Nalisha Patel, LCB Thunder’s 17 year old right arm off spin bowler, won the Kumon Achievement in Sport Award at this year’s Fusion Awards held at Blackburn’s King Georges Hall.
The awards ceremony, aimed at celebrating community cohesion and the contribution of all communities in helping to make the North West region a better place to live, was hosted by ITV presenter Sam Ali Khan.
Categories included Community Group of the Year, Community Cohesion Award, Man of the Year, Woman of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year, Youth Leadership Award and the Public Service Award.
Nalisha, from Bolton, plays her club cricket for Horwich RMI CC and Astley Bridge Ladies. She is part of the LCB Women’s senior team, known as LCB Thunder that won the Division Two ECB Royal London One Day Cup in 2014 and is a key member for their campaign in Division One this year. She is also part of the England Women’s Development Programme at Under 19 level and captained the LCB Girls Under 17s to the National Final last year.
Nalisha said: “I am just shocked to be honest and didn’t think l would win, with cricket not being a very female dominated sport. I think the game is up and coming now. It is important for young girls to realise there are opportunities now to be making a career out of playing cricket. Or just to have fun playing cricket too.”
Jen Laycock, LCB’s Women & Girls Development Officer, added: “It’s great to see our junior players being recognised in the community through awards such as these. Nalisha has spent many hours refining her game both on and off the pitch. She has shown great leadership qualities and captains the LCB Girls Under 17s with respect from her team mates. Nalisha is balancing her dual aspirations with studying at college alongside looking to make waves in the cricketing world.”
