The Johnners Trust Awards Panel was able to hold its annual meeting on 17 April 2020, albeit via Zoom, and we were delighted to welcome our new Trustee, the experienced presenter, sports journalist and cricket commentator, Alison Mitchell. Despite the lack of foreseeable cricket at the time, we agreed to make the following awards:
The Panel kept their options open to make further awards in the event of cricket activity resuming, both in the cases of scholarships and blind cricket.
I hope you and your families are keeping safe and well during these difficult and challenging times. At least the series against the West Indies has now commenced, albeit behind closed doors. At last some real cricket to look forward to!
Despite the lockdown, our Trustees have been extremely busy and proactive in a number of different ways.
Change of Name
Firstly, after twenty-five years we have decided to change the name of the Trust. Henceforth we will become The Johnners Trust, which we feel is much less of a mouthful than the present name. We do hope you will all be happy with this change!
Annual Dinner, Monday 9th November 2020
It will come as no surprise to you, I am sure, that we have decided to cancel our dinner at Lord’s this year. The MCC have informed us that they do not anticipate making any revenue from any events this year, as they believe that social distancing will make this very difficult, if not impossible.
Even allowing for the recent relaxation of lockdown rules throughout the country, there seems little likelihood that events such as our dinner will stand any chance of returning to normal in the foreseeable future. This is extremely disappointing, bearing in mind it would have been our 25th anniversary dinner with one of our Vice Patrons, David Gower, and also the great Ted Dexter lined up to join us. We obviously hope they will still be able to join us in 2021 and the date for next year is Monday 8th November – a bit early I know, but let’s live in hope and make a note in your diary now!
We are considering whether other options might be possible, not only to launch the new logo and name of the Trust, but also to keep you all involved with the Trust as far as possible. For instance, maybe a virtual event such as an online cricket forum later in the year with, Covid permitting, a cocktail party in the spring. We will fully explore such possibilities and let you know.
Awards Panel
We were able to hold our Awards Panel meeting in April, albeit via Zoom, and despite the lack of foreseeable cricket at the time, we agreed to make the following awards –
The Panel kept their options open to make further awards in the event of cricket activity resuming, both in the cases of scholarships and blind cricket.
Lord’s Test Match Tickets
It is obviously very disappointing that no cricket has been played at Lord’s this summer and refunds are in the process of being made for those who purchased tickets. However, I am sure you will appreciate that with all the staff at the office working from home and some furloughed, the repayments are taking a bit longer than usual.
Best wishes and I hope that at least we get some live cricket to watch soon.
Richard Anstey
BJMT Secretary
The BJMT Awards Panel met on 17 April 2019 at the Lord’s Taverners offices in London to make the annual Brian Johnston Scholarship Awards. A total of more than £45,000 was given in scholarships, grants and awards to help promising young cricketers to fulfil their sporting potential. We are very grateful for the generosity and support of all our Johnners Club members, who have enabled us to make these awards.
(1) ECB Recommended Scholars.
On the recommendation of the ECB Performance Department, Brian Johnston Cricket Scholarships totalling £25,000 were awarded to the following young cricketers to assist them with travelling expenses so that they can attend their coaching and training sessions:
Bedfordshire
Buckinghamshire
Cheshire
Cornwall
Cumbria
Durham
Glamorgan
Gloucestershire
Hampshire
Isle of Wight
Kent
Leicestershire
Northants
Somerset
Surrey
Cricket Wales
Warwickshire
Worcestershire
(2) Blind Cricket.
The Brian Johnston Memorial Trust is proud to continue its support of cricket for the visually impaired and a grant of £9,110 was awarded to Blind Cricket England and Wales towards the cost of funding their ninth annual development weekend at the University of Leicester in September 2019, designed to introduce players and teams from around the country to blind cricket.
An additional grant of £8,050 was awarded to fund the UK Women and Girls VI Programme that offers blind and visually impaired school girls throughout the country the opportunity to learn about the game and participate in out-of-school cricket sessions in Berkshire, Worcestershire and Yorkshire, and in their new group in the West Country.
The BJMT also agreed to grant £4,000 towards funding the BCEW BJMT International Ball Challenge Cup involving about 50 players and taking place in June 2019 at Loughborough University.
The BJMT Awards Panel met on 17 April 2018 at the Lord’s Taverners offices in London to make the annual Brian Johnston Scholarship Awards. A total of more than £40,000 was given in scholarships, grants and awards to help promising young cricketers to fulfil their sporting potential. Once again we are grateful for the generosity and support of all our Johnners Club members, who have enabled us to make these awards.
(1) ECB Recommended Scholars.
On the recommendation of the ECB Performance Department, Brian Johnston Cricket Scholarships totalling more than £18,000 were awarded to the following young cricketers to assist them with travelling expenses so that they can attend their coaching and training sessions:
Buckinghamshire
Durham
Glamorgan
Gloucestershire
Kent
Leicestershire
Somerset
Surrey
Sussex
Warwickshire
Worcestershire
(2) Blind Cricket.
