Nottinghamshire stalwart Luke Fletcher appreciates as much as any professional cricketer how much the grassroots game owes to the countless hours of time put in by its legion of volunteers.
The 33-year-old, who has been giving his support to the county’s annual Grassroots Cricket Awards, began his journey in the game as a teenager with Nottinghamshire village team Papplewick and Linby.
And he acknowledges that his career would have been a non-starter but for the willingness of volunteers to help him take the first steps.
“I’ll always be grateful to my parents for what they did, but there are a couple of people who spring to mind from those days who helped me a lot,” he said.
“One is Steve Charlesworth, who was at Papplewick. He was a good man, a really great guy who looked after me very well when I was a kid, always had my best interests at heart.
“And there was a woman called Karen Arberry. My dad worked down the pit as a miner and with my mum not driving, Karen used to come and pick me up all the time to take me to training and games.
“She did that for five or six years, which is amazing. Without people like that giving you the chance to go out and play on Saturdays and Sundays, you’re never going to improve and develop your game.
“It makes a huge difference for some people. Cricket is quite an expensive game and there’s young kids out there who might not be able to afford the equipment or get to games, and so people who are willing to help out are so important.”
Fletcher, who is in his 15th season as a senior player at Trent Bridge, believes it is only fitting that the efforts of volunteers are recognised with awards such as those organised by Nottinghamshire.
“Everyone knows who we are talking about, the people that do everything they can to give young people the chance to play the game that we all love,” he said.
“The people like Karen and Steve and others as well. Without them I definitely wouldn’t be here today, playing professional cricket.”
Nottinghamshire expect to announce the winners of 11 categories of awards, designed to honour not just those who help out but, for individuals who come up with innovative ideas to grow the game at grassroots level and even those who are helping their clubs to become more eco-friendly, in the coming days.
This year’s prizes include hospitality tickets for the Royal London Cup Final between Lancashire and Kent Spitfires, which will be played at Trent Bridge on Saturday 17 September.
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The Royal London Cup Final
The timeless pomp, ceremony and tradition of county cricket's historic 50-over final is soon to take place at Trent Bridge.
Lancashire and Kent will go head-to-head in the showpiece finale of the Royal London Cup at our historic home on Saturday 17 September.