Breakthrough pair complete end-of-season awards double

Harry Brook and Alice Capsey underlined their status as breakthrough stars of 2021 as they completed a prestigious end-of-season double at the Cricket Writers’ Club awards.

Having already been named as the best young players in the country by their peers at the Professional Cricketers’ Awards, the pair received matching accolades from the CWC – a pool of over 450 media representatives.

Yorkshire batsman Brook was voted winner of the NV Play young cricketer of the year, a coveted title dating back to 1950, with past winners going on to earn more than 2,500 Test caps.

Brook inherits the once-in-a-career honour, handed to England-qualified players aged 23 or under at the start of the season, from 2020 winner Zak Crawley.

Previous recipients include Joe Root, Ben Stokes, James Anderson and Stuart Broad.

Brook performed impressively across red and white-ball cricket for Yorkshire, and made some eye-catching appearances for Northern Superchargers in the launch season of The Hundred.

“I wrote down a few notes at the start of the year about what I wanted to achieve and the runs I wanted to get in different formats and I nailed that,” said the former England Under-19 captain.

“I still think Test cricket is the pinnacle. To play Test cricket is the best standard you can play, but there is a lot of excitement in franchise cricket as well.”

The Hundred also provided a launchpad for Capsey, who was just 16 when she made her bow for women’s champions Oval Invincibles as the youngest player in the tournament.

All-rounder Capsey, who went on to claim a second trophy with South East Stars in the Charlotte Edwards Cup, scored 629 runs and took 30 wickets in all competitions.

“It’s been incredible, a really special summer to be part of and one I’ll remember for a very long time,” Capsey said after becoming the inaugural Sumaridge Estate Wines emerging player of the year. “To end the season with two trophies is great.”

Nottinghamshire’s veteran seamer Luke Fletcher was named LV= County Championship player of the year after topping the wicket charts with 66.

Sophia Dunkley earned the JM Finn women’s cricket award after becoming the first black woman to play Test cricket for England and Alex Jervis was named Lord’s Taverners disability cricketer of the year.

Former West Indies star and beloved broadcaster Michael Holding accepted the Peter Smith Award for outstanding contribution to the presentation of cricket to the public from his home in the Cayman Islands.

Holding published a hard-hitting book on anti-racism, Why We Kneel, How We Rise, earlier this year and is retiring from commentary.