# Cricket Writers' Club Young Cricketer of the Year

The Cricket Writers' Club Young Cricketer of the Year is an annual cricket award, presented to the young player who is adjudged to have been the best of the year in English county cricket. The award has been presented since the 1950 season and the winner is chosen by a vote amongst the members of the Cricket Writers' Club. Only players that are qualified to represent the England cricket team, and are aged under 23 on 1 May of the awarding year, are eligible for the prize. With the exception of 1986, when a joint award was made, the accolade has been presented to one individual each season. The award has been described by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) as "prestigious". Although not a firm rule, once a player has won the award, they are considered ineligible to receive it in the future.
Archie Ledbrooke, a sports reporter for the Daily Mirror and the first treasurer of the Cricket Writers' Club, came up with the idea for the award. It was first presented in 1950, when Roy Tattersall of Lancashire was the recipient. In 1986, the vote was tied, and the award was made jointly to Ashley Metcalfe of Nottinghamshire and James Whitaker of Leicestershire. The 1995 winner, Andrew Symonds, went on to make over 200 international appearances for Australia, but at the time of his award was eligible to play for England, as he was born in Birmingham. As of 2021, representatives of seventeen of the eighteen first-class cricket counties have won the award; no player from Worcestershire has ever won. Yorkshire players have collected the award most frequently, doing so on eleven occasions. Only seven winners have not gone on to play international cricket.
On eleven occasions, the Cricket Writers' Club Young Cricketer of the Year has also been named one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year for that season. Since 1990, 19 of the 35 winners have also collected the PCA Young Player of the Year award, selected by members of the players' trade union, the Professional Cricketers' Association.

## Key

* * Player still active
* Number in parentheses indicates number of international appearances as captain.
* Statistics correct as of 2 November 2024.
* Tests – indicates how many appearances the player made in Test cricket during their career.
* ODIs – indicates how many appearances the player made in One Day International cricket during their career.
* T20Is – indicates how many appearances the player made in Twenty20 International cricket during their career.

