The Walter Lawrence Trophy

Aussie Rules The Roost

admin — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 05:44:51 +0000

Adam Gilchrist, Middlesex’s star signing for the Twenty20 campaign, has smashed his way into the lead for this year’s Walter Lawrence Trophy with a blistering 47-ball hundred. The 38-year-old wicket-keeper/batsman thumped 9 fours and 7 sixes during his century in the victory over Kent at Canterbury, in the Friends Provident T20 match on June 11th.

Adam Gilchrist - 11/06/2010
Photograph by Sarah Williams

Following Shaun Udal’s dramatic resignation as Middlesex captain on the afternoon of the match, Gilchrist was thrust into the role of skipper and responded in flamboyant style by guiding his side to a six-wicket victory over the Kent Spitfires with 106. One of the most fearsome batsmen in the game, Gilchrist retired from international cricket in 2008, having played in 96 Tests and 287 One-Day Internationals for Australia. His astonishing strike-rate in Tests was 81.95 per 100 balls, and in One-Day Internationals an awesome 96.94.

Now enjoying its 76th year, the Trophy, awarded for the fastest hundred of the season, is open to all domestic county competitions, including the Clydesdale Bank 40 and Friends Provident T20 limited-over games, as well as One-Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals, all eligible alongside those scored in the County Championship and Test Matches in England.

Rory Burns of Cardiff MCCU is the 2010-season winner of the Walter Lawrence Trophy award for the highest-scoring batsman from the six MCC Universities. The 19-year-old left-handed opener and wicket-keeper hit a sizzling, unbeaten 230 against Oxford MCCU, in the MCC Universities Championship match at The Parks on April 27: the highest score in an innings played against one of the other five MCCUs or against one of the first-class counties this season.

Click here to view the Rory Burns press release.

Adam Gilchrist, Middlesex V Kent, FP Twenty20, 11/06/2010, Canterbury
Photograph by Sarah Williams

A Scorcher from Burns

admin — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 09:38:06 +0000

Epsom-born Burns, who was educated at City of London Freemen’s School, Ashtead, and has played for Surrey 2nd XI, hit 23 fours and 4 sixes in his innings, which was scored off 345 balls in the drawn game. Burns is the sixth recipient of the award since its inception, as well as the highest scorer, and is the second Cardiff player to win it. He will receive a silver medallion and prize of £1,000 at the end-of-season dinner in The Long Room at Lord’s on October 19, when the main trophy, for the fastest hundred in terms of balls faced, is presented.

Adam Gilchrist, the 38-year-old Australian wicket-keeper/batsman, currently leads the field in the challenge for the 2010 Walter Lawrence Trophy with a blistering 47-ball hundred scored for Middlesex against Kent in the Friends Provident T20 match on June 11th. Gilchrist thumped 9 fours and 7 sixes during his century in the six-wicket victory at Canterbury.

High-Flyin’ Ryan!

admin — Mon, 03 May 2010 20:36:56 +0000

Essex all-rounder Ryan ten Doeschate has thrown down the gauntlet in the battle for this season’s Walter Lawrence Trophy, eclipsing the overnight leader, Tom Maynard’s 66-baller, with a 59-ball hundred. The 29-year-old smashed 5 fours and 7 sixes during his century in the victory over Derbyshire at Leek, in the Clydesdale Bank 40 match on May 3rd.

Born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, ten Doeschate joined Essex in 2003 and, through his Dutch ancestry, has represented Netherlands in 26 One-Day Internationals

The leader for this season’s award for the highest innings by a batsman from the six MCC Universities, scored against one of the other five MCCUs or against one of the first-class counties, is Rory Burns of Cardiff MCCU. Burns hit a scorching 230 not out, scored off 345 balls and including 23 fours and 4 sixes, in the MCC Universities Championship game against Oxford MCCU at The Parks on April 27.

Route 66 for Maynard

admin — Sun, 02 May 2010 20:46:39 +0000

Glamorgan’s Tom Maynard has set up a challenging target in the race for this season’s Walter Lawrence Trophy with a 66-ball hundred. The 21-year-old son of England and Glamorgan batsman, Matthew Maynard (who won the Trophy in 1993 with a 73-ball century), cracked 10 fours and 3 sixes during his century in the Clydesdale Bank 40 match against Lancashire at Old Trafford on May 2nd.

Moore to the Point

admin — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 20:05:42 +0000

Lancashire batsman Stephen Moore’s 85-ball hundred has put him in poll position in the hunt for this season’s Walter Lawrence Trophy. The 30-year-old’s century included 11 fours and 3 sixes in the Clydesdale Bank 40 match against Surrey at Whitgift School, Croydon on April 25.

Moore, who was born and educated in South Africa, joined Lancashire this season after spending six years at Worcestershire.

The leader for this season’s award for the highest innings by a batsman from the six MCC Universities, scored against one of the other five MCCUs or against one of the first-class counties, is Rory Burns of Cardiff MCCU. The 20-year-old left-handed opener and wicket-keeper hit an unbeaten 230 against Oxford MCCU in the MCC Universities Championship match at The Parks on April 27.

Scorching Burns

admin — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 20:00:20 +0000

Rory Burns of Cardiff MCCU, has leapfrogged Jak Martin’s 202 not out and scorched his way into the lead for this season’s Walter Lawrence Trophy award for the highest-scoring batsman from the six MCC Universities. The 20-year-old left-handed opener and wicket-keeper hit an unbeaten 230 against Oxford MCCU, Martin’s team, in the MCC Universities Championship match at The Parks on April 27: the highest score in an innings played against one of the other five MCCUs or against one of the first-class counties so far this season.

