Bob Willis Trophy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 | |
| Countries | England and Wales |
|---|---|
| Administrator | England and Wales Cricket Board |
| Format | First-class cricket |
| First edition | 2020 |
| Latest edition | 2021 |
| Tournament format | Final |
| Number of teams | 2 |
| Current champion | Warwickshire (1st title) |
| Most successful | Warwickshire Essex (1 title each) |
The Bob Willis Trophy was a domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales for the eighteen first-class counties, organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
It was established in the 2020 English cricket season. The tournament was named the Bob Willis Trophy[1] in honour of former England cricket captain and fast bowler Bob Willis, who died in December 2019.[2]
While in 2020 it was promoted as being a one-off competition,[3] the Bob Willis Trophy was contested again in 2021 as a five-day final between the top two teams in County Championship Division One.[4] In January 2022, the ECB announced that the Bob Willis Trophy would not be played to end that year's championship; managing director of county cricket Neil Snowball said that the ECB was discussing the future format of the trophy with Willis's family.[5]
From 2022 the trophy was adopted by the Cricket Writers' Club, to be presented to England's player of the year. The inaugural winner was Jonny Bairstow.[6]
