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Cricket Society Latest News and Announcements

Simon Lister wins The Cricket Society/MCC Book of The Year Award 2025

Simon Lister has won this year's The Cricket Society/MCC Book of the Year Award for his book on Sir Frank Worrell: Worrell, The brief but brilliant life of a Caribbean pioneer. The award was presented at the annual awards ceremony in the Long Room at Lord’s.

Lister spoke about his fears that Worrell's legacy - ensuring that West Indies were welcomed, valued and admired in the commonwealth of international cricket - was close to being lost for ever.

“The West Indies haven’t played a five-Test series anywhere since 2009. It’s difficult to excel at the greatest form of the greatest game when you haven’t been immersed in it for 16 years", said Lister, who thought what he called “a cruel and unusual punishment” had been visited on West Indian Test cricket. 

Chair of Judges Robert Winder enthused about a shortlist filled with high-quality historical content: “As a rule we hope that our shortlist will showcase the full range of cricket writing, but this year six historical works pushed their way to the front of the queue. That does not mean they dwell only on the past, however: all of them resonate with present-day, even topical concerns.”

Books about Brian Close, 19th century women’s touring teams, contrasting Ashes fortunes in 1926 and 1974-75 and the cricketers of 1945 were also celebrated.

The Stephen Fay Award was also presented to Tanya Aldred, for her contribution to cricket coverage, in particular her work in support of county cricket and sustainability.The Book of the Year competition, run by The Cricket Society since 1970 and in partnership with MCC since 2009, is for books nominated by MCC and Cricket Society Members, and is highly regarded by writers and publishers.

The 2024 winner was The Tour: The Story of the England Cricket Team Overseas 1877-2022, by Simon Wilde, published by Simon and Schuster.

The six books on the 2025 shortlist were:

• Striking Summer, How cricket united a divided nation, Stephen Brenkley, Fairfield Books
• One Hell of a Life, Brian Close, Daring, defiant and daft, Stephen Chalke, Fairfield Books
• Worrell, The brief but brilliant life of a Caribbean pioneer, Simon Lister, Simon & Schuster
• The Cricketers of 1945: Rising from the ashes of World War Two, Christopher Sandford, Pitch Publishing
• Blood on the Tracks, England in Australia, The 1974-75 Ashes, David Tossell, Fairfield Books
• Forgotten Pioneers, The story of the original English lady cricketers, Giles Wilcock, Pitch Publishing

The other books on the final long list were:

• Batting for Time, The fight to keep English cricket alive, Ben Bloom, Pitch Publishing
• Echoing Greens, How cricket shaped the English imagination, Brendan Cooper, Constable
• Richie Benaud’s Blue Suede Shoes, The story of an Ashes classic, David Kynaston and Harry Ricketts, Bloomsbury
• Lara, The England Chronicles, Brian Lara with Phil Walker, Fairfield Books
• An Unusual Celebrity, The many cricketing lives of Bill Bowes, Jeremy Lonsdale, Pitch Publishing
• Clyde Walcott, Statesman of West Indies cricket, Peter Mason, Manchester University Press
• Bill Edrich, The Many Lives of England’s Cricket Great, Leo McKinstry, Bloomsbury Sport

The competition, run by The Cricket Society since 1970 and in partnership with MCC since 2009, is for books nominated by MCC and Cricket Society Members, and is highly regarded by writers and publishers.

Spring Dinner with Roland Butcher, Wed 14 May, Union Jack Club, 6.30 for 7.00pm

We are delighted to be hosting the UK launch of Roland Butcher’s autobiography at the Union Jack Club, London, on 14th May at the Society’s Spring Dinner. The former Middlesex and England cricketer has a fascinating story to tell, and guests will arrive from 6.30pm for a 7.00pm start. Tickets are selling our fast but can still be bought by clicking here:  Book tickets

Recent Zoom Interviews

Peter Hardy's recent Zoom interviews with Huw Turbervill, Editor of The Cricketer, on 12th March and Vic Marks, on 20th March, are now available to watch on catch-up our You Tube channel.

