Edgbaston’s Barwell earns top grounds manager award

Gary Barwell has won the Bernard Flack Memorial Trophy for the second time at the 2025 Grounds Manager of the Year Awards which were staged at Edgbaston.

Barwell and his team at Edgbaston accepted the award after earning the highest ratings for their multi-day pitches across the season. Barwell won the award for the first time three years ago when he shared it with four other grounds managers.

Lee Fortis (Kia Oval), who had won the previous three awards, was runner-up with Steve Birks (Trent Bridge) earning a commendation.

Richard Robinson (Headingley) won the One-Day Pitches award with Fortis runner-up and Barwell commended.

John Dodds (Scarborough CC) won the Outground Pitches award for the seventh time with Josh Marden, who won the award last season, the runner-up. Dodds first won the Outground Pitches award in 2012.

David Short (Lancashire CCC) was recognised with an Outstanding Contributor award for exemplary contributions to the Lancashire CCC grounds team leadership during the 2025 season.

ECB Pitch and Grounds Advisor, Andy Mackay, said: “The role of grounds person is often that of the unsung hero, but without these people we simply wouldn’t be able to play cricket.

"It is a role that requires a high degree of skill at all levels of the game, but in professional cricket the role demands the very highest levels of expertise, professionalism, and dedication.

"Grounds people are usually the first to arrive and the last to leave on a match day and the sacrifices that are made to deliver our playing surfaces cannot be underestimated or overvalued. It’s important therefore that we host this event to celebrate and recognise this group and properly honour their service.

"With the introduction of the new Women’s Tier structure, 2025 has been the busiest year on record for our grounds teams and yet the standard of pitches in all formats continues to be very high overall, indeed, the pitch marks in white ball cricket are higher than they have ever been.

"The award winners fully deserve this recognition for the dedication and skill required to come at the top of such an elite field in such a challenging environment."

Bernard Flack Memorial Trophy (Multi-Day pitches)

Winner: Gary Barwell (Edgbaston)

Runner-up: Lee Fortis (Kia Oval)

Commendation: Steve Birks (Trent Bridge)

One-Day pitches

Winner: Richard Robinson (Headingley)

Runner-up: Lee Fortis (Kia Oval)

Commendations: Gary Barwell (Edgbaston)

Outground Pitches Award:

Winner: John Dodds (Scarborough CC)

Runner-up: Josh Marden (Beckenham)

Outstanding Contributor: David Short (Lancashire County Cricket Club)