The Cricket Society is a not-for-profit organisation formed in 1945 as the Society of Cricket Statisticians at Great Scotland Yard, London. It has grown steadily to be the largest body of its kind in the cricket world. The Cricket Society now has over 1,500 members in the United Kingdom and the cricket playing countries of the world. Its current President is John Barclay. The Society celebrates the best of cricket, past, present and future through events, awards, publications and playing via The Cricket Society XI and supporting state schools cricket through the Cricket Society Trust.
The Cricket Society celebrated its 80th birthday on 17 November 2025 with an all-star dinner in London. Several tributes were made to The Society and its long history, notably by among others David Kynaston and President, John Barclay.
Awards and Honours Awards are presented, mainly at the Society's Autumn Lunch and the 2025 winners were:- Most Promising Young Male Cricketer - winner in 2025 James Coles Most Promising Young Female Cricketer - winner in 2025 Davina Perrin The Ian Jackson Award for Services to Cricket - winner in 2025 The ACE Cricket Programme https://aceprogramme.com/ The Sir Jack Hobbs Silver Jubilee Memorial Prize (Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year) - winner in 2025 Oliver Sutton The Charlotte Edwards Award (Schoolgirl Cricketer of the Year) - winner in 2025 Venus Weerappuli The Don Rowan Trophy - winner in 2025 Spa School, Bermondsey The Perry Lewis/Kershaw Memorial Trophy - winner in 2024 David Farrington and winner in 2025 Will Halliday (both presented at 2025 awards ceremony)
Books and Scholarship Awards The Cricket Society established its Book of the Year Award in 1970 and, in partnership with MCC since 2009, now hosts an annual Awards Evening each spring in the Long Room at Lord's
In 2020 the Society instituted the Howard Milton Award for Cricket Scholarship in partnership with the British Society of Sports History, which is given to an individual or institution that has contributed a significant body of work to the history of the game. Recent winners include Ramachandra Guha (2022), Clem Seecharan (2023), The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (2024) and Neil Robinson, Head of Heritage & Collections at MCC (2025). Andre Odendaal has been awarded the Howard Milton Award for Cricket Scholarship in 2026.
Meetings and Events Throughout the year, The Society holds regular meetings for members and guests, featuring famous names from cricket at venues in Central London, most notably as the Union Jack Club and the Civil Service Club.
The Society also holds regular meetings for the members in Bath and Birmingham at which invited speakers address the audience. The Southwest and Midlands branches are chaired by Stephen Chalke and Mike Williams respectively. Both are supported by Committees of dedicated cricket followers who organise impressive schedules supported by substantial audiences.
In addition The Cricket Society runs on-line monthly interviews with cricketing luminaries throughout the UK winter. This allows those who cannot attend meetings in London, Bath and Birmingham to enjoy hearing from important figures in the game.
During the UK summer The Cricket Society continues to organise events including the popular 'Days at the Cricket' - in 2025 these took place at Leicester, Taunton and Beckenham. In 2026 Society members and friends attended Day 2 of the England v India Women's Test match at Lord's, a Minor Counties match at Chesham in August between Buckinghamshire CCC and Suffolk CCC and a County Championship match at Cheltenham College between Gloucestershire CCC and Worcestershire CCC as well as watching games at Wormsley Cricket Club and Eastnor Cricket Club.
Playing Cricket
The Society has a cricket team (The Cricket Society XI) which plays over 30 games each season in South London, South West London, Surrey and Sussex primarily on Sundays and mid-week. In 2026 there is a full fixture list including games against Cricket Media Club.
Charitable Work
Through its charitable arm, The Cricket Society Trust, the Society raises money to give state school educated children greater opportunity to play cricket. The Cricket Society Trust supports a state schools tournament at Kimbolton School each year in conjunction with the R66T Academy and the MCC Foundation.
