Cricket · Most Improved
Cricket Most Improved Award
The cricket most improved award rewards the player whose game moved on the most over the summer. It is often the award that means most to the person receiving it, because it recognises hours in the nets that nobody else noticed. Ours is a glass block UV-printed with your club badge in full colour and the player's name and season below.
A few ways to make it yours
The designer
Design yours
Upload your club crest, type up to four lines and see it on the glass.
Simple pricing
End of season award prices: £8.99 small · £13.99 large
Mix sizes and designs freely. One delivery charge per order.
Minimum 5 awards. Delivery £10.00 per order.
Cricket end of season awards: what improvement looks like in cricket
Cricket gives plenty of ways to measure progress. A batter who made a first fifty after seasons of single figures. A bowler who cut their average by a third or remodelled an action that kept breaking down. A player who moved up from the 3rd XI and held their place in the 2nd.
Some improvements are quieter: a nervous teenager who now fields in the ring, or a returning player who rebuilt their game after years away. The captain or coach usually knows the story best.
Choosing the winner
Most clubs leave this one to the judgement of captains and coaches rather than numbers, because last summer's figures are not always comparable. A useful test is to ask what the player could do in September that they could not do in April.
In a club with several XIs, each captain can nominate one, or the club can give a single most improved award across all senior cricket and another for the junior section.
Be careful with very young players. Almost every eight-year-old improves enormously over a summer, so a most improved award in the youngest groups can feel arbitrary. It tends to work better from under-11s upwards, where coaches can point to something specific, such as bowling a full over without wides or batting through a pairs innings. The more specific the reason, the more the award means.
Batter, bowler or player
If the improvement was clearly with bat or ball, name it on the award: MOST IMPROVED BATTER or MOST IMPROVED BOWLER. Batter is now the standard term in the Laws of Cricket and suits mixed and women's sides.
MOST IMPROVED PLAYER covers everything else. Line two can carry the club and XI, line three the player and line four the year, or a short note of the milestone, such as MAIDEN FIFTY.
Sizes and ordering
Most improved is usually a small block at £8.99, ordered alongside the averages and fielding awards from the same design. A junior section might order one per age group, each with the age group on the club line.
Once the first award is set up, add the other names without uploading the badge again. If you are ordering for every junior age group, the bulk option lets you paste the full list of winners in one go, then adjust the team line for each.
Most improved also sits comfortably next to the statistical awards on the night. Read it out between the averages and clubman of the year, so the evening is not all about the strongest players.
Good to know
Questions
Is most improved a consolation prize?
Not when it is chosen well. Explain the improvement in the speech, such as a first fifty or a new bowling action, and the room will see it as a genuine achievement rather than a kind gesture.
Can an adult who took up cricket late win it?
Absolutely. Adults who started playing through a club's social or softball cricket and progressed to league games are often among the most deserving winners, because they have learned the game in public.
Can we put the milestone on the award?
Yes. Line four is free text, so you can record something like MAIDEN FIFTY or FIRST FIVE-WICKET HAUL instead of, or as well as, the year.
How long until the awards arrive?
Made in Cornwall and delivered within 7 days Order once the captains have made their choices, so there is time in hand before the presentation and a chance to check each name with the coach.
Keep exploring
Related awards
Club secretaries
Ordering for the whole club?
Finish one design, then reuse the same crest with a new name. Or paste a list of names and add every award in one go. Whatever the number of awards, there is one delivery charge per order.
Ordering for a club