# Wisden Schools Cricketer of the Year

The Wisden Schools Cricketer of the Year is a cricketer selected for the honour by the annual publication Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. The decision is based upon "his or her performances in school's cricket, as reported in Wisden". Wisden has included details of schools cricket as far back as its second edition in 1865, when it carried an account of the match between Eton College and Harrow School. In 1918 and 1919, as no first-class cricket was being played due to the First World War, the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year were chosen from public schools. The first Young Wisden Cricketer of the Year was named in 2008, in the 144th edition of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, in an effort to "help raise the profile of schools cricket, especially at state schools." The first winner was Jonny Bairstow of St Peter's School, York.
The first eight winners of the award were all batsman. Douglas Henderson partially explained the reason for this in the 2010 edition of Wisden, pointing out that restrictions on young pace bowlers restricts them to bowling no more than 21 overs per day, therefore limiting their chances of taking many wickets. The first three recipients of the award; Bairstow, James Taylor and Jos Buttler have gone on to represent England in Test cricket.
No award was made for the 2020 season, as the school cricket programme was reduced by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. To compensate, Wisden compiled a notional list of winners from 1900 to 2006, which included a number of future Test cricketers.
Following Douglas Henderson's sudden death in 2022, the award has been chosen by a panel of members of the Schools Cricket Committee (formerly the HMC Cricket Committee).

## Winners

| Year | Recipient | School | Reason(s) | Ref |
| 2008 | Jonny Bairstow | St Peter's School, York | In eight innings for St Peter's School, York in 2007, he scored three centuries, 654 runs with an average of 218.00. | |
| 2009 | James Taylor | Shrewsbury School | Five years of consistently run-scoring for Shrewsbury School, culminating in 2008 when he scored 898 runs at an average of 179.60. He also played for England at the Under-19 World Cup. | |
| 2010 | Jos Buttler | King's College, Taunton | Scored 554 runs for King's College in 2009 at faster than a run-a-ball, and also played for Somerset, who included him in their squad for the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 competition in India, where he played against the eventual winners New South Wales Blues. | |
| 2011 | Will Vanderspar | Eton College | He scored 1,286 runs for Eton College, and captained the school in 2010, finishing as the leading run scorer on the school's circuit. | |
| 2012 | Daniel Bell-Drummond | Millfield, Street | Scored 801 runs for Millfield at an average of 133.50 in 2011, with four centuries. | |
| 2013 | Tom Abell | Taunton School | In eleven innings for Taunton School in 2012, he scored seven centuries, totalling 1,156 runs at an average of 192, and also took 19 wickets average of 15. | |
| 2014 | Tom Kohler-Cadmore | Malvern College | Scored 1,409 runs for Malvern College amassed three scores over 150 including a top score of 186 v Oundle and averaged over 100 in 2013, and also made his debut for Worcestershire, scoring 47 against Bangladesh A on his debut. | |
| 2015 | Dylan Budge | Woodhouse Grove School, Leeds | Scored 731 runs for Woodhouse at an average of 121 in 2014. | |
| 2016 | Ben Waring | Felsted School | Left-arm spinner who took 68 wickets at an average of 9.23 for Felsted in 2015. | |
| 2017 | AJ Woodland | St Edward's School, Oxford | Scored over 1,200 runs for St Edward's in all formats of cricket as a left-handed opening batsman. | |
| 2018 | Teddie Casterton | Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe | Scored 1,423 runs from 21 innings for RGS at an average of close to 90. | |
| 2019 | Nathan Tilley | Reed's School, Cobham | For his voracious appetite for runs: in 2018, four of his six centuries reached 150, and he averaged 139. | |
| 2020 | Tawanda Muyeye | Eastbourne College | Scoring 1,000 runs, including a double-hundred. Recognised as a player of immense presence, a batsman destined to empty bars and “the best off-spinner of his age group in the county”. | |
| 2022 | Jacob Bethell | Rugby School | Jacob Bethell batted seven times (twice not out) in compiling 654 runs for Rugby, and averaged a phenomenal 130. He also scored a double-hundred against historic rivals Marlborough. | |
| 2023 | Oliver Cox | Malvern College | Oliver Cox scored 1392 runs at nearly 70 with 3 centuries and a highest score of 170*. He scored against consistently strong opponents and was awarded a contract with Worcestershire. | |
| 2024 | Ollie Sykes | Tonbridge School | Oliver Sykes scored 935 runs, including 4 hundreds with a highest score of 157 vs Harrow as well as taking 30 wickets on a very challenging circuit including fixtures against 3 southern hemisphere schools. | </ref> |