Publications
The Cricket Society publishes a Journal (bi-annually) and a regular news Bulletin (six times per annum) for its subscribed membership. The Journal features cricket writing spanning the full history of the game, while The Bulletin focuses on the modern game and also reports on the many Society events and activities.
Bibliography of Cricket
Over 45 years ago, The Society commissioned E.W. Padwick to compile a comprehensive bibliography of cricket literature under the title A Bibliography of Cricket. The first edition, published in 1977 by the Library Association had 8,294 entries.Barclay's World of Cricket - 2nd Edition, 1980, Collins Publishers, , p588 A revised edition, published in 1984, extended this to over 10,000 entries (). A second volume, published in 1991 as Padwick's Bibliography of Cricket, Volume 2, was compiled by Stephen Eley and Peter Griffiths and covers works published between 1980 and 1990 ().
The Cricket Society/MCC Book of the Year The Cricket Society began naming a book of the year in 1970. Since 2009 the award has been made in partnership with MCC. It carries a prize of £3000, which is presented at an awards evening each spring in the Long Room at Lord's.
1970: "My Dear Victorious Stod": A Biography of A. E. Stoddart by David Frith 1971: Nottinghamshire Cricketers 1821–1914 by Peter Wynne-Thomas 1972: Thanks to Cricket by J. M. Kilburn 1973: Sort of a Cricket Person by E. W. Swanton 1974: The Story of Warwickshire Cricket 1882–1972 by Leslie Duckworth 1975: Learie Constantine by Gerald Howat 1976: On Top Down Under: Australia's Cricket Captains by Ray Robinson 1977: Spinner's Yarn by Ian Peebles 1978: Sir Donald Bradman: A Biography by Irving Rosenwater 1979: The Best Loved Game by Geoffrey Moorhouse 1980: Barclay's World of Cricket by E. W. Swanton and John Woodcock 1981: P. G. H. Fender: A Biography by Richard Streeton 1982: Phoenix from the Ashes by Mike Brearley 1983: Australian Cricket: The Game and the Players by Jack Pollard 1984: C.B.: The Life of Charles Burgess Fry by Clive Ellis 1985: The Art of Captaincy by Mike Brearley 1986: Hedley Verity: A Portrait of a Cricketer by Alan Hill 1987: Pageant of Cricket by David Frith 1988: The Players: A Social History of the Professional Cricketer by Ric Sissons 1989: A La Recherche du Cricket Perdu by Simon Barnes 1990: History of Indian Cricket by Mihir Bose 1991: Herbert Sutcliffe: Cricket Maestro by Alan Hill 1992: England Expects: A Biography of Ken Barrington by Mark Peel 1993: Beyond Bat & Ball by David Foot 1994: Arlott: The Authorised Biography by David Rayvern Allen 1995: David Gower: A Man Out of Time by Rob Steen 1996: Bradman: An Australian Hero by Charles Williams 1997: The Glory Days of Cricket: The Extraordinary Story of Broadhalfpenny Down by Ashley Mote 1998: The Chronicle of W. G. by J. R. Webber; W. G. Grace: A Life by Simon Rae (shared) 1999: The Social History of English Cricket by Derek Birley 2000: Mystery Spinner: The Story of Jack Iverson by Gideon Haigh 2001: At the Heart of English Cricket: The Life and Memories of Geoffrey Howard by Stephen Chalke 2002: A Corner of a Foreign Field: The Indian History of a British Sport by Ramachandra Guha 2003: The Ross Gregory Story by David Frith 2004: Jim: The Life of E. W. Swanton by David Rayvern Allen 2005: Red Shirts and Roses by Eric Midwinter 2006: Cricket's Burning Passion: Ivo Bligh and the Story of the Ashes by