Evie Ashton and Mike Taylor were honoured with the top individual prizes in the ECB’s annual Domestic Journalism Awards, presented in conjunction with the Cricket Writers’ Club.
Up-and-comer Ashton won the prestigious Christopher Martin-Jenkins Young Journalist of the Year award, with the judging panel saying “her willingness to tackle difficult issues with both flair and journalistic discipline was highly impressive.” A graduate of the ECB’s Hundred Rising Reporter programme, she has had her work featured on Sky Sports, the BBC and Wisden.
Mike Taylor’s work behind the microphone on BBC Radio Midlands was rewarded with the Christopher Martin-Jenkins Broadcaster of the Year prize. The judges said: “Mike’s rich and distinctive voice combined with his playful and imaginative use of simile sparkles with enthusiasm while he never loses sight of the radio commentator’s imperative to inform; to be the eyes of the listener.”
The awards, now in their 14th year, featured three new categories – Podcast of the Year, Photo of the Year and Video Content Creator of the Year.
The Wisden Cricket Weekly Podcast was named the first winner of the Podcast of the Year prize, while Cricket District were named Video Content Creator of the Year for their coverage of recreational and professional domestic cricket across social media.
Freelance photographer Nathan Stirk became the first recipient of the new Photo of the Year award, for the above image of Oval Invincibles batter Jordan Cox being bowled by Trent Rockets’ Sam Cook at Trent Bridge during last summer’s Hundred.
For the seventh year running, The Cricketer has won the Outstanding Online Coverage Award, while the Liverpool Echo came out on top in the Regional Newspaper of the Year category for the third year in a row. The judges said the Echo was “the benchmark for regional cricket coverage”, commending the work of chief writer Tom Evans.
A big congratulations from the Cricket Writers’ Club to all of this year’s winners!
2024 Domestic Cricket Journalism Award winners:
Christopher Martin-Jenkins Young Journalist of the Year: Evie Ashton
Highly Commended: Cameron Ponsonby
Christopher Martin-Jenkins Broadcaster of the Year: Mike Taylor
Highly Commended: Dan Whiting
Outstanding Online Coverage: The Cricketer
Highly Commended: The Guardian
Regional Newspaper of the Year: Liverpool Echo
Highly Commended: Stoke Sentinel
Podcast of the Year: Wisden Cricket Weekly Podcast
Highly Commended: The T20 Blast Podcast, The Final Word
Video Content Creator of the Year: Cricket District.
Highly Commended: Bhavya Doshi
Photo of the Year: Nathan Stirk
Highly Commended: Dave Vokes, Robbie Stephenson, David Griffin