Blake Off To A Flier

Kent’s Alex Blake has hit the ground running to lead the race for this year’s Walter Lawrence Trophy with a 46-ball hundred. The 28-year-old left-handed batsman thumped 8 fours and 7 sixes in his century against Somerset in the Royal London One-Day Cup match against Somerset at Taunton on May 2nd. Coming in at number 5, he finished his innings with 116, helping Kent post a total of 352 for 6, which proved too few, however, as Somerset went on to win by 4 wickets.

Born in Farnborough, Blake is a product of the Kent Academy and Leeds/Bradford MCCU, and has represented England at Under-19 level.

Now in its 83rd 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, T20 Internationals and Test Matches in England.

Somerset v Kent scorecard
Alex Blake’s career statistics


Bates Dictates

Hampshire Women’s Suzie Bates has started her season in England with great authority and leapt to the front in the hunt for this year’s Walter Lawrence Women’s Award with an unbeaten score of 139. Bates, who is the captain of New Zealand Women, signed up to play for Hampshire prior to the Women’s World Cup in June and proceeded to score two centuries in two days. On April 30 she made 105 against Wales Women, then followed with her innings of 139 not out, scored off 110 balls and including 22 fours, against Worcestershire Women at Kidderminster Victoria CC on May 1st.

The 29-year-old all-rounder, who was born in Dunedin, made her New Zealand debut in 2006 and has played in 98 One-Day Internationals and 87 T20 Internationals. She has also played for Otago Sparks, Perth Scorchers and the Southern Vipers, and, among many accolades, was named Wisden’s Leading Women’s Cricketer in the World in 2015 and Women’s T20 Player of the Year in March.


Pummeler Andersson

Martin Andersson has taken a sizeable step in clinching the MCC Universities Award this year with a score of 185 for Leeds/Bradford MCCU. The 20-year-old right-handed batsman hit 24 fours in his innings, made from 233 balls, in the victory over Durham MCCU at The Racecourse Ground, Durham on May 9. Clearly in a rich vein of form, Andersson’s 185 was his third consecutive century in the 2017 MCCU Championship, following 138 v Oxford MCCU on April 19 and 128 v Cardiff MCCU on April 27.

Born in Reading, Andersson made his first-class debut for Leeds/Bradford MCCU against Kent on March 28, and having come through the Middlesex Academy, signed a three-year contract with the county earlier this year.

The 20-year- old all-rounder made his second eleven championship debut for Middlesex in 2013, and in 2015 featured in the England Under-19 Development squad, scoring an unbeaten 70 against Australia Under-19s at Loughborough.



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 MCC Universities award for the highest score by a batsman from the six MCC Universities against the first-class counties or in the MCCU Championship; The Walter Lawrence Women’s Award for the batsman who makes the highest individual score in a season from the ECB Women’s One-Day Cup and all England Women’s matches played on home soil, and, finally, the Walter Lawrence Schools Award for the highest score by a school batsman against MCC.