The Cricket Society and MCC Book of the Year Award
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The Cricket Society/MCC Book of the Year
2025 Winner: Simon Lister - Sir Frank Worrell: Worrell, The brief but brilliant life of a Caribbean pioneer
The competition, run by The Cricket Society since 1970 and in partnership with the MCC since 2009, is for cricketing books nominated by members and is highly regarded by writers and publishers. It carries a prize of £3000, which is presented at an awards evening each spring in the Long Room at Lord's.
Simon Lister has won this year's 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Chair of Judges Robert Winder enthused about a shortlist filled with high-quality historical content: “As a rule we hope that our shortlist will showcase the full range of cricket writing, but this year six historical works pushed their way to the front of the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 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
Past Winners
2024: The Tour: The Story of the England Cricket Team Overseas 1877-2022 by Simon Wilde
2023: An Island's Eleven by Nicholas Brookes
2022: Who Only Cricket Know: Hutton's Men in the West Indies 1953/54 by David Woodhouse
2021: The Unforgiven: Mercenaries or Missionaries? by Ashley Gray
2020 Joint Winners: The Great Romantic by Duncan Hamilton & The Final Innings by Christopher Sandford
2019: Steve Smith’s Men: Behind Australian Cricket’s Fall by Geoff Lemon
2018: Connie: The Marvellous Life of Learie Constantine by Harry Pearson
2017: A Beautiful Game; My Love Affair with Cricket by Mark Nicholas
2016: Fire in Babylon by Simon Lister
2015: Field of Shadows: The English Cricket Tour of Nazi Germany 1937 by Dan Waddell
2014: The Great Tamasha : Cricket, Corruption and The Turbulent Rise of Modern India by James Astill
2013: On Warne by Gideon Haigh
2012: Fred Trueman, the authorised biography by Chris Waters
2011: Slipless in Settle by Harry Pearson
2010: Didcot and the Demon by Anthony Gibson
2009: Life Beyond the Airing Cupboard by John Barclay
[Recording practice changed with the 2009 Award which was for books published in 2008]
2007: George Lohmann - Pioneer Professional by Keith Booth
2006: Cricket's Burning Passion, Ivo Bligh and the Story of the Ashes by Scyld Berry and Rupert Peploe
2005: Red Shirts and Roses by Eric Midwinter
2004: Jim: The Life of E.W. Swanton by David Rayvern Allen
2003: The Ross Gregory Story by David Frith
2002: A Corner of a Foreign Field: The Indian History of a British Sport by Ramachandra Guha
2001: At the Heart of English Cricket: The Life and Memories of Geoffrey Howard by Stephen Chalke
2000: Mystery Spinner: The Story of Jack Iverson by Gideon Haigh
1999: The Social History of English Cricket by Sir Derek Birley
1998: W.G.Grace : A Life by Simon Rae
Past Winners (continued)
1998: The Chronicle of W.G. by J R Webber
1997: The Glory Days of Cricket: The Extraordinary Story of Broadhalfpenny Down by Ashley Mote
1996: Bradman: An Australian Hero by Charles Williams
1995: David Gower: A Man Out of Time by Rob Steen
1994: Arlott: The Authorised Biography by David Rayvern Allen
1993: Beyond Bat and Ball by David Foot
1992 - England Expects: A Biography of Ken Barrington by Mark Peel
1991: Herbert Sutcliffe: Cricket Maestro by Alan Hill
1990: History of Indian Cricket by Mihir Bose
1989: A La Recherche du Cricket Perdu by Simon Barnes
1988: The Players: A Social History of the Professional Cricketer by Ric Sissons
1987: Pageant of Cricket by David Frith
1986: Hedley Verity: A Portrait of a Cricketer by Alan Hill
1985: The Art of Captaincy by Mike Brearley
1984: C.B.: The Life of Charles Burgess Fry by Clive Ellis
1983: Australian Cricket: The Game and the Players by Jack Pollard
1982: Phoenix from the Ashes by Mike Brearley
1981: P.G.H.Fender: A Biography by Richard Streeton
1980: Barclay's World of Cricket by E W Swanton and John Woodcock
1979: The Best Loved Game by Geoffrey Moorhouse
1978: Sir Donald Bradman: A Biography by Irving Rosenwater
1977: Spinner's Yarn by Ian Peebles
1976: On Top Down Under: Australia's Cricket Captains by Ray Robinson
1975: Learie Constantine by Gerald Howat
1974: The Story of Warwickshire Cricket - 1882-1972 by Leslie Duckworth
1973: Sort of a Cricket Person by E W Swanton
1972: Thanks to Cricket by J M Kilburn
1971: Nottinghamshire Cricketers 1821-1914 by Peter Wynne-Thomas
1970: My Dear Victorious Stod: A Biography of A.E. Stoddart by David Frith