The Brian Johnston Memorial Trust is proud to continue its support of cricket for the visually impaired and a grant of £8,850 was awarded to Blind Cricket England and Wales towards the cost of funding their ninth annual development weekend at the University of Leicester in September 2018, designed to introduce players and teams from around the country to blind cricket.
An additional grant of £8,270 was awarded to fund the UK Women and Girls VI Programme that offers blind and visually impaired school girls throughout the country the opportunity to learn about the game and participate in out-of-school cricket sessions in Berkshire, Worcestershire and Yorkshire. This includes funding towards a Development Tour of a Women and Girls blind and visually impaired cricket team to Barbados.
(3) BJMT Elite Spin Bowling Programme.
The Brian Johnston Memorial Trust has also agreed to one final year of sponsorship for the BJMT Elite Spin Bowling Programme in association with the ECB. All eighteen of the first-class Counties and UCCEs are now participating in this programme that aims to encourage and develop the art of spin bowling in England and Wales by providing funds for additional coaching at Academy level.
We are thrilled that our former Johnners Scholar Anya Shrubsole has become the first female cricketer ever to be featured on the cover of Wisden. It is a great honour and very well deserved. Anya is a wonderful ambassador for women’s cricket and we wish her even more success in the future.
The BJMT Awards Panel met on 26 April 2017 at the Lord’s Taverners offices in London to make the annual Brian Johnston Scholarship Awards. A total of £45,000 was given in scholarships, grants and awards to help promising young cricketers to fulfil their sporting potential. Once again we are grateful for the generosity and support of all our Johnners Club members, who have enabled us to make these awards.
(1) ECB Recommended Scholars.
On the recommendation of the ECB Performance Department, Brian Johnston Cricket Scholarships totalling more than £15,000 were awarded to the following young cricketers to assist them with travelling expenses so that they can attend their coaching and training sessions:
Buckinghamshire
Durham
Gloucestershire
Hampshire
Kent
Leicestershire
Somerset
Surrey
Warwickshire
Worcestershire
(2) Blind Cricket.
The Brian Johnston Memorial Trust is proud to continue its support of cricket for the visually impaired and a grant of £8,600 was awarded to Blind Cricket England and Wales towards the cost of funding their eighth annual development weekend at the University of Leicester in September 2017, designed to introduce players and teams from around the country to blind cricket.
An additional grant of £9,000 was awarded to fund the BCEW Women and Girls VI Programme that offers blind and visually impaired school girls throughout the country the opportunity to learn about the game and participate in out-of-school cricket sessions in Berkshire, Worcestershire and Yorkshire.
(3) BJMT Elite Spin Bowling Programme.
The Brian Johnston Memorial Trust has agreed to continue its sponsorship of the BJMT Elite Spin Bowling Programme in association with the ECB. All eighteen of the first-class Counties and UCCEs are now participating in this programme that aims to encourage and develop the art of spin bowling in England and Wales by providing funds for additional coaching at Academy level.
The BJMT Awards Panel met on 20 April 2016 at the Lord’s Taverners offices in London to make the annual Brian Johnston Scholarship Awards. A total of £50,000 was given in scholarships, grants and awards to help promising young cricketers to fulfil their sporting potential. Once again we are grateful for the generosity and support of all our Johnners Club members, who have enabled us to make these awards.
(1) ECB Recommended Scholars.
On the recommendation of the ECB Performance Department, Brian Johnston Cricket Scholarships totalling more than £14,000 were awarded to the following young cricketers to assist them with travelling expenses so that they can attend their coaching and training sessions:
(2) Blind Cricket.
The Brian Johnston Memorial Trust is proud to continue its support of cricket for the visually impaired and a grant of £8,000 was awarded to Blind Cricket England and Wales towards the cost of funding their seventh annual development weekend at the University of Leicester in September 2016, designed to introduce players and teams from around the country to blind cricket.
An additional grant of up to £10,000 was given to fund the further development of Female VI Cricket in the BCEW’s girls-specific cricket initiative that offers blind and visually impaired school girls throughout the country the opportunity to learn about the game and participate in out-of-school cricket sessions.
(3) BJMT Elite Spin Bowling Programme.
The Brian Johnston Memorial Trust has agreed to continue its sponsorship of the BJMT Elite Spin Bowling Programme in association with the ECB. All eighteen of the first-class Counties and UCCEs are now participating in this programme that aims to encourage and develop the art of spin bowling in England and Wales by providing funds for additional coaching at Academy level.
Three generations of Johnners! Brian Johnston, his eldest son Barry and granddaughter Olivia photographed at the annual Johnners Dinner in the Long Room at Lord’s Cricket Ground on 7 November 2016. This was the first time Olivia had ever visited Lord’s, where her grandfather commentated on BBC television and radio at every England Test match for nearly fifty years.