Azam wins national award

Crawley Eagles Cricket Club organiser Azam Riyard won the 2013 NatWest Outstanding Service to Cricket Building Partnerships Award for his excellent work in using cricket as a tool to integrate Crawley's communities.
By The Newsroom
Published 10th Oct 2013, 16:02 BST
Updated 8th Jun 2018, 06:33 BST
Azam Riyard receives his award from Ashley GilesAzam Riyard receives his award from Ashley Giles
Azam Riyard receives his award from Ashley Giles

He was one of eight volunteers who were awarded with OSCAs at a prestigious event at Lord’s, attended by 400 guests from cricket clubs all over the country.

In an area of diverse ethnic backgrounds and areas of social deprivation, Azam has sought to break down all sorts of barriers using the power of cricket as his tool.

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He led the merger of two clubs from diverse cultural and religious backgrounds, namely Serendib, a mainly Sri Lankan based club, and Crawley Eagles, a mainly Pakistani based cricket club.

Crawley Eagles is now a very diverse and welcoming cricket club without no boundaries of race or religion.

Building a platform for Crawley’s future generations to prosper, Azam has worked tirelessly to make this happen.

Azam is planning to work closely with local schools through the Chance to Shine initiative to get cricket booming in the town in 2014 and beyond,

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Paying tribute to the winners, David Collier, Chief Executive of ECB, said: “The NatWest OSCAs really is one of the highlights of the cricketing summer – when we rightly take time to thank and reward the game’s volunteers.

“We owe a huge debt of gratitude to every single one of the them – they truly are the lifeblood of cricket in England and Wales.”