Worcestershire Cricket Board

Two Worcestershire based coaches received national recognition at the recent ECB Coaches Association Awards for their contribution to cricket. The presentation was held at Lord's and presented by Ravi Bopara and Nasser Hussain.

83-year-old Les Bishop from Worcester won the award for Outstanding Contribution and Services to Cricket Coaching at the recent National ECB CA Awards. A founder member and former President of the Worcestershire Coaches Association, Les has been involved in cricket coaching and administration for more than 60 years and is currently Secretary/Trustee of the Lord Cobham Cricket Trust.

Les' work in Worcestershire bought him to the attention of the Midlands Club Cricket Conference and in 1976 he was asked by them to organise a new competition for the Midlands involving Under 16's playing matches over 20 overs per side (who said 20/20 was a new concept). Needless to say so successfully did he achieve this it grew from an initial 72 Clubs in 8 Leagues to 150 Clubs in 16 Leagues by 1990. The Competition runs to this day. Les has contributed a magnificent amount of time and effort to cricket over the past 60 years and it is fantastic to see he has been recognised for this nationally.

Gavin Haynes narrowly missed out on The Outstanding Coaching Achievement award, making the final 3 in the country, which was won by Andy McCrea, from County Antrim

Gavin retired from full time cricket at the end of the 2000 season due to a knee injury. Even before this he was coaching during the winter in Dudley schools and was taking coaching qualifications.

Gavin has been instrumental in developing District Cricket programmes for Clubs initially in the northern area and then in the other three areas identified in the County. This has provided a vital link in the player pathway for talented young players.

At the bottom end of the pathway in 2006 he established in the north of the County a softball league which has been a huge success and children have benefitted enormously when making the transition to hard ball. 20 teams participated in 2010.

Premier Leagues for U11; U12; and U13 Club sides were also introduced for Clubs to make games more competitive for the stronger clubs.

Gavin was appointed EPP head coach in 2008 and Head Coach for the Worcestershire Young Cricketers in 2010 and has set about ensuring both roles have integrated seamlessly. A clearly visible pathway has been identified for Worcestershire Young Cricketers. All County age group squads have an integrated programme of work with formal planning, reporting and standardised fitness protocols. Working closely with the County Coach Education Manager up skilling opportunities are available for the age group coaches.

Gavin completed his Level 4 in December 2009 and is also a valued member of the Coach Education team in Worcestershire.

Whilst Worcestershire are extremely proud that two of our top coaches have been recognised on the national stage, we are more grateful for their ongoing contributions to cricket locally of which we are extremely fortunate to have them both working on our patch.

ECB and Sky Sports had recently announced that more than 45,000 coaches have graduated from the Sky Sports ECB Coach Education Programme since it was first launched five years ago – including 11,000 who have received new qualifications in the last year alone.

Praising the winners, ECB Chief Executive David Collier said: "These awards are an excellent way of recognising and rewarding the very significant contributions coaches make to the development of our non-First Class game. We thank Sky Sports for their continued support and send congratulations to all our winners."

Sky Sports commentator and former England captain, Nasser Hussain said: "This is a fantastic programme that is proving how important coaching is to the game of cricket. Everyone at Sky Sports is immensely proud of our involvement and we congratulate all the winners from the Sky Sports Coach Awards."

Saying thank you!

The Sky Sports Coach Awards were launched at the beginning of 2007 as a way of saying thank you to people who have made a significant contribution to the support and development of coaches and coaching in cricket.

There are three award categories:

Category 1 - Outstanding Contribution and Services to Cricket Coaching, is awarded to people who have made a significant contribution to the support and growth of cricket coaching in a variety of ways, which in turn, has left a legacy for either their home club or county.

This category may include a person who has provided administrative support and who has significantly aided the development of coaching communication channels locally. Alternatively it may include someone who has helped the development and growth of coaches and Coaches Association's locally or who has used innovation and inspiration to significantly increase the amount of coaching activity and player participation locally.

Category 2 - Outstanding Coaching Achievement, is awarded to qualified coaches who have made a significant difference to shaping the lives of cricketers and cricket programmes in both club and representative cricket.

This category may include a person who has significantly encouraged the development and success of players and teams. They may have been the driving force behind the design, production and implementation of coaching programmes or have used innovation and inspirational coaching methods which have significantly improved player and team performances at all levels of ability and gender.

Category 3 - "Young Coach of the Year" aimed at recognising some of our many excellent younger coaches. This award is for qualified coaches under the age of 25 who enjoy a regular involvement in coaching, have shown a commitment to developing the game at grassroots and community level, and have had a clear impact with a local school or club.