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 is adjudged to have been the best of the year in their respective category. The winner is chosen by a vote amongst the members of the players' trade union, the Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA).
The Men's Player of the Year award was first awarded in 1970, whilst the Men's Young Player of the Year award began in 1990. An award named the Women's Player of the Summer was first awarded in 2014, presented to a member of the England women's cricket team who was adjudged to have been the best during that summer. However, in 2021, the awarded was opened up to domestic players, and named the Women's Player of the Year. Finally, the Women's Young Player of the Year award was established in 2021.
History
Men's Player of the Year The winning player is awarded the Reg Hayter Cup, named after a sports journalist who was also a member of the Marylebone Cricket Club, a Lord's Taverner, and a life-member of Surrey County Cricket Club. With the exception of the first year, when a joint award was made, the award has been bestowed upon one individual each season. The award is well regarded by its recipients; the 2014 winner, Adam Lyth exemplified this by claiming that "it's a very proud moment to be voted for by your peers who you’ve played against all year."
The award was first presented in 1970, when Mike Proctor of Gloucestershire and Jack Bond of Lancashire were joint winners. Seven players have won the award more than once, but only Sir Richard Hadlee (1981, 1984 and 1987) and Marcus Trescothick (2000, 2009 and 2011) have been named Player of the Year on three occasions. Two players, Andrew Flintoff and John Lever, have won the award in consecutive years. Representatives of all eighteen first-class cricket counties have won the award. Gloucestershire players have collected the award most frequently, doing so on six occasions, while four of the counties (Derbyshire, Glamorgan, Leicestershire and Sussex) have only had one winner.
On nineteen occasions, the PCA Player of the Year has also been named one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year for that season, and in 2005 Flintoff won the PCA award in the same year as being voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year. The Cricket Writers' Club County Championship Player of the Year was introduced in 2012, and two of the three winners of that award have been the PCA Player of the Year at the same time.
Men's Young Player of the Year The winning player is awarded the John Arlott Cup, named after John Arlott, a cricket journalist and commentator. The award is presented to the player who is adjudged to be the most promising young player in English county cricket. Only players that are aged under 24 on 1 April of the awarding year are eligible for the prize.
Michael Atherton was the first winner of the award in 1990. Two players, Kabir Ali and Alastair Cook, have won the award twice, both doing so in successive years; Ali in 2002 and 2003, and Cook in 2005 and 2006. Representatives of thirteen of the eighteen first-class counties have won the award. Yorkshire players have collected the most awards, doing so on six occasions.
On three occasions the PCA Young Player of the Year has also been named one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year; Atherton in 1990, Ben Duckett in 2016 and Jamie Porter in 2017. Duckett is the only player to have won both major PCA awards in the same year, as he was also named PCA Player of the Year in 2016. 18 of the 31 winners have also collected the Cricket Writers' Club Young Cricketer of the Year award, chosen by members of the Cricket Writers' Club, an association of cricket journalists.
Women's Player of the Year
First awarded in 2014, the award was originally presented to the member of the England women's cricket team who is adjudged to have been the best of the English summer, as per a vote amongst the members of the team, as the Women's Player of the Summer. Prior to 2014, women had not held professional contracts, and so had not been eligible for membership of the players' trade union, the Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA). With the professionalisation of parts of the domestic game during 2020, the award was opened up to domestic players for the 2021 award, with Evelyn Jones becoming the first Women's Player of the Year for her performances for Central Sparks and Birmingham Phoenix.
Women's Young Player of the Year The award was first introduced in 2021, again as part of the further professionalisation of women's domestic cricket. The first winner was Alice Capsey of South East Stars and Oval Invincibles, who was not a professional cricketer or PCA member at the time of her win.
