Whitchurch cricketer wins national Sky Sports award

Chris Rogers, who plays and coaches at Whitchurch, has received the Sky Sports ECB Young Coach of the Year award for 2012 in an awards ceremony at Warwickshire University.

The Coach of the Year awards, which recognise the country's leading cricket coaches, were presented by Sky Sports Cricket Presenter Charles Colville and 2011 ECB Cricketer of the Year Jonathan Trott.

Rogers, from Ellesmere, said: "I am delighted to be recognised by Sky Sports and the ECB and to have won the Young Coach of the Year award.

"I feel honoured to be rewarded for something that I love doing and I am certain that this will encourage me further to continue my coaching journey.

"I have learnt so much in the past five years and I am excited to learn more as part of the Sky Sports Coach Education Programme next year."

Rogers, aged 25, began coaching at Frankton Cricket Club in 2007 before moving to Whitchurch in 2011.

He continues to play and coach at the club and last year he helped initiate and support a new coaching programme with the Shropshire Cricket Board.

Earlier this year, to mark his nomination for the award, Rogers attended a training session that was led by England's spin coach Peter Such at the National Cricket Performance Centre in Loughborough.

Rogers was joined there by 29 other hopeful nominees, put forward by their county development managers for the award, and took part in the session that focused on all elements of their coaching.

England international Jonathan Trott praised Rogers' hard work and spoke about the important of good coaching at grass-roots level.

"It is really positive for English and Welsh cricket to see such enthusiasm from a young coach like Chris," he said.

"This award is testament to the impact that he has made on grassroots cricket in Shropshire and he is a deserving recipient of the award. With coaches like Chris coming through the ranks we have a great chance of continuing to improve the standard of cricket."