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Ben Warren named MVP at Business of Cricket Awards
SCCC Head of Marketing and Digital, Ben Warren was named as the Dinesh Patel MVP at the ECB’s annual Business of Cricket Awards last night.
The award celebrates an individual who always gives their all to deliver the best for all attendees to the venue, from fans, to stakeholders, suppliers and event delegates.
Known for his relentless commitment and unmatched expertise, Ben was presented his award by Dinesh’s family members.
The Business of Cricket Awards took place at Edgbaston Cricket Ground and recognised excellence across the First-Class Counties and MCC and the key contributors behind the scenes.
Hampshire County Cricket Club took home three titles this year, winning the Transforming the Women’s Game award, Best Women’s International Spectator Experience and the Sponsorship Campaign of the Year.
The club’s focus on growing women’s cricket saw it recognised for ‘Project Double It’, which resulted in Utilita Bowl becoming the first venue to sell out an England Women’s international fixture, transforming the way it views the commercial opportunities surrounding the women’s game. The partnership between Hampshire and Utilita won Sponsorship Campaign of the year thanks to delivering the largest ever solar PV array in a UK Stadium along with the marketing and campaign efforts.
Lancashire County Cricket Club took home both the Communications Campaign of the Year and Best Digital/Data Innovation awards, demonstrating excellence in outreach and data-driven strategy. Lancashire’s high-quality streaming of the club’s matches in Bangalore launched their brand new 24/7 ‘LancsTV’ channel, proving incredibly successful with over 500,000 views in March. Its ‘Red Rose Together’ campaign, designed to champion the community work and key areas of growth for the game, also recorded hundreds of thousands of views and engagement reaching millions of people.
Warwickshire County Cricket Club secured the Most Welcoming and Inclusive Stadia title, along with the Sustainability Campaign of the Year for its innovative waste reduction initiative. The ongoing sustainability work at Edgbaston has been unrivalled this summer following a 114% increase in recycling rates on last year’s figures for the stadium. A combination of adopting behaviour change activities and new technology have helped foster a culture of sustainability.
In a standout year for spectator engagement, Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club won Best Men’s International Spectator Experience and Best Spectator Experience – The Hundred, reflecting the club’s dedication to enhancing the fan experience.
Surrey County Cricket Club won the Raising the Game EDI Initiative Award, reflecting its commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion across the sport. Surrey’s Academic Cricket Scholars (SACS) programme focuses on breaking down barriers for state school children, offering every student no matter their gender, race or socio-economic background open access to every role and opportunity available to them, providing a broader platform for Pathway opportunities and ultimately their selection opportunities to promote further diversity within the game.
Yorkshire Cricket’s Groundstaff Jasmine Nicholls, who became the first woman to prepare a pitch at Headingley earlier this year when she led the team at the stadium to cultivate conditions for the England v Pakistan Women’s IT20 game, won the Rising Star award.
Meanwhile, Glamorgan Cricket was honoured with the Best Domestic Spectator Experience, solidifying its position as a top destination for cricket fans.
In a special moment for Worcestershire County Cricket Club, the club won the Community Engagement Campaign of the Year, recognising its impactful outreach efforts.
ECB Chair, Richard Thompson, said: “Huge congratulations to all of this year’s BOCA winners. It has been a privilege to celebrate the very best of the work carried out by First-Class Counties and MCC across England and Wales this year.
“The innovation and dedication shown has been truly inspiring. It’s fantastic to see the impact of Hampshire’s extensive efforts in growing the women’s game, Warwickshire’s continued commitment to sustainability, Lancashire’s ground-breaking digital strategy, and so much more. All this work shows a real commitment across the game to becoming bigger, better and more inclusive.”
2024 BOCA winners:
Tickets or Membership Sales & Marketing Campaign of the Year
Winner: Gloucestershire Cricket
Sustainability Campaign of the Year – Waste
Winner: Warwickshire County Cricket Club
Best Digital Creative Content
Winner: Durham County Cricket Club
Communications Campaign of the Year
Winner: Lancashire County Cricket Club
Community Engagement Campaign of the Year
Winner: Worcestershire County Cricket Club
Transforming the Women’s Game
Winner: Hampshire County Cricket Club
Customer Retention Initiative of the Year
Winner: Essex County Cricket Club
Best Digital/Data Innovation
Winner: Lancashire County Cricket Club
Most Welcoming & Inclusive Stadia
Winner: Warwickshire County Cricket Club
Best Development or New Facility (over £500,000)
Winner: Marylebone Cricket Club
Best Women’s International Spectator Experience
Winner: Hampshire County Cricket Club
Best Men’s International Spectator Experience
Winner: Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club
Best Development or New Facility (under £500,000)
Winner: Leicestershire County Cricket Club
Sponsorship Campaign of the Year
Winner: Hampshire County Cricket Club
Best Domestic Spectator Experience
Winner: Glamorgan County Cricket Club
Best Spectator Experience – The Hundred
Winner: Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club
Raising the Game EDI Initiative Award
Winner: Surrey County Cricket Club
Rising Star
Winner: Jasmine Nicholls, Yorkshire CCC
Dinesh Patel MVP
Winner: Ben Warren, Somerset CCC