Epsom-born Burns, who was educated at City of London Freemen’s School and has played for Surrey 2nd XI, hit 23 fours and 4 sixes in his innings, which was scored off 345 balls in the drawn game.

Anand Ashok was the 2009 winner of the award for his unbeaten 164 scored for Cambridge University against Oxford University at Fenner’s on June 21 last year. Ashok, who was born in Hyderabad, India, became the fourth recipient of the silver medallion prize and the cheque for £1,000.

Hamilton-Brown Roars into the Lead

admin — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 16:32:28 +0000

New Surrey skipper Rory Hamilton-Brown has hit the front in the charge for this season’s Walter Lawrence Trophy with a 96-ball hundred. The 22-year-old all-rounder, who returned to Surrey this season after two years at Sussex, hit 17 fours in securing his hundred in the County Championship Division Two match against Worcestershire at Whitgift School, Croydon, on April 21.

Hamilton-Brown, a former England Under-19 captain whose godfather is former England and Warwickshire opener Dennis Amiss, was brought back to the county by Cricket Manager Chris Adams and made captain despite having played in only eight first-class matches.

Now enjoying its 76th year, the Trophy, awarded for the fastest hundred of the season, is open to all domestic county competitions, including the Clydesdale Bank 40 (40-over format), and Friends Provident T20 (20-over format), as well as One-Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals, all eligible alongside those scored in the County Championship and Test Matches in England.

Last year’s winner of the Trophy, who also collected a cheque for £5,000, was Worcestershire’s Vikram Solanki, who smote a 47-ball hundred against Glamorgan in the T20 match at New Road, Worcester.

The leader for this season’s award for the highest innings by a batsman from the six MCC Universities, scored against one of the other five MCC University Centres of Cricketing Excellence or against one of the first-class counties, is Jak Martin of Oxford MCCU, who scored an unbeaten 202 in the MCC Universities Championship game against Durham MCCU at The Racecourse Ground, Durham on April 21.

Jak, who was born in Kingston-upon-Thames and educated at Glyn Technology School, Epsom, batted all day for his double century, which was scored off 331 balls and included 14 fours, one 5 and one 6. The left-handed opener, whose score in the drawn game was threatened in the Durham innings when Luc Durandt reached 174 before being dismissed, made his first-class debut last season and has played for Surrey 2nd XI.

Rogers the Front Runner

admin — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 20:41:52 +0000

Derbyshire’s Australian opener Chris Rogers has eased his way into the lead in this year’s Walter Lawrence Trophy with a 127-ball hundred. The 32-year-old left-hander feasted on the bowling of Surrey, in the County Championship Division Two match at The Oval on April 12, by scoring 200 in the first innings and followed that with the fastest hundred of the season, which included 13 fours, before finishing on 140.

Rogers, who has had previous stints with Leicestershire and Northants and has played in one Test for Australia, thus becomes the first Derbyshire batsman in history to score a double and single hundred in the same game.

Leading the way in this season’s Walter Lawrence Trophy award for the highest innings by a batsman from the six MCC Universities, scored against one of the other five MCC University Centres of Cricketing Excellence or against one of the first-class counties this season is Greg Smith of Durham MCCU. The 21-year-old scored 114, which included 13 fours and 4 sixes, in the drawn game against Nottinghamshire at The Racecourse Ground in Durham on April 11.

Di Venuto’s Desert Date

admin — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 10:26:23 +0000

Durham opener Michael Di Venuto has set a leisurely pace in the race for this year’s Walter Lawrence Trophy with a 145-ball hundred against MCC in the traditional pipe-opening fixture to the English season. Not so traditional was the venue, however, as the County Champions took on MCC at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi! The 36-year-old Australian’s century, scored on the first day of the fixture, March 29, included 14 fours and one six, and provided the basis for a 311-run victory by Durham.

Vikram Solanki and Brian Thornton

Vikram Solanki

Vikram The Victor

admin — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 18:16:26 +0000

Worcestershire’s Vikram Solanki, who smote a 47-ball hundred against Glamorgan on June 24, is the 2009 winner of the Walter Lawrence Trophy, awarded for the fastest century of the season. The 33-year-old Worcestershire captain’s hundred included 14 fours and 2 sixes and helped his side crush the opposition by 101 runs in the T20 match at New Road, Worcester.

Solanki, the current chairman of the Professional Cricketers Association who has played for England in 51 One-Day Internationals, in which he scored two centuries, and two T20 Internationals, becomes the second player to win the Walter Lawrence Trophy with a limited-over innings. The award, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, amended its rules last season to allow centuries from all domestic county competitions to qualify. The fastest first-class hundred was scored by Somerset’s Peter Trego, who hit a 54-ball hundred, which included 6 fours and 9 sixes, in the County Championship, Division One match against Yorkshire, at Taunton on July 30.

Solanki is the first Worcestershire batsman since Graeme Hick in 1988 to win the Trophy, which he received – along with a cheque for £5,000 – at a special lunch in The Long Room at Lord’s on October 2.

Click here for a report on the presentation lunch

Vikram Solanki
Photograph by Pete Millson

At the presentation lunch Anand Ashok received the Walter Lawrence Trophy award for the highest-scoring batsman from the six MCC Universities. His unbeaten 164, which included 20 fours, scored against Oxford University in the MCC Universities Championship match at Fenner’s on June 21, is the highest score in an innings played against one of the other five University Centres of Cricketing Excellence or against one of the first-class counties this season.

Ashok, who was born in Hyderabad, India, and is studying chemical engineering, became the fourth recipient of a silver medallion and prize of £1,000.