The annual awards honour and celebrate the hard work and dedication of cricket volunteers across England and Wales.
County Boards have been nominating their region’s winners across 12 different categories since the end of the summer, and from that group a panel of experts has chosen the national winners.
This year, we are celebrating more volunteers than ever before with a brand-new category sponsored by Metro Bank: The Metro Bank Champion of Girls’ Cricket, while there will also be awards for – amongst other areas – Unsung Hero, Rising Star and Tackling Climate Change.
The winners of the 2024 Cricket Collective Awards are announced below and a selection of the winners’ stories will be highlighted throughout the first week of February on the ECB website and social media channels.
🏆 Delighted to have our Cricket Collective Award winners announced by some familiar faces...
— England and Wales Cricket Board (@ECB_cricket) February 3, 2025
👏 Congratulations to all the winners! #TheCricketCollective #MakingCricketHappen#CricketCollectiveAwards
Full list of 2024 Cricket Collective Award winners and nominees:
The Metro Bank Champion of Girls’ Cricket
Category Description: A volunteer, coach or role model who has championed growing girls’ cricket at their club.
Winner: Anna Davies (Sussex) for her work growing girls’ cricket at Chichester Priory Park Cricket Club.
Highly Commended: Emma Williams (Wales) and Sarah John (Lancashire)
Connecting Communities
Category Description: A club or community organisation which has gone above and beyond to #raisethegame and support communities/groups.
Winner: Shanaz Parvin (Essex) for her work encouraging women from all backgrounds, particularly South Asian women, to participate in cricket.
Highly Commended: Kate Leech (Kent) and The 8:56 Foundation (Norfolk)
Inspired to Play
Category Description: An individual or group within your club or community organisation going above and beyond to #raisethegame and open the game up to new audiences.
Winner: Lucy Tillotson (Hampshire) for her work at Porchester in Hampshire coaching an all-female disability group, the club’s Super 1s and at an SEN school.
Highly Commended: John Mihill (Hertfordshire) and Holly Fozzard (Shropshire)
Growing the Game
Category Description: A league volunteer, committee member, or administrator going above and beyond to support clubs and help increase the number of games played.
Winner: Joss Dixon (Nottinghamshire) for his work launching Sherwood Cricket Club on social media.
Highly Commended: Russ Mould (Sussex) and Claire Oliver (Wiltshire)
Lifetime Achiever
Category Description: That one individual who has given many years of service to your club or community group and who you could not do without.
Winner: Ron Pearson (Wales) for his 63 years of work at Gwersyllt Park Cricket Club.
Highly Commended: Peter McDermid (Lancashire) and Raj Cherodian (Sussex)
Cricket Innovators
Category Description: Someone who has brought new ideas and/or implemented new systems to improve your club or community group.
Winner: Tarleton CC Women’s Section (Lancashire) for introducing women and girls to cricket through Couch to Cricket.
Highly Commended: Mark Tucker (Kent) and Alex Fitchett (Leicestershire and Rutland)
Unsung Hero
Category Description: Those heroes who impact our game from behind-the-scenes and help us make cricket happen.
Winner: Lynsey Rogers (Wales) for her work to save Mountain Ash Cricket Club in Wales.
Highly Commended: Will Millard (Hampshire) and Rachel Gibbs (Derbyshire)
Rising Star
Category Description: A young volunteer making a difference in the game (for 11-16-year-olds).
Winner: Liv Preston (Shropshire) for all her work in cricket at school and Allscott Heath Cricket Club.
Highly Commended: Theo Liversedge (Cambridgeshire) and Finlay Parker (Northumberland)
Game Changer
Category Description: A young volunteer making a difference in the game (for 17-25-year-olds).
Winner: Emily Douglas Gilbert (Derbyshire) for her work captaining multiple local clubs and coaching Dynamos.
Highly Commended: Oli Ellis (Cambridgeshire) and Abi Sutherland (Norfolk)
Safe Hands
Category Description: An individual that has gone above and beyond to create a positive and inclusive environment for young people to enjoy the game.
Winner: Kay Taylor (Leicestershire and Rutland) for her work over the last eight years as a Welfare and Safeguarding Officer.
Highly Commended: David Fox (Kent) and Katie Medhurst (Gloucestershire)
Volunteer Grounds Management Team of the Year
Category Description: An opportunity to reward and recognise those volunteers who are working hard and improving the places where the game is played.
Winner: David Pearse (Lincolnshire) for his work on a new sight screen and improving the pavilion at Blankney Cricket Club.
Highly Commended: Richard Dobson (Yorkshire) and Nick Pepper (Wales)
Tackling Climate Change
Category Description: A club or community organisation that is addressing the threat climate change poses to cricket, by making sustainable changes to operations, adapting their facilities and/or engaging and educating their local community.
Winner: Springhill Cricket Club (Staffordshire) for their work to become carbon neutral, including installing solar panels.
Highly Commended: Addington Village Cricket Club (Kent) and Bob Selley (Hampshire)
The 2025 season will see another opportunity for the brilliant volunteers at the heart of recreational cricket to be celebrated in next year’s Cricket Collective Awards.
Cricket Boards in England and Wales will begin collecting nominations for this season soon. For more information on how you can nominate in your local area, check out your Cricket Board’s website or contact them for more details.
Stay up to date with monthly email updates on the recreational game on news, activities, and stories from across the network in The Cricket Collective Bulletin. Want to know more? Email: cricketcollective@ecb.co.uk