Scyld Berry and Rupert Peploe 2007: George Lohmann: Pioneer Professional by Keith Booth 2008: No award with this date. Before 2008 the award was for books published in the year of the award; after 2008 the award was for books published the previous year. 2009: Life Beyond the Airing Cupboard by John Barclay 2010: Of Didcot and the Demon: The Cricketing Times of Alan Gibson by Anthony Gibson 2011: Slipless in Settle by Harry Pearson 2012: Fred Trueman: The Authorised Biography by Chris Waters 2013: On Warne by Gideon Haigh 2014: The Great Tamasha: Cricket, Corruption and the Turbulent Rise of Modern India by James Astill 2015: Field of Shadows: The English Cricket Tour of Nazi Germany 1937 by Dan Waddell 2016: Fire in Babylon by Simon Lister 2017: A Beautiful Game: My Love Affair with Cricket by Mark Nicholas 2018: Connie: The Marvellous Life of Learie Constantine by Harry Pearson 2019: Steve Smith's Men: Behind Australian Cricket's Fall by Geoff Lemon 2020: The Great Romantic: Cricket and the Golden Age of Neville Cardus by Duncan Hamilton; The Final Innings: The Cricketers of Summer 1939 by Christopher Sandford (shared) 2021: The Unforgiven by Ashley Gray 2022: Who Only Cricket Know: Hutton's Men in the West Indies 1953/54 by David Woodhouse 2023: An Island's Eleven: The Story of Sri Lankan Cricket by Nicholas Brookes 2024: The Tour: The Story of the England Cricket Team Overseas 1877-2022 by Simon Wilde
2025: Worrell by Simon Lister 2026: Victory in Australia: The Remarkable Story of England's Greatest Ashes Triumph 1954-55 by Richard Whitehead
Current officers President: John Barclay Vice President: Charlotte Edwards Vice President: Chris Lowe Vice President: Vic Marks Vice President: Sir Tim Rice
Executive Committee Chair: Peter Hardy Vice Chair: Raf Nicholson Secretary: Matthew Stevenson Assistant Secretary: Nigel Kalb Treasurer: Phil Reeves Membership Secretary: Matthew Stevenson Derek Barnard Annie Chave Nigel Hancock Barry Kitcherside Nick Tudball David Stanworth Phillip Bennett-Richards
Presidents since 1945
1• 1945-1946 F. A. Mackinnon, The Mackinnon of Mackinnon 2• 1947-1959 Hubert Preston 3• 1960-1961 H. S. Altham 4• 1961-1962 Lord Birkett 5• 1963-1968 A. A. Thomson 6• 1969-1973 Lt-Gen Sir Oliver Leese 7• 1974-1975 A. M. Crawley 8• 1976-1983 E. W. Swanton 9• 1983-1998 G. H. G. Doggart 10• 1998-2008 C. D. A. Martin-Jenkins 11• 2008-onwards J. R. T. Barclay
Chairs since 1945
1• 1945-1946 A. Weigall 2• 1946-1947 Capt. J. A. Bayliss 3• 1947-1953 G. A. Copinger 4• 1953-1960 A. R. Whitaker 5• 1960-1965 Dr R. W. Cockshut 6• 1965-1966 L. E. S. Gutteridge 7• 1966-1983 C. C. W. Box-Grainger 8• 1983-1992 R. N. Haygarth 9• 1992-2003 D. Allsop 10• 2003-2008 W. R. Allen 11• 2008 I. R. Jackson 12• 2008-2012 D. E. Barnard 13• 2012-2021 N. Hancock 14. 2023 - to date P. M. Hardy
References
5. https://www.lords.org/lords/news-stories/the-cricket-society-and-mcc-book-of-the-yeard-awar-9dac5cc7b60926d0c6b9a9f7c728029d
6. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yqyg1ngyeo
External links The Cricket Society web site Brief history (to 1979) The Cricket Society XI fixtures, results & stats The Cricket Society Trust website https://www.lords.org/mcc/mcc-foundation https://therootacademy.co.uk The Cricket Society X Account The Cricket Society Instagram Account The Cricket Society Facebook Account The Cricket Society XI Facebook Account The Cricket Society XI X Account