Namibia’s cricket development programme took the top prize of Best Overall Cricket Development Programme at the ICC Development Programme Annual Awards 2009 which were announced on Monday.
It was the second time that Namibia had won the ICC Global Development Programme of the Year award following their first success in 2004.
Their latest award follows their continental success in February when they won the ICC African Development Programme of the Year award. It was the fifth time that they had won the continental development award.
On that occasion the CEO of cricket Namibia Laurie Pieters paid tribute to the hard work done by their development manager Marsia Reed.
“I am absolutely delighted because we have done a tremendous amount of work over the past year. Since we appointed Marsia Reed as our Development Manager in 2009, our development work has taken off. We now employ eight people as development officers, as well as two development co-ordinators in the west and one in the north of Namibia,” he said.
The International Cricket Council’s Global Development Manager Matthew Kennedy said of the awards recipients this year: “It is wonderful to see so many of our Associates and Affiliates being recognised for all the hard work and effort they put into their cricket programmes,” he said.
“Everyone who has won and those who were not successful this time round should be congratulated for their continuing effort and dedication to improving cricket in their nation,” he added.
Deutsche Cricket Bund picked up the Best Women’s Cricket Initiative award for 2009 while Israel Cricket Association won the Best Spirit of Cricket Initiative in partnership with UNAIDS and UNICEF.
For the Volunteer of the Year Award, the standard of regional winners was so high that the judges decided to honour James Bennett of Ireland and S Gopalkrishnan of Indonesia for their dedication and contribution to the game in 2009.
The Photo of the Year also came from Ireland and was taken by Rob O’Connor, while Binaya Raj Pandey, President of the Cricket Association of Nepal, was the recipient of the Pepsi ICC Development Programme Lifetime Service award.
Other winners this year include Cricket Papua New Guinea for the Best Promotion and Marketing Programme.
This year’s judging panel featured current ICC President David Morgan, alongside former ICC presidents Ehsan Mani, Malcolm Gray and Ray Mali. Keith Bradshaw, the Secretary and Chief Executive of Marylebone Cricket Club, completed the line-up.
The winners:
Best Overall Cricket Development Programme – Namibia Cricket Board
Best Women’s Cricket Initiative – Deutsche Cricket Bund
Best Junior Cricket Initiative – Cricket Association of Nepal
Best Cricket Promotion and Marketing Programme – Cricket PNG
Best Spirit of Cricket Initiative in Partnership with UNAIDS and UNICEF – Israel Cricket Association
Photo of the Year - Cricket Ireland (Rob O’Connor)
Volunteer of the Year – James Bennett (Ireland) & S Gopalkrishnan (Indonesia)
Lifetime Service Award – Binaya Raj Pandey (Nepal)
The national cricket bodies of all global winners receive a US$2 000 cricket equipment grant.
The format of this year’s awards was similar to previous years with all the nominations being submitting to ICC regional offices by 20 December. Regions selected and announced the respective regional winners with these then also put forward for the global judging process.