Winners +Winners of PCA Player of the Year awards Year Men's Player of the Year Men's Young Player of the Year Women's Player of the Year Women's Young Player of the Year Winner Club Winner Club Winner Club Winner Club 1970 Mike Procter Gloucestershire Not awarded Jack Bond Lancashire1971 Lance Gibbs Warwickshire 1972 Barry Stead Nottinghamshire 1973 Peter Lee Lancashire 1974 Andy Roberts Hampshire 1975 Zaheer Abbas Gloucestershire1976 Peter Lee Lancashire 1977 Mike Procter Gloucestershire 1978 John Lever Essex 1979 John Lever Essex 1980 Robin Jackman Surrey1981 Richard Hadlee Nottinghamshire1982 Malcolm Marshall Hampshire 1983 Ken McEwan Essex 1984 Richard Hadlee Nottinghamshire 1985 Neal Radford Worcestershire 1986 Courtney Walsh Gloucestershire1987 Richard Hadlee Nottinghamshire 1988 Graeme Hick Worcestershire 1989 Jimmy Cook Somerset 1990 Graham Gooch Essex Michael Atherton LancashireNot awarded1991 Waqar Younis Surrey Dominic Cork Derbyshire 1992 Courtney Walsh Gloucestershire Mark Lathwell Somerset1993 Steve Watkin Glamorgan Mal Loye Northamptonshire1994 Brian Lara Warwickshire John Crawley Lancashire1995 Dominic Cork Derbyshire Andrew Symonds Gloucestershire1996 Phil Simmons Leicestershire Chris Silverwood Yorkshire 1997 Steve James Glamorgan Ben Hollioake Surrey 1998 Mal Loye Northamptonshire Andrew Flintoff Lancashire 1999 Stuart Law Essex David Sales Northamptonshire 2000 Marcus Trescothick Somerset Matthew Hoggard Yorkshire 2001 David Fulton Kent Nicky Peng Durham 2002 Michael Vaughan Yorkshire Kabir Ali Worcestershire 2003 Mushtaq Ahmed Sussex Kabir Ali Worcestershire 2004 Andrew Flintoff Lancashire Ian Bell Warwickshire2005 Andrew Flintoff Lancashire Alastair Cook Essex 2006 Mark Ramprakash Surrey Alastair Cook Essex 2007 Ottis Gibson Durham Adil Rashid Yorkshire 2008 Martin van Jaarsveld Kent Ravi Bopara Essex 2009 Marcus Trescothick Somerset James Taylor Leicestershire2010 Neil Carter Warwickshire Adam Lyth Yorkshire 2011 Marcus Trescothick Somerset Alex Hales Nottinghamshire 2012 Nick Compton Somerset Joe Root Yorkshire 2013 Moeen Ali Worcestershire Ben Stokes Durham2014 Adam Lyth Yorkshire Alex Lees Yorkshire Charlotte Edwards KentNot awarded2015 Chris Rushworth Durham Tom Curran Surrey Anya Shrubsole Somerset2016 Ben Duckett Northamptonshire Ben Duckett Northamptonshire Tammy Beaumont Kent2017 Samit Patel Nottinghamshire Jamie Porter Essex Nat Sciver Surrey2018 Joe Denly Kent Ollie Pope Surrey Sophie Ecclestone Lancashire2019 Ben Stokes Durham Tom Banton Somerset Sophie Ecclestone Lancashire 2020 Chris Woakes Warwickshire Zak Crawley Kent Sarah Glenn Central Sparks 2021 Joe Root Yorkshire Harry Brook Yorkshire Evelyn Jones Central Sparks Alice Capsey South East Stars 2022 Jonny Bairstow Yorkshire Harry Brook Yorkshire Nat Sciver Northern Diamonds Freya Kemp Southern Vipers 2023 Harry Brook Yorkshire James Rew Somerset Tammy Beaumont The Blaze Mahika Gaur North West Thunder 2024 Liam Dawson Hampshire Jamie Smith Surrey Kathryn Bryce The Blaze South East Stars 2025 Jordan Cox Essex Rehan Ahmed Leicestershire Emma Lamb Lancashire Davina Perrin Warwickshire 2026 Craig Overton Somerset Sonny Baker Hampshire Sophie Luff Somerset Tilly Corteen-Coleman Surrey
See also Wisden Cricketers of the Year Cricket Writers' Club County Championship Player of the Year Cricket Writers' Club Young Cricketer of the Year
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