Serena Williams needed only 59 minutes to rout her Russian rival, improving to 20-2 all-time against Sharapova with her 19th consecutive victory in the rivalry.
The 53-year-old, who won five English championships with Leeds and Manchester United in the 1990s and two French titles with Marseille, joins an illustrious list of previous recipients which includes Johann Cruyff, Alfredo Di Stefano and Eusebio.
Ian Botham’s unbeaten 149 at the same ground 38 years ago has long stood as the gold standard of an English Ashes performance but there were plenty of suggestions that it had been eclipsed.
With 60 World Test Championship points in the bag, India will be seeking to double that tally and sweep the brief series when the second Test begins in Jamaica on Friday.