Tonks blasts way into record books

Laura Tonks receives her Centurion award from former England women's captain Rachael Heyhoe Flint

Fourteen-year-old Laura Tonks has become the first girl to achieve Lord's Taverners Centurion status after blasting an unbeaten 116 not out for Northamptonshire outfit Burton Latimer Town Cricket Club.

The accolade, awarded to all junior cricketers who reach three figures in an organised cricket match, was handed to the teenager after she achieved the remarkable score against Charlbury Ladies.

Rachael Heyhoe Flint OBE, former England women's captain and president of The Lady Taverners, presented Laura with her Centurions award last week, saying: “The Centurions award recognises the achievement of young cricketers scoring their first century, and I was delighted to be able to present Laura - the first girl to win the award - with her certificate.

“Hopefully we can inspire even more young cricketers like Laura and produce the next World Cup-winning England team.”

The Centurions award was launched by The Lord's Taverners to recognise the achievement of boys and girls scoring their first century.

The award is is endorsed by the 10 living batsmen to have scored one hundred first-class centuries (Zaheer Abbas, Dennis Amiss, Geoffrey Boycott, John Edrich, Graham Gooch, Tom Graveney, Graeme Hick, Mark Ramprakash, Sir Vivian Richards and Glenn Turner) and is backed by England opening batsmen Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook.

After presenting Tonks with her Centurions Award, Flint presented certificates to the Burton Latimer Town CC girls team who recently won the regional heat of the Lady Taverners Under-13 Outdoor Cricket Competition before officially opening the club's new cricket pitch.