The Cricketer's Social Media Hero was open to creatives on social media who have entertained via their ingenuity.
It might be recreations of famous Test moments using feline friends, or entire squads producing clever compilations, it might be TikTok, Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook or YouTube, it might be emotive or just plain silly.
Tom has received many nominations for his “fantastic attitude and response to lockdown” in which he saw an opportunity for family and friends to make the most of time together.
Tom has run campaigns to encourage children to stay active, while promoting the great game of cricket.
He has peppered timelines with videos, quizzes and general content to keep reminding people that the game would return.
One follower stated: “This man has single-handedly kept thousands of coaches and cricketers going over lockdown with his daily drills and tips via social media.”
A Warrington CC member added: “CricketCoach365’s Stay at Home Cricket has been great for our club and anyone worldwide with different activities to keep cricket fit during lockdown. Tom has posted daily activities and built an excellent Facebook page connecting coaches globally.”
“Plenty of laughs and light hearted cricket knowledge from 'The Middle Stump’.
Dan runs a popular Twitter account described as “funny, witty, on the ball and unique in style” which will be well known by many club cricketers and beyond up and down the country.
One fan said highlighted Dan’s appeal on social media: “ His knowledge and stories of social cricket with banter is what makes him a hero to many cricketers.”
Iain Green of Norcross CC in Thornton-Cleveleys has been resident quizmaster on weekly Zoom quizzes.
Fellow team members added: “As a very small club, we have been limited to what we can do at the club but Iain has has provided fun and entertaining quizzes from his home with his wife and children.
“He has provided theme weeks while juggling home and work life and kept the league tables updated providing some much-missed competition. He always goes all out to make sure they are fun and exciting!"
Carl, a stalwart of Carmarthen Wanderers CC is a player, website administrator, and junior coordinator at the club.
He has a passion for the game and gives up his spare time freely and enjoys work he does. He is enthusiastic and keen to try new things.
He has brought Welsh cricket together by organising a Twitter coin toss competition involving cricket clubs from all over Wales.
One hundred and twenty eight clubs entered the competition and some great banter was had by all!
Freya, who joined Farnham Royal CC last year, took on the role of communications officer and has hit the ground running.
She has revamped and reignited social media for Farnham Royal, created competitions and features during lockdown and helped create a huge buzz amongst the club’s playing and social members.
Until she got involved the social media it was very rarely used by the club. Through her efforts we now have a Facebook page, a group for members of the club, a Twitter account as well as Instagram.
Farnham CC’s head of cricket, Melanie Ive, added: “Even though the club has only just reopened, due to Freya’s enthusiasm, fun and vibrant personality, it feels like we haven’t been shut. Our cricket and social members alike feel part of a great fun cricket family. She has stepped up and smashed social media.”
Sam runs the Durham Cricket Board Association of Cricket Officials social media pages for Durham. This is a voluntary position which Sam does to help promote umpiring and scoring in the region.
Throughout the summer the page is normally updated with success stories, positive appointments and news within Durham Cricket ACO. With there being no cricket, Sam decided to run a daily umpires and scorers quiz.
The quiz was used initially to challenge umpires and scorers in Durham with a cricket question related to umpiring and scoring - with real life match situations.
Receiving great engagement and success from officials, officials from other parts of the UK and the globe began to get involved with the quiz. Durham ACO have seen this is a great success to help the pages ticking over through lockdown!
Adrian of Orpington CC has led weekly quizzes, bingo, race nights and a murder mystery evening and other zoom events to keep his club talking to each other. He even dressed in drag on one occasion!
Adrian’s efforts as the club’s new chairman (taken over in January) have been outstanding.
His Friday evening events have kept the members entertained while his race night managed to raise almost £3,000 in donations - much needed funds to keep the club alive during lockdown.
Farnworth CC skipper Simon has been nominated for hosting a string of interview with a mix of local players, legends and professionals via Zoom. He has called the show: ‘Bolton League, Beyond the Boundary’ and can be viewed via YouTube
It has kept the local and wider cricketing fraternity amused and has unlocked many interesting points of debate.
Simon interviewed the likes of Ronnie Irani, Josh Bohannon, Rod Estwick, Saj Mahmood and the Parkinson brothers who are all ex-Bolton League players.
Every interview has been entertaining and interesting and has diverted the boredom of lockdown on a weekly basis.
Cricket District has been producing engaging content throughout lockdown, keeping you updated with all things in the world of cricket.
Highlights reels, must-know news how-tos for training at home, intriguing quotes from interviews of top players and hilarious content to cheer you up when missing the gentle breeze of the outfield!
Plenty of content to keep you motivated throughout the day during school or work and immerse yourself in the cricketing world. Back garden cricketers have been turned into viral internet sensations!
The Mottram CC members have been nominated as a quartet for their efforts keeping members entertained with online quizzes, race nights and raising funds for the club.
People have logged on from San Francisco, Australia & neighbouring club Broadbottom and they’ve raised over £5,000 as a result.
Their efforts have received such positive feedback from members, non-members started to join the club because of the popularity of the events.
Fellow club members said of the group: "Not only are they a credit to themselves and the club, their example of professionalism and support to all through this pandemic, is a wonderful example to set for our younger members.”
