutant Alice Davidson-Richards, who also scored a century, to help England post a total of 417-8 declared, after they had slumped to 121-5 following South Africa’s first innings total of 284. Interestingly, Nat and Alice both attended Epsom College, where they played together between 2007 and 2011.

Natalie Sciver
Photograph: ECB/Getty

Among her many accolades, the 30-year-old, who was born in Tokyo and grew up in Poland as a child, became the first cricketer for England to take a hat-trick in a Women’s T20 International match. On March 7 last year, she captained the England team for the first time in the third T20 International against New Zealand after Heather Knight was ruled out of the fixture due to injury, and this year, with Knight sidelined with a hip injury, she led the national side in the games against South Africa and in the Commonwealth Games. Most notably, following England women’s 2017 World Cup victory, she was named as one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of The Year in the 2018 edition.

Nat is one of the world’s most sought-after players and has represented a large number of franchises including Surrey Stars, Melbourne Stars, Perth Scorchers, Supernovas, Northern Diamonds and Trent Rockets, who she captained in The Hundred this season. Another string to her bow was creating the ‘Natmeg’, a shot christened after she hit a ball through her legs during an England game. On a personal note, after a Covid-enforced delay, Nat finally tied the knot with England’s Katherine Brunt in May this year.

Nat was due to lead England in three T20s and three One-Day Internationals in the recent series against India but, sadly, withdrew to focus on her mental health. ‘I’ve played a lot of cricket over the last nine months and I am very emotionally fatigued,’ she announced. ‘Elite sport demands a lot and for the moment I’m not able to perform without compromising my own well-being, so I need to take some time away from cricket in order to focus on myself. It’s the right decision for me and it’s the right decision for the team.’ England women’s director of cricket Jonathan Finch said: ‘We fully support Nat and her decision to step away from this series. Cricket is important, but it is wholly insignificant in the context of an individual’s health and happiness. The welfare of our players and staff is always our number-one priority and we will support Nat throughout this period.’

Nat has now a hat-trick of Walter Lawrence Women’s Award wins, having won in 2014 and 2018, and she will receive £2,500 plus a special medallion at the Walter Lawrence Trophy Presentation Dinner in the Long Room at Lord’s on November 2.

The Walter Lawrence Women’s Award is for the player who makes the highest individual score in a season from ECB domestic cup games and all England Women’s matches played on home soil.

George’s Triple Treat

Oxford University captain, George Hargrave, is the winner of this year’s Walter Lawrence Universities Award for an incredible innings of 322 not out in the drawn match against Cambridge University at The Parks on July 6.

Succeeding in his objective of ‘batting them out of the game’, George’s mammoth knock, scored off 385 balls and containing 36 fours and 1 six, is the highest individual score in the history of one of the oldest fixtures in cricket, spanning 195 years and 175 matches. As well as a record score for Oxford, George’s innings continues a prolific run of four centuries in a row against Cambridge in Varsity matches since beginning his studies at the university.

The 23-year-old, right-hand batsman who also ‘keeps wicket, was born in Walsall and educated at Shrewsbury School, where he scored over 3,000 runs. In 2014, at the age of 15, he became Birmingham League side Shrewsbury’s youngest player to play for the first team, and was also selected for the prestigious Bunbury Festival before going up to Hertford College, Oxford, where he is in his last year studying philosophy. The former Warwickshire academy youngster has represented Shropshire in Minor Counties cricket and also represented Derbyshire 2nd XI this summer.

George’s triple hundred is the highest score to claim the Walter Lawrence University Award, and he is the third Oxford player to win it since its inception in 2006. He will receive £500 and a special medallion at the Walter Lawrence Trophy Presentations Dinner in the Long Room at Lord’s on November 2.

The Walter Lawrence Universities Award is for the highest score by a player from the six University Centres of Cricketing Excellence (UCCE) against the first-class counties or in the UCCE Championship.

Ronnie’s Big Hit For New Hall

Ronnie McKenna of New Hall School, Boreham, Chelmsford, has won the 2022 Walter Lawrence Schools Award for the highest score by a school batter against MCC. Opening the innings, Ronnie’s score of 134, made off 138 balls and including 14 fours and 1 six, was the catalyst for a thrilling win by New Hall off the penultimate ball of the match as they chased down MCC’s 231-9 declared.

Born in Basildon, Essex, the 18-year-old right-hand bat and wicket-keeper, joined New Hall in 2015 and has become a key member of the school’s cricket program. He made his debut for the 1st XI when he was in year 9 in 2017. Subsequently Ronnie has been part of the Essex CCC Academy and has been playing for the county’s Second XI in the last two seasons.

Ronnie, who will be in Australia playing for Newtown and Chilwell CC in Victoria, is the eleventh winner of the Schools Award and his prize of a special medallion and Gray-Nicolls cricket bat will be collected on his behalf by his parents at the Walter Lawrence Trophy Presentation Dinner in The Long Room at Lord’s on November 2.


The quartet of Walter Lawrence Trophy awards, supported by Veuve Clicquot, encompass four distinct areas of the game: the Walter Lawrence Trophy, for the fastest century of the season; the Universities award for the highest score by a player from the six University Centres of Cricketing Excellence (UCCE) against the first-class counties or in the UCCE Championship; The Walter Lawrence Women’s Award for the player who makes the highest individual score in a season from the ECB domestic cup games and all England Women’s matches played on home soil, and, finally, the Walter Lawrence Schools Award for the highest score by a school ‘batter’ against MCC.