Neil Robinson has been announced as the winner of the 2025 Howard Milton Award for cricket scholarship. As head of Heritage and Collections at Marylebone Cricket Club, Neil is one of the world's leading experts in cricket history, heritage and curation. Over the course of two decades of service to the club, he has been instrumental in preserving, interpreting, and promoting the rich history of the game. Under his leadership, the MCC Museum's collection has grown significantly. He devised the Museum's first Digital Strategy and initiated the proposal for the new Heyhoe Flint Gate at Lord's in 2022.
Of the exhibitions curated by Neil, the most notable has been No Foreign Field: MCC and the Empire of Cricket which covered cricket's global development from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day. Neil is a respected author and speaker on cricket and has published widely with numerous titles including Long Shot Summer (2015) which documents the chaos of the 1988 "summer of four captains".
Cricket Society Chair Peter Hardy said: 'I'm delighted that The Cricket Society and the British Society for Sports History are recognising Neil Robinson in this way. His long track record as a cricket historian, archivist and curator is immensely impressive, and makes him the worthy winner of the Howard Milton award for 2025.'
Commenting on the Award, Neil Robinson said: 'I'm thrilled and honoured to receive this award. Much of my work at Lord's has been about building partnerships, so in accepting it I must also thank the many colleagues at MCC and beyond who have brought ideas and energy to so many worthwhile projects.'
The award was announced during the annual conference of the British Society of Sports History (BSSH), which was held at the University of Ulster from 20 to 22 August and will be presented to Neil in person at a special event at Lord's on 6 October.