## Winners

| Year | Player | Club | International appearances | International appearances | International appearances | Other awards for that season | Ref(s) |
| Year | Player | Club | Tests | ODIs | T20Is | Other awards for that season | Ref(s) |
| 1950 | Roy Tattersall | Lancashire | 16 | 0 | 0 | | |
| 1951 | Peter May | Surrey | 66 (41) | 0 | 0 | Wisden Cricketer of the Year | |
| 1952 | Fred Trueman | Yorkshire | 67 | 0 | 0 | Wisden Cricketer of the Year | |
| 1953 | Colin Cowdrey | Kent | 114 (27) | 1 | 0 | | |
| 1954 | Peter Loader | Surrey | 13 | 0 | 0 | | |
| 1955 | Ken Barrington | Surrey | 82 | 0 | 0 | | |
| 1956 | Brian Taylor | Essex | 0 | 0 | 0 | | |
| 1957 | Micky Stewart | Surrey | 8 | 0 | 0 | Wisden Cricketer of the Year | |
| 1958 | Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie | Hampshire | 0 | 0 | 0 | | |
| 1959 | Geoff Pullar | Lancashire | 28 | 0 | 0 | Wisden Cricketer of the Year | |
| 1960 | David Allen | Gloucestershire | 39 | 0 | 0 | | |
| 1961 | Peter Parfitt | Middlesex | 37 | 0 | 0 | | |
| 1962 | Phil Sharpe | Yorkshire | 12 | 0 | 0 | Wisden Cricketer of the Year | |
| 1963 | Geoffrey Boycott | Yorkshire | 108 (4) | 36 (2) | 0 | | |
| 1964 | Mike Brearley | Middlesex | 39 (31) | 25 (25) | 0 | | |
| 1965 | Alan Knott | Kent | 95 | 20 (1) | 0 | | |
| 1966 | Derek Underwood | Kent | 86 | 26 | 0 | | |
| 1967 | Tony Greig | Sussex | 58 (14) | 22 (2) | 0 | | |
| 1968 | Bob Cottam | Hampshire | 4 | 0 | 0 | | |
| 1969 | Alan Ward | Derbyshire | 5 | 0 | 0 | | |
| 1970 | Chris Old | Yorkshire | 46 | 32 | 0 | | |
| 1971 | John Whitehouse | Warwickshire | 0 | 0 | 0 | | |
| 1972 | Dudley Owen-Thomas | Surrey | 0 | 0 | 0 | | |
| 1973 | Mike Hendrick | Derbyshire | 30 | 22 | 0 | | |
| 1974 | Phil Edmonds | Middlesex | 51 | 29 | 0 | | |
| 1975 | Andrew Kennedy | Lancashire | 0 | 0 | 0 | | |
| 1976 | Geoff Miller | Derbyshire | 34 | 25 | 0 | | |
| 1977 | Ian Botham | Somerset | 102 (12) | 116 (9) | 0 | Wisden Cricketer of the Year | |
| 1978 | David Gower | Leicestershire | 117 (32) | 114 (24) | 0 | Wisden Cricketer of the Year | |
| 1979 | Paul Parker | Sussex | 1 | 0 | 0 | | |
| 1980 | Graham Dilley | Kent | 41 | 38 | 0 | | |
| 1981 | Mike Gatting | Middlesex | 79 (23) | 92 (37) | 0 | | |
| 1982 | Norman Cowans | Middlesex | 19 | 23 | 0 | | |
| 1983 | Neil Foster | Essex | 29 | 48 | 0 | | |
| 1984 | Rob Bailey | Northamptonshire | 4 | 4 | 0 | | |
| 1985 | David Lawrence | Gloucestershire | 5 | 1 | 0 | | |
| 1986 | Ashley Metcalfe | Yorkshire | 0 | 0 | 0 | | |
| 1986 | James Whitaker | Leicestershire | 1 | 2 | 0 | Wisden Cricketer of the Year | |
| 1987 | Richard Blakey | Yorkshire | 2 | 3 | 0 | | |
| 1988 | Matthew Maynard | Glamorgan | 4 | 14 | 0 | | |
| 1989 | Nasser Hussain | Essex | 96 (45) | 88 (56) | 0 | | |
| 1990 | Mike Atherton | Lancashire | 115 (54) | 54 (43) | 0 | Wisden Cricketer of the Year PCA Young Player of the Year | |
| 1991 | Mark Ramprakash | Middlesex | 52 | 18 | 0 | | |
| 1992 | Ian Salisbury | Sussex | 15 | 4 | 0 | Wisden Cricketer of the Year | |
| 1993 | Mark Lathwell | Somerset | 2 | 0 | 0 | | |
| 1994 | John Crawley | Lancashire | 37 | 13 | 0 | PCA Young Player of the Year | |
| 1995 | Andrew Symonds | Gloucestershire | 26 | 198 | 14 | PCA Young Player of the Year | |
| 1996 | Chris Silverwood | Yorkshire | 6 | 7 | 0 | PCA Young Player of the Year | |
| 1997 | Ben Hollioake | Surrey | 2 | 20 | 0 | PCA Young Player of the Year | |
| 1998 | Andrew Flintoff | Lancashire | 79 (11) | 141 (14) | 7 | PCA Young Player of the Year | |
| 1999 | Alex Tudor | Surrey | 10 | 3 | 0 | | |
| 2000 | Paul Franks | Nottinghamshire | 0 | 1 | 0 | | |
| 2001 | Owais Shah | Middlesex | 6 | 71 | 17 | | |
| 2002 | Rikki Clarke | Surrey | 2 | 20 | 0 | | |
| 2003 | James Anderson* | Lancashire | 188 | 194 | 19 | | |
| 2004 | Ian Bell | Warwickshire | 118 | 161 | 8 | PCA Young Player of the Year | |
| 2005 | Alastair Cook | Essex | 161 (59) | 92 (69) | 4 (1) | PCA Young Player of the Year | |
| 2006 | Stuart Broad | Leicestershire | 167 | 121 (3) | 56 (27) | | |
| 2007 | Adil Rashid* | Yorkshire | 19 | 142 | 116 | PCA Young Player of the Year | |
| 2008 | Ravi Bopara* | Essex | 13 | 120 | 38 | PCA Young Player of the Year | |
| 2009 | James Taylor | Leicestershire | 7 | 27 | 0 | PCA Young Player of the Year | |
| 2010 | Steven Finn | Middlesex | 36 | 69 | 21 | | |
| 2011 | Jonny Bairstow* | Yorkshire | 100 | 107 | 80 | | |
| 2012 | Joe Root* | Yorkshire | 149 (64) | 171 | 32 | PCA Young Player of the Year | |
| 2013 | Ben Stokes* | Durham | 107 (29) | 114 (3) | 43 | PCA Young Player of the Year | |
| 2014 | Alex Lees* | Yorkshire | 10 | 0 | 0 | PCA Young Player of the Year | |
| 2015 | Jack Leaning* | Yorkshire | 0 | 0 | 0 | | |
| 2016 | Ben Duckett* | Northamptonshire | 29 | 16 | 12 | PCA Player of the Year PCA Young Player of the Year | |
| 2017 | Daniel Lawrence* | Essex | 14 | 0 | 0 | | |
| 2018 | Sam Curran* | Surrey | 24 | 34 | 53 | | |
| 2019 | Tom Banton* | Somerset | 0 | 6 | 14 | PCA Young Player of the Year | |
| 2020 | Zak Crawley* | Kent | 50 | 8 (2) | 0 | Wisden Cricketer of the Year PCA Young Player of the Year | |
| 2021 | Harry Brook* | Yorkshire | 21 | 20 (5) | 39 | PCA Young Player of the Year | |
| 2022 | Jordan Cox* | Kent | 0 | 2 | 2 | | |
| 2023 | James Rew* | Somerset | 0 | 0 | 0 | PCA Young Player of the Year | |
| 2024 | Shoaib Bashir* | Somerset | 12 | 0 | 0 | | |