Cricket Groundsmen Honoured

Four cricket groundsmen were honoured recently, at the Rose Bowl, home of Hampshire County Cricket Club, as they each received their Cricket World® / Pitchcare Cricket Groundsman of the Year Award for 2010.

The awards, now in their seventh year, recognise the hard work achieved by cricket groundsmen in the recreational game, and are split into four categories - ICC Europe, educational establishment, private club and community.

The presentations were made to the winners by Paul Bedford from the ECB, Richard Holdsworth, Director of ICC Europe and Alastair Symondson, Head of Media at Cricket World®, in the presence of sponsors and invited guests.

Following the presentations, the winners took to their Executive Box seats to watch the Cockspur Cup Club Cricket T20 Finals, which featured four clubs - Wimbledon (Surrey Championship), Swardeston (East Anglian Premier League), Bootle (Liverpool League) and South Northumberland, who won the 45-over National Club Championship.

The eventual winners were Swardeston, with an eleven run victory over South Northumberland.

The presentation party all expressed their admiration for the winning groundsmen and thanked the sponsors, whose continuing support makes the awards possible.

This year's sponsors were Boughton Loam, Dennis, Groundsman Industries, John Deere, Lloyds of Letchworth, Limagrain and Synergy Products.

Entries are now being invited for the 2011 awards.

For further information or to make your nomination visit www.cricketworld.com

Winners (pictured left to right) were:
Community: John Dodds, South Northumberland CC
Private Club: Derek Tapper, Bournemouth CC
Educational establishment: Karl Brotherhood, Solihull School
ICC Europe: Alan Hamilton, Guernsey Cricket Board