History
The Walter Lawrence Trophy was found by a cricket buff and builder, Sir Walter Lawrence in 1934 to be awarded to the player who scored the quickest century scored in an English innings in first-class cricket. The award was confined to England and county cricket.
The award is an annual event and was given every year until 1939, when it was stopped due to the demise of Sir Walter Lawrence and the beginning of the World War II. The awards were continued again from 1966.
During its initial years it was debated whether the quickest century should be calculated with regards to the time that it takes or the balls that was faced while making the score. Hence, the awards were given on the basis of minutes from 1934 to 1939 and again in 1971 to 1984, and on the basis of balls faced from 1966 to 1970 and 1985 till date.
Methodology
The award is given to a player who scores 100 runs in the shortest possible time in the minimum number of deliveries. Wide balls a batsman might face are not considered. The hundreds are then considered by a panel of experts who decide on the eligibility of the award. The panel currently consists of Bill Frindall, Simon Hughes & David Gower.
List of Award Winners
| Season | Player | Time taken/ Balls Faced | Team |
| —— | —— | —- —–/ —– —– | —- |
| 1934 | Frank Woolley | 63 minutes | Kent |
| 1935 | Harold Gimblett | 63 minutes | Somerset |
| 1936 | Leslie Ames | 68 minutes | England XI |
| 1937 | Joe Hardstaff Jr. | 51 minutes | Nottinghamshire |
| 1938 | Hugh Bartlett | 57 minutes | Sussex |
| 1939 | Leslie Ames | 67 minutes | Kent |
| 1966 | Ken Barrington | 153 balls | England |
| 1967 | Basil D’Oliveira | 183 balls | England |
| 1968 | Tom Graveney | 174 balls | England |
| 1969 | Colin Milburn | 163 balls | England |
| 1970 | Geoffrey Boycott | 222 balls | England |
| 1971 | Brian Davison | 63 minutes | Leicestershire |
| 1972 | Majid Khan | 70 minutes | Glamorgan |
| 1973 | Asif Iqbal | 72 minutes | Kent |
| 1974 | Garry Sobers | 83 minutes | Nottinghamshire |
| 1975 | Robin Hobbs | 44 minutes | Essex |
| 1976 | Alan Knott | 70 minutes | Kent |
| 1977 | Chris Old | 37 minutes | Yorkshire |
| 1978 | Gordon Greenidge | 82 minutes | Hampshire |
| 1979 | Mike Procter | 57 minutes | Gloucestershire |
| 1980 | Viv Richards | 66 minutes | West Indians |
| 1981 | Sylvester Clarke | 62 minutes | Surrey |
| 1982 | Ian Botham | 52 minutes | Somerset |
| 1983 | Steven O’Shaughnessy | 35 minutes | Lancashire |
| 1984 | Mike Gatting | 79 minutes | Middlesex |
| 1985 | Ian Botham | 50 balls | Somerset |
| 1986 | Viv Richards | 48 balls | Somerset |
| 1987 | Roland Butcher | 73 balls | Middlesex |
| 1988 | Graeme Hick | 79 balls | Worcestershire |
| 1989 | Darren Bicknell | 69 balls | Surrey |
| 1990 | Tom Moody | 36 balls | Warwickshire |
| 1991 | Ian Austin | 61 balls | Lancashire |
| 1992 | Matthew Maynard | 73 balls | Glamorgan |
| 1993 | Paul Johnson | 73 balls | Nottinghamshire |
| 1994 | Ken Rutherford | 71 balls | New Zealanders |
| 1995 | Chris Cairns | 65 balls | Nottinghamshire |
| 1996 | Graham Lloyd | 70 balls | Lancashire |
| 1997 | Graham Lloyd | 73 balls | Lancashire |
| 1998 | Ali Brown & Carl Hooper | 72 balls | Surrey & Kent |
| 1999 | Andrew Flintoff | 61 balls | Lancashire |
| 2000 | Darren Lehmann | 89 balls | Yorkshire |
| 2001 | Ian Harvey | 61 balls | Gloucestershire |
| 2002 | Matthew Fleming | 66 balls | Kent |
| 2003 | Damien Martyn | 65 balls | Yorkshire |
| 2004 | Richard Johnson | 63 balls | Somerset |
| 2005 | Ian Blackwell | 67 balls | Somerset |
| 2006 | Mark Ealham | 45 balls | Nottinghamshire |
| 2007 | Marcus North | 73 balls | Gloucestershire |