Nottinghamshire do the double
7th December 2015
Nottinghamshire do the double at this year’s Business of Cricket Awards (BOCA)
Lancashire, Kent, Glamorgan, Sussex, Warwickshire and Surrey’s George Foster also honoured.
ECB today announced the winners of this year’s Business of Cricket Awards which were staged in London last night (Thursday) and celebrate Communications and Marketing excellence across the county game.
Nottinghamshire won two awards on the night: the Digital Campaign Award and the Customer Match Day Experience Award. Their social media campaign to drive ticket sales included a launch video which was viewed more than 160,000 times online, while the second award reflected the club’s impressive response to fans’ feedback on the match-day experience at Trent Bridge.
In a season which saw Yorkshire win the LV=County Championship for the second year in a row, the county’s off-field operations were also honoured as they won the County Recognition Award – voted for by all those who work within the domestic First Class game.
They were praised for recording their highest international attendances for seven years, nearly doubling their NatWest T20 Blast attendances year-on-year and delivering a community programme which included supporting a Batley-based side of predominantly Muslim cricketers who recently took on the Vatican cricket team in Rome.
George Foster, Surrey’s Head of Marketing, won the ECB Special Award – a new BOCA category which was introduced this year to celebrate the work of a club or individual who has made a significant contribution to the growth of cricket. The judges praised his passion for improving the game and his understanding of the needs of fans and members.
The judging panel, which consisted of industry experts from a variety of sports, also made awards in different categories to Warwickshire, Sussex, Lancashire, Kent and Glamorgan.
ECB's Chief Executive Officer, Tom Harrison, said: "The BOCA awards are all about recognising and rewarding the innovative ways in which together we bring cricket to a wider audience, and the breadth and quality of this year’s entries was truly impressive.
“2015 was a record-breaking year for county cricket with attendances rising in all three county competitions; an important milestone which owes much to the hard work and dedication of all those working behind the scenes across our domestic game.
“As always, our judging panel were given the unenviable task of picking the winners from an outstanding pool of nominees. We thank them for their efforts and warmly congratulate all our winners on their achievements.”
Last night’s awards ceremony at the Hilton Metropole Hotel in London also included presentations of the County Cricket Journalism Awards. The winners were: The Journal and Sunday Sun – Regional Newspaper of the Year; National Newspaper of the Year – The Times; Online Publication of the Year – ESPN CricInfo; Christopher Martin-Jenkins Young Journalist of the Year – Tim Wigmore and Christopher Martin-Jenkins County Broadcaster of the Year – Clive Eakin.