David Edwards Wins National Recognition

5 October 2009

Surrey Cricket stalwart David Edwards has today been recognised with a national ‘OSCA’ award for the incredible work he puts into ensuring the continuation of cricket in the county.

Edwards is the driving force behind the Surrey Cricket Board Association of Cricket Officials, setting up the organisation in 2007 and watching its membership grow from 70 to over 300 in two years. The organisation is now flourishing and was recently recognised by the ECB as an example of good practice across the country.

Largely through his efforts, 2009 saw 100 new umpires trained in Surrey, representing a massive 12% of all umpires trained in the UK during that time.

Another massive benefit felt by the establishment of the SCBACO is that co-ordination of umpire appointments for the 700+ competitive cricket matches that are played across Surrey all summer.

On top of his work in Surrey, David is also a fully recognised examiner for the ECB Cricket Officials Association and is actively involved as an umpire himself.

Aside from the work David does ensuring the officiating of cricket matches in Surrey runs smoothly, he is also the Secretary of Shepherd Neame Surrey Championship – co-ordinating the activities of all 70 Clubs (166 teams) involved in the Championship. He is also the Umpires Appointments Secretary, the chief maintainer of the Surrey Championship website and – due to illness – has also recently stepped in as the Registration and Results Secretary.

The award was presented in a ceremony at Lord’s this lunchtime, which was also attended by Paul Taylor, Surrey’s Director of Cricket Development who paid tribute to Edwards saying: “This is fantastic for Surrey. David is a cricketing stalwart who, despite everything, continues to deliver fantastic work across the County. Words cannot describe the amount of effort David Edwards continues to put into Surrey Cricket.”