OSCA Awards Honour Heroes of Surrey Cricket

22 September 2009

The true lifeblood of Surrey Cricket was recognised last week when the volunteers that keep the game running throughout the county were honoured at the Brit Oval in the County OSCA’s Ceremony.

OSCA – which stands for Outstanding Service to Cricket Awards – gives Surrey Cricket a chance to say thank you to the normally unseen men and women that make sure every club ground in the county is fit for play; that the teams, umpires and teas are in place at every match and everything else is done in between to make sure the amazing cricket structure in place within Surrey stays in place for years to come.

The awards, which were held jointly with Berkshire, took place during last week’s floodlit NatWest Pro40 match between Surrey and Warwickshire and were presented by the young pairing of Stuart Meaker and Laurie Evans, both of whom are well aware of the contribution made by Club volunteers at their respective Clubs of Malden Wanderers and Normandy CC.

Here is a list of the 2009 OSCA Winners:

Young Volunteer

For volunteers aged 16 – 25 years old

Tom Nevin and Chris Peploe – Valley End CC

Tom and Chris – university students at opposite ends of the country – have done a sensational job taking an already thriving junior section and injecting it with inspiration and enthusiasm.

They are both qualified Coaches (Chris – UKCC2) and have a busy cricketing week in which to fit their lectures. On Sunday mornings they co-ordinate 50 U9’s; Monday evenings the U14 – U17 age group; on Tuesdays U1O’s and U11’s and on Fridays the U12’s and U13’s benefit from their wisdom.

They both play for Valley End 1st XI and provided the inspiration and a first visit to Lords last year for their huge army of Colts when they lifted the Village Knockout Trophy, with Tom Nevin captaining the side with an average age of 23. The dynamic duo run courses at the club during all school holidays as well as being involved with the Chance to Shine Programme. Most importantly they have shown other youngsters in the club that cricket is not just about your own personal performance on the pitch and have inspired other 16-25 year olds to get involved with a voluntary capacity.

Outside the Score Box

For a volunteer who has increased officials in the County

David Edwards

David Edwards has probably done more for Surrey Cricket, and for Surrey Match Officials, than any other individual.

David made the initial moves to set up the Surrey Cricket Board Association of Cricket Officials in 2007 and has seen its membership grow from around 70 to over 300 in two years. His tireless efforts as Chairman have seen the development of a flourishing organisation that has been used by the ECB as an example of good practice.

Through his efforts to bring together local Associations into a unified body, the number of Umpires trained this year was the highest ever and the 100 new umpires trained in Surrey represented around 12% of the whole country.

His efforts have also ensured that appointments for county matches, over 300 in total, are now co-ordinated and recognised. He is also an examiner for ECB CAO examinations and is actively involved as an umpire. David is Secretary of the Surrey Championship and also the Umpires Panel. As Umpires Appointments Secretary he makes over 700 appointments each season. As secretary of the Championship he co-ordinates the activities of the 70 clubs (166 teams) involved. He also maintains the Championship website and has also taken on additional duties this season such as Registration and Results Secretary due to the illness of the appointed person.

Behind the Scenes

Someone invisible who your club couldn’t do without

Jo Patrick – Stoke D’Abernon CC

Approximately 18 months ago the Club Secretary at Stoke D’Abernon CC resigned without warning. No one in the club had any knowledge of the secretarial duties, the club constitution, the licence, the relationship with Elmbridge Borough Council or the lease on the square.

Jo was asked if she would be prepared to take on the role for the balance of 07/08 as a “trial period” and she willingly accepted, despite having scant knowledge of the game of cricket, club administration and the workings of Stoke D’Abernon CC. The trial period has long since lapsed.

Today Jo is a key figure in the club and is widely regarded as the person who joins up the dots between the Captain’s Committee, Colts parents, Surrey CCC etc. Some of the highlights include:

Building Partnerships

Someone who has created sustainable partnerships in the community

Melissa Darroch de Haldevang – Dulwich CC

Melissa has done much in the fraternity of local Girls and Ladies Cricket. This has included a partnership between her club at Dulwich and Bexley CC whereby a combined team was able to enter into competitions, which gave as many girls as possible the chance to play league cricket. Likewise, she has built up connections with other local clubs to arrange friendly matches.

She has also worked with the County Board to explore ways of providing competitive cricket for women and girls in Inner London. Work has also been done with local schools in Southwark and she has worked tirelessly at her own local club playing, umpiring, scoring, being fixture secretary and helping with all the other tasks of dedicated volunteers that are the lifeblood to all cricket clubs.

NatWest CricketForce

A volunteer or group who made an outstanding contribution to the CricketForce programme

Alan Culff – Ashtead CC

Alan was the driving mastermind behind Ashtead’s Cricket Force Event, a huge undertaking.

For months he planned, negotiated, cajoled, persuaded, brainstormed and efficiently whipped members into shape. He also built fantastic relationships with the NatWest CricketForce partners (eliciting goods and services beyond the Club’s wildest dreams) so that everyone knew exactly what was expected of them.

There were 40+ projects on the day, an opportunity to highlight Chance to Shine, and April was not the end, he organised volunteer groups to complete tasks, continues to lead member volunteers in painting and finishing and is continually instrumental in fitting out the new pavilion built by CricketForce so it is a worthy home to Ashstead CC and an inspiration for cricket and social activities.

On the day 400 volunteers swamped the ground thanks to Alan’s powers of persuasion including copious school children, many of whom have since joined Ashtead.

The project has completely swamped his life and yet his smile has never dimmed, his mind continues to offer logical solutions and his unflappable nature has ensured that everyone wants to work together for Ashtead.

Leagues and Boards

Dedication with results is what we are looking for here. Individual or a Group.

Graham Jackson

Graham’s involvement in running the Fuller’s League is incredible and has made the league recognised as one of the best run in the county.

His work includes invitation and inspection of prospective new clubs; disciplinary procedures; rules and constitution presentations and changes and the collation, agenda and arrangements of meetings inclusive of minutes.

He organises the Annual Dinner, cup competitions including the draw and arranging the finals day. He is a sub-committee member dealing with all aspects relative to the league’s sponsors Fullers Brewery and cricket ball and equipment contracts.

Perhaps this example best sums him up – with just one months notice he produced this year’s league Handbook single handed when the editor was unable to do so. Just this week he umpired all day for the school kids competition then the following day umpired Surrey CCC over 60’s vs. Hertfordshire in a league match. He is very irreplaceable.

Lifetime Achievement

An individual who has made an outstanding difference for a sustained period

Fred Mayhead

His wife says there are three in their long happy marriage – Fred, herself and Normandy CC.

Fred uses his initiative and completes jobs almost before they materialise! At 74 years old, Fred has worked hard at the club for 50 years. Every day, summer or winter, he visits the ground, cutting the outfield on both grounds, clearing and tidying all areas and after training and helping to maintain ground machinery in summer. In winter, he ensures all areas of the ground are kept in good condition.

Fred ensures everything is well prepared when outside organisations use Normandy’s facilities. He is the first person on call if the alarm goes off all night! His major contributions to the future of the club are the two pavilions and the second ground.

Fred became the driving force behind the development of our second ground bringing it in on time and on budget. He fronted our successful Lottery bid for a major redevelopment of the main pavilion. Last year Fred planned a new design and organised building work for the second ground pavilion, a stalled project for three years – it is a fitting legacy to his total commitment to Normandy CC.