the fastest hundred scored in an English season in a first-class innings
Country
England
Reward(s)
£2,500
First awarded
1934
Currently held by
Liam Livingstone
Most awards
Ian Botham, Graham Lloyd, Leslie Ames, Viv Richards (2)
Website
www.walterlawrencetrophy.com
The Walter Lawrence Trophy is an annual award made to the player who has scored the fastest century in English domestic county cricket that season, in terms of balls received (not counting wides).[1] Hundreds are considered by a panel of experts which, as of 2020, comprise Michael Atherton, David Gower, Simon Hughes and John Barclay.[2] Those which are adjudged to have been made against declaration bowling are not eligible for the award, although this restriction was not always observed in former years.[1] As of 2020[update], the recipient of the Walter Lawrence Trophy is also presented with a cheque for £2,500.[3]
The trophy was instituted in 1934 by Sir Walter Lawrence, a builder and cricket enthusiast from Hertfordshire, the first recipient being Frank Woolley. At this stage in its history, the criterion was the time taken to score a hundred rather than the number of balls faced. The award was made every season up to and including 1939 when Lawrence died. When first class cricket resumed in 1945 after the Second World War, Lawrence's son Guy left the presentation of the Trophy in abeyance. It was finally re-instated by Guy's son-in-law, Brian Thornton for the 1966 season.[4] The recipient was then the player who had scored the fastest England Test century in terms of balls faced, at home or away, in the calendar year.[1] The 1970 award was made to Geoffrey Boycott for "the most meritorious innings of the England v The Rest of the World series",[5] but in 1971 the original version of the award was restored. Since 1985, the trophy has been decided in terms of balls faced rather than minutes spent at the crease.[1]
University games were eligible for the trophy until 1995 and from 2001 to 2003.[1] Until 2007, only first-class centuries could qualify for the award, but eligibility was widened in 2008 to include limited overs cricket. Graham Napier became the first man to win the trophy under these new conditions by scoring a 44-ball hundred in a Twenty20 match.[6] Matches involving individual university sides (i.e. University Centre of Cricketing Excellence matches and the Varsity Match) are excluded, although games involving the combined British Universities team are eligible.[1] Three other variants of the Walter Lawrence Trophy are also awarded annually: Walter Lawrence Women's Award, Walter Lawrence MCC Universities Award and Walter Lawrence Schools Award.[1]
Four batsmen have won the main award on more than one occasion, twice each: Ian Botham, Graham Lloyd, Leslie Ames and Viv Richards.[1] Kent have the most winners (8) followed by Somerset (6).[1] The winner of the main award for the 2021 English cricket season is England batter Liam Livingstone, who struck 100 in 42 balls against Pakistan in the first T20 international match.
^ abcdefghi"The Trophy". Walter Lawrence Trophy. Archived from the original on 6 July 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
^"Adjudicators". Walter Lawrence Trophy. Archived from the original on 6 July 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
^"Presentations". Walter Lawrence Trophy. Archived from the original on 10 August 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
^Cite error: The named reference off was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference tfdq was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference napier was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
and 23 Related for: Walter Lawrence Trophy information
The WalterLawrenceTrophy is an annual award made to the player who has scored the fastest century in English domestic county cricket that season, in...
coming in 1998 against Surrey at The Oval. He later won the 1998 WalterLawrenceTrophy, which he shared with Ali Brown. Hooper eventually spent six years...
land was acquired by Sir WalterLawrence, the master builder, in the 1920s. In 1934, he instituted the WalterLawrenceTrophy for the fastest century in...
for the Leading All-Rounder in English First-Class Cricket: 1970 WalterLawrenceTrophy winner: 1974 Wisden Cricketer of the Century: 2000 In 2000, Sobers...
Northumberland, making his bow in the 2003 C&G Trophy. In 1992 Speight won the WalterLawrenceTrophy for the fastest first-class century. Following his...
has scored seven List A cricket centuries and in 2014 shared the WalterLawrenceTrophy for the quickest century in County cricket during the season, scored...
balls in 1981 (and winning the WalterLawrenceTrophy in the process). In 1982 he helped Surrey to win the NatWest Trophy, taking 4/10 in 7 overs and winning...
Personality of the Year Third Place: 2004 NBC Denis Compton Award: 1997 WalterLawrenceTrophy: 1999 MCC Spirit of Cricket Award: 2005 "Andrew Flintoff calls time...
64, and in the final Test of the summer scored 157. He won the WalterLawrenceTrophy for this century. He was selected for the 1970–71 tour of Australia...
finals of the NatWest Trophy in 1984 and 1988, and the Benson and Hedges Cup in 1983. In 1987, he won the WalterLawrenceTrophy for recording the fastest...
finals of the 2012 Friends Life t20 competition. It won the 2012 WalterLawrenceTrophy. Styris made his debut for New Zealand in a One Day International...
One of these, a 79-ball knock against Surrey in August, won the WalterLawrenceTrophy for the fastest century of the season. To cap it all, he was also...
century before lunch in 1979, against Leicestershire, winning the WalterLawrenceTrophy for the season's fastest century, and then ripped through their...
hundred against Lancashire had put him on course for that season's WalterLawrenceTrophy, but Leslie Ames pipped him to the title by two minutes in the final...
Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1911 and was the first winner of the WalterLawrenceTrophy for the fastest hundred scored in England in 1934. In total Woolley...
posted over 2,500 runs including three double hundreds. He won the WalterLawrencetrophy for the fastest century of the season, in scoring an unbeaten 117...
Australia", and the WalterLawrenceTrophy for the fastest Test century of 1966. He was caught for 115 by Wally Grout who told Doug Walters to bowl him a ball...
wing seaplanes. 1916 – Elmer Sperry and Lawrence Sperry for the invention of a drift indicator 1917–1920 – No trophy awarded due to the war 1921 – Grover...
debut in 1992 and was awarded his County Cap in 1994. He shared the WalterLawrencetrophy (with Carl Hooper) in 1998 for scoring the season's fastest first-class...
with the second 50 taking just 9 minutes. This feat won him the WalterLawrenceTrophy for the fastest century of the year. He was also nominated as one...
Seidel, R. W. (1989). Lawrence and His Laboratory. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-06426-7. Trower, W. P. (2009). Luis Walter Alvarez 1911–1988...