University of Sheffield student Henry of Dartford CC has kept the interests of members alive by researching into past and present players to keep their memories alive.
He contacted these players and asked them for their nominations of the most influential player they have played with, played against, or who the best captain they played under was, for example.
He has also ensured that members are kept up to date with what the state of play is. He set up a booking system for those wishing to use the nets, once this was allowed under ECB guidance.
Jack and the JTCA team immediately began distributing superb drills, clips and challenges to support the community.
Jack has been providing coaching, cricket drills and training tips on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter as well as on YouTube when everyone was stuck at home in lockdown and missing the opportunity to actually train at their schools or clubs.
Jack gave kids the skills to keep up their training via social media which also helped hundreds of children to stay active!
One who nominated Jack, added: “Jack's efforts reached many schools and clubs, inspiring so many children to continue with cricket. He is a super coach and great chap who cares passionately about bringing the game to all he can over the social channels to lift peoples spirits in difficult times."
James has been praised for doing a superb job for Rawdon CC (former club of Hedley Verity).
He has been keeping members up to date on all things such as club news, funny tweets/messages, signings, and details of how to practise following social distancing/government guidelines.
Additionally, he has created daily trips down memory lane looking at matches 'on this day' from yesteryear, written and hosted remote weekly quizzes for club members via Zoom and Kahoot to raise funds for NHS charities, and all the while committing to computer the club's history from scorebooks.
He has done a brilliant job, voluntarily and not asked for a penny in return.
Chris produces a weekly club newsletter which is circulated to 600 local members, sponsors and supporters. From March 17 he changed this to a daily newsletter for the lockdown period. He has sent 77 consecutive newsletters which have been opened over 20,000 times!
Each newsletter contained info on local shopping, home deliveries and prescription collections together with home cooked food for delivery by a club member who has been cooking for the isolated.
Chris also organised masks and gloves which were posted to club members who also loved the daily dose of humour, cricketing videos and items from the Clubs archives. It was a huge effort.
Annie, editor of the publication County Cricket Matters, has been nominated for “celebrating club, county cricket and defending all that is good about the game.”
During lockdown she has been praised by readers for keeping in regular contact and answering all questions promptly and efficaciously. On social media she kept folks spirits up, especially with a melange of cricket related posts.
As part of an over-55s walking cricket group, who play at Rushcliffe Arena (West Bridgford, Nottingham) on Friday afternoons, Brian has organised and hosted Zoom meetings and quizzes for the players.
When lockdown came Brian, who lives in Belton near Loughborough, used his expertise to set up weekly Zoom events which run every week at the same time as walking cricket usually would.
Max has during the lockdown continued to post on Twitter and Facebook every day, with different, inventive and difficult tricks involving tea bags!
He has fully engaged with every comment sent to him along the way.
All of the posts have been done with humour and skill. Fair play, Max.
His endless number of cricket videos on YouTube, and shared on Twitter, have entertained cricket fans all over the world, while preserving footage that may otherwise be lost.
If you don’t follow Rob (@robelinda2), then you probably should!
Upton CC junior cricket chairman and first XI opener, Matt, based on the Wirral, has organised coaching videos for members, a performance of the century vote, a weekly quiz night, various video recordings of members compiling their best club XI, team-mate videos, an A to Z of the club videos, virtual cricket matches and regular podcasts - including one with friend of the club, Phil DeFreitas.
Matt teaches at a local junior school, so is a key worker and has been working throughout the lockdown period.
Despite all of the above, Matt took it upon himself to keep club members occupied and entertained.
Syd Egan has spent his free time writing a computer programme from scratch which allows you to enter stats and teams and will virtually "run" an entire cricket match for you.
This was used to run a virtual women's county competition called the ‘Cricketish Cup’.
Richard Clark live-tweeted the matches over by over, creating an entire narrative around the virtual scorecard.
Together they helped put women's county cricket back in the spotlight where it belongs!
Church has been in sublime form from the outset, keeping thousands of people entertained with his superb back garden cricket matches.
The team press conferences and managers’ team briefings have been a particular highlight.
At the age of 70 Kashmir - based in Dudley - with her main social activities closed, she picked up a bat and ball for the first time and has surprised thousands of people on social media by making others try cricket and practise some of her drills.
Her skills have been recognised by the ECB as she was asked to take part in their #togetherthroughthistest video!
She has also been recognised by Worcestershire Cricket Board for her efforts who will be inviting her to New Road in a ladies softball tournament.
The Cricket Consultant has provided a professional and comprehensive platform for training ideas for solo cricket practice.
The Googly has been outstanding across numerous social media channels such as Twitter and YouTube.
On Twitter tweets such as the ‘Ben Stokes roses are red’ tweet has brought laughter whereas #OnThisDay tweets have kept followers entertained.
The daily isolation premier league has kept many busy during this difficult time.
Danny is a journalist who has used his editorial skills to produce a monthly newsletter called the Miller Times for Rottingdean CC.
Recently, this has included Covid-19 information as well as updating the members of other club information.
He also ran a Subutteo cricket club tournament over many nights via Facebook with teams made up of Rottingdean players.
It really provided a boost at the start of the lockdown!
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