News

Cricket Writers’ Club awards for Crawley, Cook, Ecclestone and Bowser

England batsmen past and present, and a world number one spinner were among the winners of the 2020 Cricket Writers’ Club player awards.

Zak Crawley took the CWC NV Play Young Cricketer of the Year Award after a breakthrough international campaign, and Sir Alastair Cook the CWC Championship Player of the Year, in association with William Hill. Because of the Covid-19 truncated season it reflected performances in the Bob Willis Trophy.

Alastair Cook (Photo: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Left arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone (Thunder and England) won the CWC Women’s Cricket Award after becoming the number one T20 bowler in the world rankings. Meanwhile Dan Bowser of the England Learning Disability squad was named the Lord’s Taverners Disability Cricketer of the Year after starring in a series whitewash of Australia.

CWC Chair Alison Mitchell said: “I’d like to congratulate all of our 2020 winners – in a year in which we wondered whether we would see any summer cricket at all. Huge praise must go to Steve Elworthy, his team at the ECB, and the counties, for staging both domestic and international men’s and women’s matches in safe environments.

“Naturally it is disappointing that we can’t honour our winners at the usual CWC Lunch event this year, but we hope we can formally present the trophies at an event in the future.”

The winners are showcased via video interviews at www.cricketwriters.com

Jason Holder and the West Indies men’s team were presented with the Cricket Writers’ Club Peter Smith Award, which recognises outstanding contribution to the presentation of cricket to the public. On accepting the award, Holder has urged cricket to continue to come together to “see each other as equal human beings.”

This discretionary award, named after the late Daily Mail cricket correspondent, was determined by a panel of media members chaired by journalist Tanya Aldred.

Duncan Hamilton was named winner of the CWC Derek Hodgson Book Award for 2020 in a unique moment for the highly-acclaimed author. His biography of Neville Cardus, The Great Romantic, published by Hodder & Stoughton,was chosen from a shortlist of six by a panel representing the Cricket Writers’ Club.

The news was especially touching for Hamilton – a three-time winner of the William Hill prize – because he lives in the Yorkshire home once owned by Hodgson, the distinguished northern sports writer after whom the award takes its name.

About the CWC