Norman Sharp Award
We are delighted to announce that the club’s chairman, Rod Braithwaite, has picked up the prestigious Norman Sharp Award at their latest awards evening held at Edgbaston earlier this month.
This is an annual award through the Midlands Club Cricket Conference where individuals can be nominated for their commitments to club cricket if they have contributed over 50 years service to any club or multiple. Past Winners of the award can be viewed here
Many congratulations to Rod on this fantastic award, thoroughly deserved for a life of dedication to his beloved cricket club.
Shortly after, we caught up with the chairman to grab a few words on his award.
“I was very flattered to receive this award. After all I have enjoyed my cricket with Avoncroft since I was 12 until I finished playing when I was 69. I continue to relish my involvement with the Club especially watching our teams performing. This can be rather frustrating at times as my advice is generally taken with a pinch of salt-modern players think retired players all have, the Fred Trueman syndrome ‘It was never like this in my day!’
I hope that the award shows that players can remain with a Club for many years and enjoy their cricket. I am always saddened when a promising young player announces he is going to a ‘bigger club’. This seems to happen in all professional sport these days, but we are amateurs and we can make lasting friendships over the years with members of our own Club and opposition players. I still have many pals within the Club and some who have moved from the district, and was delighted to meet a few more old foes at the Awards night.”
Above: Rod Braithwaite, Club Chairman receives the Norman Sharp Award (pictured with John Holder, ex-International umpire)
Please check back to the site for the full article with our Chairman, it will be a riveting read!
