Cumbrians land OSCAs
Last updated 11:45, Wednesday, 20 August 2008
SIX Cumbrian cricketing enthusiasts and one local club have been honoured at the recent Cumbria Cricket Board OSCA ceremony.
The Outstanding Service to Cricket Awards were held on Monday at Keswick CC and local volunteers were in the spotlight for their hard work over the last year.
Workington’s Darren Wood bagged his second OSCA. Following on from his clubman award last year, he was announced as the Young Volunteer of the year at the ceremony.
After taking his UKCC level one coaching badge in the winter, he has gone on to help train the under-11s, 13s and 15s at Workington, as well as scoring for the latter.
He puts in a lot of time at the club, working behind the bar, on the club’s general committee, helping out with NatWest Cricket Force, renovating seating in the pavilion, replacing showers in the changing rooms and painting internal walls.
The nomination letter said that no job was too small for him, that he was “always the first to lend a hand with day to day tasks, such as putting on covers, emptying bins and marking boundaries he’s the type of guy a club can’t function without”.
The club is now hoping that Darren can emulate Steven Benson’s achievements last year, when he went on to represent the county at the national OSCA’s and won.
Fellow Workington member Nigel Clubley has also been rewarded for his hard work with the Another Way trophy.
Nigel fulfils a lot of roles at Workington, including Press Officer, Website creator and manager, Vice Chairman, coach, barman and junior team manager.
He only came to the club three years ago, through his sons but is now also Cumbria Junior Cricket League Secretary, organising 65 teams and some 700 plus children playing cricket weekly.
He also provides articles on the junior league for all the newspapers in Cumbria and on top of all that he’s also Cumbria Cricket League Secretary, and the website coordinator for the Cumbria Cricket Board.
A Workington spokesman added: “This guy does not know the meaning of can’t do - he’ll always find a way - he’s our master decorator - covering up all our cracks.”
Carlisle CC’s Dick Scott was the worthy winner of the Building Partnerships awards.
Dick has been inspirational with the re birth of Carlisle Cricket Club after it was devastated by the 2005 floods. He got the club up and running again and his off the field success has inspired on the field triumph too.
His impact has been felt at all ages, as too, the junior section have collected many of the awards up for grabs in the Cumbria Juniors Cricket League over the last two years.
Fellow Carlisle member Bill Tinning was the Behind the Scenes award winner. He has been involved at Edenside, playing for all three teams for many years and for the last 24 has been involved with ground maintenance.
He is also the current treasurer and hardly a day goes by without him spending time at the ground.
Alan Frostick was rewarded for his commitment, resolve and dedication to Cumbrian Cricket with the Leagues and Boards trophy.
Through his support and work with county schools cricket and the Cumbrian Cricket Board, his diplomacy and conscientious approach have ensured the well being of Cumbria cricket.
Keith Donoghue, at the ripe age of 71, is still wicket keeping and batting for Kendal CC’s third team and he was awarded the lifetime achiever trophy.
Keith helps to bring on the youngsters and can still make a few runs!
A spokesman from Kendal said: “Keith keeps himself to himself, is unfailingly cheerful and absolutely wonderful with the youngsters. He can discuss field placings with seamers and spinners, he helps keep morale up and without Keith, cricket would be the poorer.”
Lastly, Barrow CC were rewarded for their NatWest CricketForce achievements.
Volunteers decorated, cleaned, picked litter and put up netting during the day and are keen to get involved again next year.
Cumbria Cricket Board member Malcolm Wood, said: “We received numerous excellent nominations for the 2008 Board OSCAs and I was delighted to welcome some of the nominees and our seven worthy winners to Keswick.
“Volunteers are the lifeblood of our game. Without them, cricket simply would not survive and the Board OSCAs ceremony is a small way of thanking our army of volunteers and celebrating with them the massive contribution they make both to their communities and to the whole of cricket.”
