THE CRICKET WRITERS' CLUB

ESTABLISHED 1946

SURREY SWEEP THE BOARD AT CRICKET WRITERS' CLUB AWARDS
CWC LUNCH - JUMEIRAH CARLTON TOWER, LONDON
2ND OCTOBER 2018

Surrey's hugely successful season in both men's and women's cricket was reflected in their domination of the 2018 Cricket Writers' Club awards.

All-rounder Sam Curran was named the CWC Young Cricketer of the Year while his title-winning captain at the Oval, Rory Burns, took the club's County Championship player of the year trophy, in association with William Hill. 

Both Curran and Burns have been selected in England's squad for their upcoming Test series in Sri Lanka.

Burns said: "I am delighted to win this award, and to have received so many votes from the Cricket Writers' Club members.

"It has been an incredible season for me and for Surrey. I did think we had a group good enough to win the title, but I wouldn't have believed it possible for us to do it in the manner we did. It was unbelievable.

"The work Gareth Batty did as captain before me should be acknowledged. He very much stabilized the club a few years ago now and gave younger players like myself the platform on which to go out and perform, and to improve.

"As captain, I've had a very stable base to work from, and the mix of experience and good younger players - and Surrey lads too - in the squad is excellent.

"To get selected for England's Test squad to go to Sri Lanka is obviously another huge honour for me, and I was really happy when I got the call from Ed Smith. 

"There had been a lot of expectation in the press that I would get selected but it was just nice when it was made official so that I could stop worrying about it! It will be a tough tour, but I am looking forward to it."

Meanwhile Natalie Sciver, captain of the Surrey Stars side that won the Kia Super League title, succeeded fellow England World Cup-winner Tammy Beaumont as the third recipient of the CWC's Women's Cricket Award.

And there was acknowledgment too of an extraordinary contribution to the game when the club's Peter Smith Award for "services to the presentation of cricket to the public" was given to the Stewart family, whose involvement with Surrey and England stretches back more than 60 years and continues to this day.

The CWC Book of the Year went to 'Arlott, Swanton and the Soul of English Cricket' (Bloomsbury) by Stephen Fay and David Kynaston.

All the awards were presented at the club's annual lunch at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower Hotel in London on Tuesday.

Young Cricketer of the Year

Curran, a son of the late Zimbabwe all-rounder Kevin Curran, was the runaway winner in a ballot of the CWC's more than 300 members after a season where he made his Test debut against Pakistan in June and ended up being England's man-of-the-series in a 4-1 success over India.

The 20-year-old left-arm swing bowler's four for 74 and innings of 63 were both instrumental in seeing England win a closely-contested series-opener against India at Edgbaston and come the end of the summer he was averaging 36 with the bat and 23 with the ball in Test cricket.

First presented in 1950 the award, which by tradition is won just once in a career, is restricted to England-qualified players under the age of 23 at the start of the season.

Previous winners have amassed more than 2,500 Test caps between them.

County Championship Player of the Year

In a season where many batsmen found runs hard to come by, Surrey captain Burns led from the front with a tally of 1,359 runs at an average of 64.71 including four hundreds as the County Championship title returned to the Oval for the first time since 2002.

Long one of the most consistent run-scorers in the county game, the uncapped 28-year-old finally forced his way into the England squad where he will now have a chance to fill a vacancy at the top of the order following Alastair Cook's retirement from international cricket.

Women's Cricket Award

Chosen by a panel convened by broadcaster and journalist Alison Mitchell, a CWC committee member, the award went to England all-rounder Nat Sciver, who starred with both bat and ball in skippering Surrey to the KSL title, notably in a semi-final win over defending champions Western Storm where she made an unbeaten 72 and took two for 21.

Peter Smith Award

Named in honour of the late Daily Mail cricket correspondent, this discretionary award recognises those who've made a particularly notable contribution to the game. This year, a panel chaired by Paul Bolton decided to honour a remarkable family.

Micky Stewart made his Surrey first-class debut in 1954 and played in the last five of the club's record breaking seven consecutive County Championships from 1952 to 1958 before captaining the side to the title in 1971.

An opening batsman who won eight Test caps, he later returned to the Oval as manager and in 1986 was the first man appointed to a similar role with the England side, remaining in post until 1992 before becoming the ECB's director of coaching. His contribution to Surrey, on and off the field, has seen the Pavilion at the Oval named in his honour.

This year saw Alec Stewart, himself a Championship winner in the successful Surrey side at the turn of the century, preside over the club's first title in 16 years as director of cricket at the Oval. 

A former England captain, wicket-keeper and opening batsman, Alec played in 133 Tests and since retiring has become a member of the BBC Radio Five commentary team. Meanwhile hundreds of young cricketers in Surrey have benefited from being coached by Neil Stewart, Alec's brother.

Book of the Year

A panel chaired by Richard Hobson, a former cricket reporter with The Times, selected a book concerned with the careers of two journalists best known for their association with the Guardian (John Arlott) and the Daily Telegraph (EW 'Jim' Swanton) as well as BBC broadcasters. 

Often seen as representing two very different strands of cricket enthusiast, a book written by leading social historian David Kynaston and Stephen Fay, a former editor of Wisden Cricket Monthly, explores what former England captain Mike Brearley describes as Arlott and Swanton's "shared hatred of racism against a background of class and commercialism in cricket".

Photographs of the presentation ceremony are available from Sarah Ansell (sarahansell@me.com)


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12/01/2018: ODI Series - Can England Dominate?

Following the disastrous Ashes series, it will come as no surprise that England are the 19/10 outsiders for the ODI series. Australia are 2/5 to win the series and it is 9/1 that they do so 5-0. That said, England are 6/4 to win the first ODI and it is 6/1 that Joe Root top scores in an England victory.
 
“England are a good one day side and the odds might just be underestimating their chances,” said William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams.

​​First ODI: 8/15 Australia, 6/4 England
9/2 Steve Smith Top Score In Aussie Victory
6/1 Joe Root Top Score In England Victory
Century Scored In Match: 8/13 Yes, 6/5 No
 
Series Betting: 2/5 Australia, 19/10 England
 
Series Correct Score:
13/8 Australia 3-2, 5/2 Australia 4-1, 9/1 Australia 5-0
5/2 England 3-2, 9/1 England 4-1, 40/1 England 5-0.

The objects of the CWC are to further the interests of those involved with the media coverage of cricket and of cricket as a whole.

The CWC will in no way endeavour to dictate policy or influence opinion in the cricket media nor have any concern with the policy of newspapers and other outlets: and at no time have any concern with the relations between employers and their staff as to who is employed.

Full Membership shall be open to all those employed full-time for not less than four months in any one calendar year in the media coverage of cricket in the United Kingdom. Honorary Life Members may be elected at the Annual General Meeting from those who have given distinguished service both to the profession of cricket writing and to the Club.

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