Jonny Bairstow has won the inaugural Bob Willis Trophy after he was named England 's Player of the Year, following a stunning summer which he has compared to the iconic 2005 Ashes series.
The award, presented by the Cricket Writers' Club (CWC), was given to Bairstow based on his magnificent performances in Test cricket. He scored England's only hundred in the Ashes, helping them draw the fourth Test in Sydney, before following it up with another century against the West Indies in March.
However, his batting went to another level under new Test coach Brendon McCullum, with Bairstow scoring 681 runs at an average of 75.66 to help England win six Test matches in a summer for the first time since 2004.
He struck four brilliant hundreds, including England's second-fastest Test century in the win over New Zealand at Trent Bridge. "It's one of those summers that we will remember as a group and as a cricketing nation," Bairstow said after winning the award.
"We will look back just like I look at the 2005 Ashes summer when I was inspired by the guys and the spectacle that they put on. I hope we as a group of people have inspired the next generation.
"Even people who have flicked on the cricket, I hope we've entertained them. I look at the shift that we've had in the way that we've gone about it.
"We've been brave enough. We talk about going towards the danger. We've shifted the approach and it is not going to be right all the time but we've won six out of 7 matches so we must be doing something right.
"It has been a seismic shift and one that has worked. We've been brave enough to take that challenge head on and confront the danger."
Unfortunately, Bairstow broke his leg in three places and dislocated his ankle after a freak accident while playing golf last month and will be out of action until next year. "It is just a setback in the grand scheme of careers and you've just got to get on with it, but my return will definitely be in 2023," he added.
"Unfortunately it is quite a large injury and it was a freakish thing that happened, but it is desperately disappointing considering what is coming up with the T20 World Cup and the Test matches in Pakistan as well. It is gutting to miss those, but I'm just making sure the healing process is going as well as it can with the ice machine and things like that."
He was also full of praise for McCullum and new Test captain Ben Stokes for the way they have transformed a side that had won just one of their last 17 games before they took over. "The way in which he has empowered people to play a game with freedom and bravery is a different way of looking at Test cricket," Bairstow said of McCullum.
"Understanding that we are playing at the highest level and we should be enjoying it rather than piling on the pressure is one thing. The common vocals between him and Ben are off the same hymn sheet and the message is consistent.
"That is a strong thing to have as a leadership pair because we weren't in a good place at the start of the summer and it is interesting to hear the shift with people talking about Test cricket being stronger than white ball cricket. Baz and Ben's messaging has been fantastic and the buy-in from the boys has been brilliant."
All-rounder Nat Sciver won the Women's Cricket Award after an impressive year in all formats, while her wife Katherine Brunt won the Peter Smith Award which recognises an outstanding contribution to the presentation of cricket to the public.
Kent star Jordan Cox was named Young Cricketer of the Year after scoring 917 runs at 45.85 in the County Championship and earning a maiden England call-up for the recent T20I series against Pakistan after starring in both the T20 Blast and The Hundred.
Hampshire's Keith Barker won the County Championship Player of the Year, new England star Freya Kemp was named Emerging Cricketer of the Year, Josh Price Disability Cricketer of the Year and David Woodhouse won the Derek Hodgson Book Award for 'Who Only Cricket Know'.
