ECB's annual volunteer recognition event at Lord's saw Ravi Bopara and Charlotte Edwards hand out the prizes - watch this exclusive video

What are the NatWest OSCAs?

The NatWest OSCAs (Outstanding Service to Cricket Awards) are aimed at recognising those volunteers who give so much of their time to the game of cricket – without these individuals the game would not survive.

The NatWest OSCAs 2008 were held on Monday October 13 at Lord’s. Full details of the winners can be found here.

What volunteering means to cricket

It’s fair to say that cricket could not survive without its huge army of unsung heroes.

The 2007 Lifetime Achiever OSCA went to David Cherry, here receiving his award from Charlotte Edwards and Mark Ramprakash © Getty Images

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Volunteering, just to be clear, includes everyone who gives their time in some way to help the game.

It includes small gestures, like making teas at a fundraiser. And there’s a simply huge swimming pool of tea being brewed every year!

And it includes more fundamental contributions of course, such as coaching kids’ teams, which may of course include the stars of the future.

It’s no exaggeration to say that big stars like Michael Vaughan and Andrew Flintoff simply wouldn’t be where they are today without the hard work of volunteers.

What volunteering means to volunteers!

Cricket volunteers do it out of love for our beautiful game. But there are other benefits too.

It can help you keep fit, de-stress, lose weight (if necessary), develop personally and give you a sense of intangible satisfaction.

If colleagues do it together, it can improve team spirit. Most importantly of all, it gives you something to boast about in the pub!

In the words of England's Matthew Hoggard: "Every cricket team has its unsung heroes and there are thousands of people involved in the sport who make a big contribution to the success of a club simply by preparing a pitch, keeping score or making teas.

"Without the countless hours of hard work by volunteers, many cricket clubs would not be able to function and the OSCAs is a great way of ensuring that they get the recognition they deserve."