TWO cricket lovers who are at rather different stages of their careers had their contributions to the game recognised last Friday when they won OSCAs at the Lancashire Cricket Board’s Presentation Evening.

Formby’s Tom Mills won the Young Volunteer award and Southport and Birkdale’s Ken Standring received the Lifetime Achiever accolade.

The OSCAs (Outstanding Service to Cricket Awards) ceremony is rapidly becoming an established event in Lancashire’s cricket year and the 2010 bash was held at The Point, Old Trafford’s plush new conference and events facility.

Ken Standring’s achievements, however, stretch back to the 1950s and embrace a vast range of activities in clubs and committees, as he sought – and still seeks – to promote the game of cricket and maintain its highest standards.

A Lancashire cricketer himself in the mid-50s, Standring went on to play as a professional for Farnworth, Bingley and Ribblesdale Wanderers cricket clubs, before his day job as a local government officer took him to Southport in 1974. He joined S&B, playing in the Championship winning sides of 1975 and 1979.

He finished playing relatively early and turned his attention to coaching and administration, becoming assistant secretary to the Lancashire Cricket Board. He later served on S&B’s cricket and general committees, before becoming chairman of the cricket club in 2002. In that capacity he maintained a prodigious ‘hands on’ workload and his legendary powers of persuasion have secured countless thousands of pounds for the club, both in grants and sponsorship. A five-lane artificial practice facility, a new electronic scoreboard, improvements to the square and replacement windows for the clubhouse are ample testimony to his years of work.

On his retirement as chairman in 2008, S&B created a new post of President to reflect the esteem in which Ken is held. Ken’s devotion to cricket is still reflected through his membership of the LCB Executive, his chairmanship of its development committee and his commitment to the Lancashire Federation side.

Tom Mills is slightly younger than Ken but there is no reason to think that his commitment to cricket is any less deep. The 22-year-old first team player has been with Formby for four years and he has taken on many jobs, including looking after the club website, running summer coaching schools and managing the U13 squad.

He is also the deputy club welfare officer and organises various events to raise funds for the junior section.

“Tom is 100% Formby, his heart is in the club and I’m delighted with him,” said Formby’s chairman Gerry Byrom.

“He works very hard, he helps with the ground, he looks after our overseas player and he’s always trying to get some fundraising scheme going. He’s very keen and very dedicated.”

As winners of the Lifetime Achiever and Young Volunteer awards, Standring and Mills will now be automatically nominated for the National Awards to be presented at an event organised by the ECB and held annually at Lord’s.

Tomorrow, both Firth and Mills will be hoping their clubs can build on last week’s wins and climb away from the wrong end of the Bridging Finance Liverpool Competition’s First Divison table.

S&B are away at Liverpool while Formby visit third-placed Rainford. The game of the day, though, is at Beech Walk where leaders Leigh face second-placed Sefton Park.

FIXTURES: TOMORROW: Bridging Finance Liverpool Competition: ECB Premier League: Bootle v Lytham, Hightown v Wallasey, New Brighton v Colwyn Bay, Northern v Prestatyn, Northop Hall v Newton-le-Willows, Ormskirk v Highfield. First Division: Fleetwood Hesketh v Orrell Red Triangle, Leigh v Sefton Park, Liverpool v Southport and Birkdale, Maghull v Wigan, Rainford v Formby, Skelmersdale v Rainhill. Second Division: Ainsdale v Southport Trinity, Alder v Parkfield Liscard, Burscough v St Helens, Moorfield v Birkenhead St. Mary’s, St Helens Recs v Caldy, Sutton v Wavertree. Fleetwood Hesketh v Orrell Red Triangle, Leigh v Sefton Park, Liverpool v Southport and Birkdale, Maghull v Wigan, Rainford v Formby, Skelmersdale v Rainhill. Second Division: Ainsdale v Southport Trinity, Alder v Parkfield Liscard, Burscough v St Helens, Moorfield v Birkenhead St. Mary’s, St Helens Recs v Caldy, Sutton v Wavertree.