Palace presentation for champions

Will Smith, fifth left, accepts the Lord's Taverners/ECB Trophy, a honour he assumes from his predecessor Dale Benkenstein

LV= County Champions Durham were officially presented with the Lord’s Taverners/ECB Trophy for the second year running, at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Thursday.

Durham won Division One by a whopping 47 points over Nottinghamshire, their second successive championship title.

Prior to their visit to the Palace, the players visited the Lord’s Taverners headquarters at Buckingham Place for a lunch reception where captain Will Smith was presented with the ECB Lord’s Taverners Trophy by the current president of the Lord’s Taverners, Chris Tarrant, with ECB and LV= representatives present.

The team then walked over to Buckingham Palace for their reception with HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, where they were presented with the Trophy and their winners medals. Prince Phillip has been Patron and Twelfth Man of the Lord’s Taverners since 1950.

Charlotte Edwards was also presented with the county championship women’s trophy at the ceremony on behalf of Kent.

Smith said: “It was an absolute honour to have the the Lord’s Taverners ECB Trophy presented to us by HRH Prince Philip at Buckingham Palace.

“We had a fantastic time and I’d like to thank the Lord’s Taverners for making it a day to remember. We have had a wonderful season and this has been an excellent way to celebrate our achievement.”

Mattthew Patten, chief executive of the Lord’s Taverners, said: “We are thrilled to be able to congratulate both teams who have brought joy to cricket fans over the season.

“The Lord’s Taverners’ objective is to give young people a sporting chance, regardless of background or ability.

“We hope the presentations with our Patron and Twelfth Man at Buckingham Palace will help inspire youngsters across the country to play cricket and other sports.”