Walter Lawrence Trophy 2021

Lightning Livingstone

Liam Livingstone has won this year’s Walter Lawrence Trophy, awarded for the fastest hundred of the season, with a scorching 42-ball century scored against Pakistan in the 1st T20 International at Trent Bridge on July 16. Livingstone smashed two England T20 records in the process, the fastest 50 in 17 balls – eclipsing Eoin Morgan’s 21-balls – and the fastest hundred, beating Dawid Malan’s 48-baller.

Liam Livingstone
Photograph: Getty/ECB

Attempting to overhaul Pakistan’s huge total of 232 for 6, in what would have been an England record-chase, Livingstone stood tall as wickets fell around him, smoting 9 sixes and 6 fours in his innings of 103. Sadly, they fell short of their target but Livingstone’s brutally powerful knock, in only his sixth T20I, cemented his place in England’s 15-man preliminary squad for the T20 World Cup in the UAE and Oman beginning on October 17.

Born in Barrow-in-Furness on August 4, 1993, Livingstone’s belligerent batting ability first caught the public’s attention after scoring a massive 350 off 138 balls for his club side Nantwich in a Royal London National Club Championship match in 2015, thought to be one of the highest individual scores in one-day history. He joined Lancashire the same year and made his first-class debut for them in 2016 before attaining the club captaincy in 2018.

Following a stand-out performance for the England Lions side during the Ashes Winter of 2017/18, Livingstone was called up for England’s Test squad in 2018 and has since gained regular call-ups for the one-day squads.

A right-hand bat, who bowls right-arm off-spin and leg-breaks, Livingstone’s exhilarating displays with the bat won him the Player of the Series award in the inaugural season of The Hundred, in which he represented losing finalists, Birmingham Phoenix. Not surprisingly, he has become a hot favourite in franchise cricket playing for, among others, Rajasthan Royals, Karachi Kings, Perth Scorchers and Peshawar Zalmi.

Liam is the first player to win the Walter Lawrence Trophy with an England innings since the rule changed from ‘minutes taken’ to ‘balls received’ in 1985 and he will receive £2,500 plus a special medallion at the Walter Lawrence Trophy Presentation Dinner in the Long Room at Lord’s on November 3.

England v Pakistan scorecard
Liam Livingstone’s career statistics

The Walter Lawrence Trophy, now in its 87th 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:England v Pakistan, T20 International, 16 July 2021

Amy’s Sparkler

Amy Jones is the winner of this year’s Walter Lawrence Women’s Award with an unbeaten innings of 163, scored for Central Sparks against Western Storm, in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy match at Birmingham on May 31.

Despite late challenges on September 18 by Sofie Luff with an unbeaten 157 and Kathryn Bryce with 162, Amy held on to top spot. Her winning innings scored off 114 balls and including 17 fours and 6 sixes, propelled her side to a total of 295-7 that set up a 41-run victory in the 50-over game. The in-form 28-year-old England wicket-keeper/batter’s sparkling knock followed a stirring run-a-ball 114 against Northern Diamonds two days previously.

Jones, born in Solihull, represented the Warwickshire Academy in her mid-teens, and began to be selected for England Development and Academy programmes. In 2011, when she was 18, she was called up to the England Women’s Academy at Loughborough University. Amy made her One-Day International debut for England in the 2013 World Cup, scoring 41 against Sri Lanka; her T20 International debut came five months later against Pakistan and she made her Test debut in 2019 against Australia.

A powerful striker of the ball, Amy has become an England regular across all formats since 2018, often opening the batting, and now ‘keeping on a permanent basis after Sarah Taylor’s retirement in 2019. To date, Amy has played in 2 Tests, 55 One-Day Internationals and 63 T20 Internationals.

As well as playing for Loughborough Lightning and Central Sparks, Amy captained Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred and has also represented Warwickshire Women, Sydney Sixers and Perth Scorchers. She is the tenth winner of the Award since its inception, joining England’s Heather Knight, Natalie Sciver and Tammy Beaumont, and will receive £2,500 plus a special medallion at the Walter Lawrence Trophy Presentations Dinner in the Long Room at Lord’s on November 3.

The Walter Lawrence Women’s Award is awarded for the highest individual score in a season from ECB Women’s one-day competitions and all England Women’s matches played on home soil.

Timby Hits The Jackpot

Jack Timby of Leeds/Bradford UCCE has won this year’s Walter Lawrence Universities Award with an innings of 152 scored against Loughborough UCCE at Loughborough on April 15. His 152 , scored off 152 balls, beat the record for the highest individual score by a Leeds/Bradford UCCE player in one-day cricket and his stand of 184 with Josh de Caires for the second-wicket is a new club best for any wicket in the format.

Born in Boston, Lincolnshire, Jack remembers the innings as a bit of a grind at the start against a spirited Loughborough bowling attack before going through the gears and gradually putting his foot down. The 22-year-old, who is in his fourth year at university studying for a Masters in Management & Finance, had a fine season with the bat scoring 341 runs at an average of 89 in the BUCS 50-over games and 195 runs (avge. 39) in the T20 matches.

Among the many influences on his cricket career so far, Jack names his father, as well as Elliot Wilson at the Worcestershire CCC Academy and Tom Craddock the High-Performance Coach for the County Age Group pathway and the Development squad at Yorkshire CCC. Having played one Second XI game for Worcestershire against Scotland, Jack has high hopes of furthering his career with the county.

Jack is the third Leeds/Bradford player of the last four University Award winners and he will receive £500 and a special medallion at the Walter Lawrence Trophy Presentations Dinner in the Long Room at Lord’s on November 3.

Thumbs Up For Gumbs

Sheridon Gumbs of Bradfield College is the winner of this year’s Walter Lawrence Schools Award, for the highest score against MCC, with his innings of 154 not out on June 11 at The Pit. Chasing an MCC total of 238 -6 declared, Sheridon, opening the innings, saw his team home to an 8-wicket victory with a dazzling knock featuring 17 fours and 4 sixes in 129 balls.

His Master of Cricket, Mike Hill, reflected on Sheridon’s feat: ‘Having looked effortlessly comfortable and then getting out for 30 odd in previous innings, Sheridon set about chasing down the MCCs 238 with determination and focus. Chanceless in his first 100 he scored predominantly on the off side at a run a ball. With a cover drive he passed the 87 scored by his brother Shelvin for the MCC. His third 50 came much more aggressively with huge blows up over the growing crowd on Pit bank. This was Sheridon’s fourth century for the XI and comfortably the most dominant. As captain of the XI in the LVIth, Sheridon coped well with the most difficult role in schoolboy sport: understanding that he had to manage boys like himself with professional aspirations as well as those simply playing for fun. Sheridon has been playing for Surrey age group sides for three years, having moved across from Bucks, and this summer made his debut for their 2nd XI as well as representing London and the East in the Super 4s.’

Sheridon is the tenth winner of the Schools Award and he will receive a special medallion and a Gray-Nicolls cricket bat at the Walter Lawrence Trophy Presentation Dinner in The Long Room at Lord’s on November 3.

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.