NatWest OSCAs 2008
What are the NatWest OSCAs?
The NatWest OSCAs (Outstanding Service to Cricket Awards) are aimed at recognising those volunteers who give so much of their time to the game of cricket – without these individuals the game would not survive.
The NatWest OSCAs 2008 will be held on Monday October 13 at Lord’s. Full details of the nomination and judging process can be found here.
The NatWest OSCAs 2007 ceremony took place at Lord's on Monday October 15 - with full details of the winners available here on ecb.co.uk
What volunteering means to cricket
It’s fair to say that cricket could not survive without its huge army of unsung heroes.
The 2007 Lifetime Achiever OSCA went to David Cherry, here receiving his award from Charlotte Edwards and Mark Ramprakash © Getty Images
It includes small gestures, like making teas at a fundraiser. And there’s a simply huge swimming pool of tea being brewed every year!
And it includes more fundamental contributions of course, such as coaching kids’ teams, which may of course include the stars of the future.
It’s no exaggeration to say that big stars like Michael Vaughan and Andrew Flintoff simply wouldn’t be where they are today without the hard work of volunteers.
What volunteering means to volunteers!
Cricket volunteers do it out of love for our beautiful game. But there are other benefits too.
It can help you keep fit, de-stress, lose weight (if necessary), develop personally and give you a sense of intangible satisfaction.
If colleagues do it together, it can improve team spirit. Most importantly of all, it gives you something to boast about in the pub!
In the words of England's Matthew Hoggard: "Every cricket team has its unsung heroes and there are thousands of people involved in the sport who make a big contribution to the success of a club simply by preparing a pitch, keeping score or making teas.
"Without the countless hours of hard work by volunteers, many cricket clubs would not be able to function and the OSCAs is a great way of ensuring that they get the recognition they deserve."
England women's captain Charlotte Edwards and Surrey's Mark Ramprakash were the star turns at NatWest OSCAs 2007, on hand to present the awards to the worthy winners
