The Cricket Writers' Club County Championship Player of the Year is an annual

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

award, presented to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the year in the

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

, England's

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

competition. The award has been presented since the 2012 season and the winner is chosen by a vote amongst the members of the

Cricket Writers' Club The Cricket Writers' Club is an association for cricket journalists working in print, television or radio. It was established in 1947, and contains around 90% of those eligible for membership. During the 1946–47 Ashes series, the Australian and B ...

, an association open to "recognised correspondents of newspapers and periodicals and on radio and television". Any male player competing in the County Championship is eligible.

Nick Compton Nicholas Richard Denis Compton (born 26 June 1983) is a South African-born English former Test and first-class cricketer who most recently played for Middlesex County Cricket Club. The grandson of Denis Compton, he represented England in 16 ...

was the first recipient of the award in 2012, and is one of six winners to have been recognised for their batting exploits: the only bowlers to have won the award were Jamie Porter in 2017 and

Simon Harmer Simon Ross Harmer (born 10 February 1989) is a South African international cricketer. He plays for South Africa primarily as an off-break bowler but is also a capable lower order batsman. He plays domestic cricket for Titans. Biography Harmer d ...

in 2019. Harmer is also one of only two non-English players to have won, along with his South African compatriot Wayne Madsen. Players representing

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

have won the award three times, those from

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

have won it twice, while no other county has been represented more than once. The most recent winner is

Alastair Cook Sir Alastair Nathan Cook (born 25 December 1984) is an English cricketer who plays for Essex County Cricket Club, and played for England in all international formats from 2006 to 2018. A former captain of the England Test and One-Day Intern ...

, whose 563 runs helped Essex to secure the

2020 Bob Willis Trophy The 2020 Bob Willis Trophy was a first-class cricket tournament held in the 2020 English cricket season, and the inaugural edition of the Bob Willis Trophy. It was separate from the County Championship, which was not held in 2020 due to the im ...

. For six of the nine seasons that the award has been given, the Cricket Writers' Club County Championship Player of the Year has also been named one of the five ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year; only Wayne Madsen in 2013,

Keaton Jennings Keaton Kent Jennings (born 19 June 1992) is a South African-born English cricketer who plays for Lancashire County Cricket Club and has represented England. He is a left-handed opening batsman who also bowls right-arm medium-fast. He made his int ...

in 2016 and Cook in 2020 missed out. Three of the winners also claimed awards voted on by the members of the

Professional Cricketers' Association The Professional Cricketers' Association is the representative body of past and present first-class cricketers in England and Wales, founded in 1967 by former England fast bowler Fred Rumsey (when it was known as the Cricketers' Association). In t ...

(the players' trade union) in the same season; Compton and Lyth won the

PCA Player of the Year The PCA Player of the Year Awards are a set of annual cricket awards. Awards are given for the Men's Player of the Year, Women's Player of the Year, Men's Young Player of the Year and Women's Young Player of the Year, presented to the player who ...

award in 2012 and 2014, while in 2017, Porter won the

PCA Young Player of the Year The PCA Player of the Year Awards are a set of annual cricket awards. Awards are given for the Men's Player of the Year, Women's Player of the Year, Men's Young Player of the Year and Women's Young Player of the Year, presented to the player who ...

. The 2020 award was given for performances in the Bob Willis Trophy, which replaced the County Championship for the shortened 2020 season caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in confir ...

Winners

Notes

References

{{reflist Awards established in 2012 County Championship Cricket awards and rankings