Thank you to everyone who came last night to our Annual Awards Evening, which was held once more at Long Eaton Rugby Club.

The evening was underway just after 6.30pm with the start of the junior awards.

Our Under 9’s each received a medal, with coach Achil Avasthy giving his thoughts and thanks of another year of kwik cricket festivals for our youngest age group.

The under 11’s were next, and with coach Akhil Avasthy unable to attend, Alex Gillespie stepped in to review the season. The first awards of the night went to Sahil Avasthy (batting), Finlay Gillespie (bowling) and the coaches award was presented to Thomas Sumpter.

The Under 13’s were coached by our overseas player Aidan Meyer during 2025, and with Aidan now back home in South Africa, David O’Neal was given the task of representing the side on stage. The team finished league runners-up this year, just a single point off top spot. The under 13 awards were dominated by Captain Nathan Hardy who scooped the batting, bowling and Players’ Player Awards. Harry Sumpter was handed the Coaches Award.

Our final junior section – the under 15’s were next, with coach David Evans congratulating the side on a solid campaign. The awards were presented to Nathan Hardy (batting), Jason Edgar (bowling), Zak Lamb (coach) and the Players’ Player was voted by the team to Nathan Hardy, who’s evening awards tally was growing rapidly!

The biggest junior award – The Junior Of The Year amongst our junior section, was the final Junior Award of the night – and for the 2nd successive year, Nathan Hardy was presented with the trophy.

James Lawton, who progressed through our entire junior section, and all the way through to now being our First Team Captain proudly presented all the awards and medals – with every junior receiving a 2025 Sawley CC medal.

After a brief pause for food, our Senior Awards were underway, with the Friendly XI represented by Amit Avasthy who regularly skippered the side. Amit recognised the importance of the team, giving players extra opportunities to play cricket in a senior environment. Oliver Gadsby was handed the Captain’s Player of the season after contributing in all departments for the team.

Our 4th team, addressed by Captain Richard Gadsby for the 3rd successive season enjoyed an excellent year, and the awards followed with Mark Gordon (batting) and Brandon Harvey (bowling) both claiming the awards for the 2nd year on the trot. Jason Edgar, in his first year of senior cricket was handed the Captains Award, whilst Harriet Parker proved a popular winner, scooping the first players’ player trophy to be awarded.

Our Third Team captain Mick Hopkins was next up, reflecting on a fine campaign, which led to the team claiming the Division 8 (south) league championship.
‘Hoppo’ congratulated his team and handed the awards to; Matt Lyas (batting), the evergreen Dean Hubbard (bowling), Adam Cockayne took the Captains Award, whilst junior Nathan Hardy was fantastically voted by his fellow players for the Players’ Player Award.

The second team suffered the heartbreak of a last day relegation, having not been in the relegation zone for the whole season prior, and with Akhil Avasthy not present, Kieran Hopkins stood in on his behalf. The review focused on the positives of the season, with lots of stand out performances which deserved praise despite the end result of dropping back into Division 5.
The awards went to Luke Martin (batting), Charles Baines (bowling), Stuart Hubbard (Captains) and Baines received his second award, scooping the Players’ Player award.

Our First Team enjoyed a really strong second half of the season, along with some fine cup displays. Captain Jimmy Lawton who took over the reigns from Josh Glover early on in the season, spoke about his pride in the team and the whole club who continue to support the First Team.
Our overseas player Aidan Meyer took the batting award presented by our main club sponsor Shane Baldwin, Jimmy himself was handed the bowling award, with chairman Mick Hopkins doing that honour, Jacob Taylor showed immense pride after winning the Captains Award, whilst Jimmy Lawton was voted as the First Teams Players’ Player.

The final section of the Presentation were the more individual awards, with both the junior awards in senior cricket handed to Nathan Hardy – the best performance in senior cricket by a junior player, and junior player of the year in senior cricket.

Clive Cartwright won the Nuts and Bolts Award – ‘The Club Person Of The Year’ – a rare feat for someone to win it twice, underlining Clive’s ongoing selfless efforts to Sawley Cricket Club.

A new Award has been created – The Lifetime Achievement Award – to recognise someone’s outstanding efforts through many years of service to our Club.
Mr Vic Brownett became the inaugural winner of the trophy, with Club President Arthur Winfield recalling some memories of many decades between them.

Cricket captain Gary Birley rounded off the evening, thanking everyone who helps contribute to the running of the club in every capacity.

Once again, thank you to everyone who attended and everyone who contributes, no matter in what way, to Sawley Cricket Club.

#SuperSawley