The awards, organised by The Cricketer and supported by LV= Insurance, are designed to highlight the very best of amateur cricket, and six categories opened for nominations in the spring
The Cricketer | 11/09/2023 at 11:40
The winners of the 2023 LV= Insurance Pride of Cricket Awards have been announced, with their stories highlighting the very best of grassroots cricket in England.
The awards, organised by The Cricketer and supported by LV= Insurance, were created in 2020 to tell incredible stories of commitment, creativity and compassion within the amateur game, and six categories once again opened for nominations in the spring.
Those nominations were whittled down to shortlists, and opened up to the cricketing public to vote for the individuals they thought most deserving of recognition. An expert panel also judged the entries, with a 50-50 weighting split between the vote and jury.
At the end of the process came six inspirational stories.
The winners are as follows:
• LV= Pride of Cricket award: Tim Howard, Shepherd’s Bush CC
• LV= Club Hero: Rachel Sheppard, Coalpit Heath CC
• LV= Fundraising Hero: Jacqui Nolan, Chilcompton Sports CC
• LV= Media Hero: Tom Jones, Cricket Coach 365
• LV= Community Hero: Tanvir Ahamed, London Tigers
• LV= Young Hero: Freddie Collinson, Gloucester CC
The Pride of Cricket Award - for those who have made a considerable impact on the game over the course of a lifetime - was won by Tim Howard of Shepherd’s Bush CC in west London.
Tim has been involved in the running of his club for more than half a century.
Tim began as team secretary during his mid-teens, shortly after then-captain and current club president Alf Langley had brought him into the first team. These days, he claims just to focus on running the junior section, which includes managing three separate boys' age-groups, but clubmate Briony Brock insists "that's not true at all".
"Tim has just always been frontline," she says. "He can't help himself, he is doing everything all of the time, just as he always did."
Tim Howard of Shepherd's Bush CC, left, won the LV= Pride of Cricket Award [supplied]
The LV= Insurance Club Hero award was won by Rachel Sheppard of Coalpit Heath CC near Bristol.
Rachel arrived at Coalpit Heath CC as a cricket mum, lured in by the promise of a Friday night barbecue after her son had caught the cricketing bug during a Chance to Shine session at school, but she quickly became an integral part of the day-to-day running of the club.
After being "strong-armed" into joining the women's team, she now serves as the captain, responsible for organising fixtures and festivals, and recently completed her level one coaching qualification. She manages the social media accounts and takes an active role in recruiting new players – her flyer campaign ahead of the 2023 season brought in 15 new members.
Perhaps Rachel's biggest success so far, however, has been launching the North Bristol Girls' Hub, which provides opportunities for players at Coalpit Heath and other local clubs to experience girls-only cricket.
"Rach will never say no, she's always willing to go the extra mile. We all say every club needs a Rach," teammate Michelle Parker said.
The LV= Insurance Fundraising Hero award was won by Jacqui Nolan from Chilcompton Sports CC – another West Country club.
That the Somerset side thrives and grows less than a decade on from being turfed out of their old home is only possible thanks to the funds raised by the tireless Jacqui.
Dave Travis, director of cricket and club secretary, explains the magnitude of the financial challenge: "We were needing around £15,000-£20,000 to get us started. So we fundraised, asked people to pay their memberships early, local businesses took part and we were able to get some grants.
"Through the help of grants that Jacqui had arranged, we bought the kit we required: a roller, two mowers, a scarifier, sight screens, covers, boundary rope. The list is endless."
But she didn't stop there, even while devoting large chunks of her time to care for her now late husband. Over the past eight years, Jacqui has continued to bring in additional cash to meet the ambitions of a club aiming to do much more than simply survive.
Soon there was money for a whole set of junior kit, permanent nets, a bowling machine and, this season, an electronic scorebox. It's estimated that she has raised in excess of £50,000 in that time.
Rachel Sheppard of Coalpit Heath CC, centre, is the LV= Club Hero [supplied]
Tom Jones is the winner of the LV= Media Hero award.
From maintaining a new fitness regime, perfecting the perfect batch of banana bread or actually learning the names of the seven dwarfs - many of us failed to keep lockdown promises.
Tom put us all to shame. A business coach with a deep interest in improving individuals by day, he has taken that into his sporting endeavours.
Operating as part of his Cricket Coach 365 venture but unable to be hands-on during the pandemic, he took his sessions online in the form of online webinars, videos and quizzes to keep youngsters engaged as the wait to resume playing went on.
Such was the interest, it was suggested that he develop a podcast, choosing to focus on women's and girls' cricket.
Across more than 100 episodes, subjects have included former England men's head coach Peter Moores (currently at Nottinghamshire), Chance to Shine chief executive Laura Cordingley, umpire Sue Redfern and high-profile players including Nida Dar, Danielle Gibson and Fran Wilson, as well as individuals from across the grassroots circuit.
"It was just amazing to hear those stories from people who in the early years had been pioneers. One of the other huge learnings was the modesty and humility that surrounded everybody that I had the privilege to meet in that capacity in hosting the podcast,” he said.
Freddie Collinson of Gloucester CC is the 2023 LV= Young Hero.
Freddie is a cricket obsessive. As a county cricketer since the age of nine and with a place on Gloucestershire's Emerging Player Programme, a bright future in the game was certainly on the cards.
That was until he was given the earth-shattering diagnosis in September 2020 that he had a rare bone cancer in his right tibia called Ewing's Sarcoma.
"I had a call from the school asking us to go in to meet with a consultant," says Sarah Collinson, Fred's mum. "We went into a children's oncology ward and were given the devastating news that it was bone cancer. Everything just stops and goes into slow motion - you're absolutely staggered."
Freddie Collinson of Gloucester CC is the LV= Young Hero [supplied]
That was the start of Freddie enduring hours in MRI scans, biopsies, multiple hospital stays, eight months of chemotherapy, and surgeries that included the insertion of a donor tibia.
Skip forward to April this year and the physio signed a cancer-free Freddie off to play again.
His story is one of resolve and incredible strength of character for someone so young.
Finally, the LV= Community Hero award for 2023 goes to Tanvir Ahamed for his work at London Tigers.
Tanvir’s work across 10 years with the Tigers includes inspiring 1,000s of young people through cricket, leading All Stars and Dynamos training programmes, mentoring, acting as a groundkeeper for junior and senior teams as well as volunteering at schools across the area.
Currently studying for his Level Three coaching qualification, last year Tanvir scooped the ECB national coach award and Middlesex coach of the year prizes.
Tigers chair Shahidul Alam Ratan said: "His main passion is to work with young people. As long as he works with the young people, he can develop a few more Tanvirs."
READ THE FULL WINNERS' STORIES AND WATCH OUR VIDEO TRIBUTES BY CLICKING ON THE LINKS BELOW
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- The man responsible for inspiring a generation of budding cricketers in Southall
- One day a cricket mum, the next a crucial cog: What Rachel Sheppard means to Coalpit Heath
- A lockdown passion project that became a valuable part of the UK cricket media landscape
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