County Cricket Roadshow 2025 - provisional dates 

• Friday 4 April, Chelmsford, Essex v Surrey, 1st day
• Friday 11 April, Canterbury, Kent v Middlesex, 1st day
• Friday 18 April, Good Friday, tbc
• Friday 2 May, Taunton, Somerset v Essex, 1st day tbc
• Friday 9 May, Northampton, Northants v Lancs, 1st day
• Friday 16 May, Chester le Street, Durham v Notts, 1st day
• Friday 23 May, Cardiff, Glamorgan v Middx, 1st day
• Monday 23 June, Worcester Lancs v Kent, 2nd day
• Monday 30 June, Chesterfield Derbys v Lancs, 2nd day or York, Yorks v Essex, 2nd day tbc
• Tuesday 22 July, Cheltenham Gloucs v Lancs, 1st day
• Tuesday 29 July, Trent Bridge, Notts v Somerset, 1st day
• Wednesday 24 September, Headingley, Yorks v Durham, 1st day tbc

Society XI 2025 Fixtures 

The Society XI now has a full summer of cricket scheduled, click here for the fixture list.

AGM Minutes

Society members can access the minutes to the Society's 2024 AGM here.

The Cricket Society Awards 2024

ECB Chair Richard Thompson was in attendance at this year's Awards ceremony at the Union Jack Club in London. Richard gave a charming and passionate account of his time as head of the English game and outlined future plans for developing youth cricket, particularly in hitherto hard to reach communities around the country. 

Jack Russell received the Ian Jackson Award for his contribution to cricket (read more below) while author and historian Jeremy Lonsdale received the Howard Milton Award on behalf of the ACS (also see below).

The Society now focuses its Awards on young talent and it was a pleasure to see Eve O'Neill (pictured above with Richard Thompson), Seth Essenhigh, Ryan MacDonald Gay and Matthew Hurst recognised for their already considerable achievements in the game that we love. Also receiving awards were The Park School in Woking for their work in disability cricket and Society XI stalwart Ilija Krunic.

For a full list of winners past and present go to our Awards page.

ACS Wins the 2024 Howard Milton Award for Cricket Scholarship

We are delighted to announce that the Association of Cricket Statisticians & Historians (‘ACS’) has won the 2024 Howard Milton Award for Cricket Scholarship.

The Howard Milton Award for Cricket Scholarship, a collaboration between The Cricket Society and the British Society of Sports History, is awarded annually to a person or persons who have made an outstanding and/or unsung contribution to cricket scholarship. The award seeks to recognise good cricket writing and research whether of an ‘academic’ or ‘popular’ nature. Winners are decided on the recommendations of a panel drawn from officers of both organisations.

On Thursday 22nd August, John Bryant ACS Committee Chair was presented with a special trophy by former Chair of The Cricket Society Nigel Hancock . The presentation took place during the annual conference of the British Society of Sports History, which was held at the University of Chichester from 22nd to 23rd August.

Cricket Society Chair Peter Hardy said: ‘The ACS is a marvellous organisation dedicated to the enjoyment, interpretation and research of cricket statistics and history. It is populated by some of the most impressive individuals that I have come across in over 50 years involvement in cricket and their commitment to excellence is inspiring. The way the ACS is run and what it stands for is an example to all voluntary organisations in the cricket, and indeed the wider sporting, world. They thoroughly deserve to win the 2024 Howard Milton Award for Cricket Scholarship’.

Ian Jackson Award 2024

Our Ian Jackson Award for Services to Cricket is our 'Spirit of Cricket' award and goes annually to an individual or group who, through their distinguished endeavours and commitment to cricket, have met the mission and spirit of The Cricket Society. 

This year the Ian Jackson Award goes to Jack Russell in recognition of his careers as a cricketer and an artist. He is the first artist to win the award. 

One of cricket’s best loved players, Jack Russell is fondly remembered for his long and successful cricket career from 1981 to 2004 for Gloucestershire (375 first-class matches/431 List A) and for England (54 Tests/40 ODIs). He is acknowledged as the best English wicketkeeper of his generation with 165 Test dismissals and 1320 in first-class cricket. He scored two Test centuries (against Australia and India) and 11 first-class centuries in total with a first-class average of over 30. As nightwatchman he scored 94 on his Test debut against Sri Lanka in 1988. In a remarkable all round display in the Johannesburg Test against South Africa in 1995, Jack took a record eleven dismissals and then scored an epic 29* in 4 and a half hours to save the Test with Mike Atherton. In 1996 he joined the select group of cricketers who have been appointed an MBE for services to cricket. 

Following his playing career Jack has made a highly successful career as a professional artist and is widely acknowledged as the best cricket artist of his generation. The Jack Russell Gallery is situated on the High Street in the picturesque town of Chipping Sodbury in South Gloucestershire. Since 2018 the Chris Beetles Gallery in Ryder Street, London has held an annual exhibition of Jack’s work.