Three Bridges cricketer Alfie wins prestigious Rising Star Award

The 21-year-old picked up the Rising Star Award at the Variety Club Disability Sports Awards 2023 which held a glittering ceremony in Leeds.

Alfie is a D40 Cricket Player from Crawley, nominated for the Rising Star Award. Alfie appeared on the disability county scene in 2022 and has played nine games to this point – scoring a total of 257 runs at an average of 36.71.

Alfie was part of the inaugural DPL last year – a pan disability competition playing with and against England Deaf players and England Physical Disability players. Following these performances, he was selected to train with the England Learning Disability Squad and will be selected for the Tri series in South Africa this November – making his international Debut against South Africa and Australia.

Alfie said on receiving the Award: “Tonight has been so good for me. I love playing cricket, and believe that cricket should be a sport for everyone.”

Hosted by Variety, the Children’s Charity at the Queen’s Hotel, the inaugural Awards recognised and celebrated the outstanding achievements of UK athletes with disabilities, as well as clubs who have helped to make the sporting world a more diverse and inclusive place.

Awards were up for grabs in nine prestigious Awards categories, in addition to a tenth special achievement award presented by Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson*. Finalists were shortlisted by Variety’s expert nominations committee**, following nominations from the British general public.

Tushar Prabhu, Variety Trustee and Awards organiser, said: “It was a joy to celebrate so many accomplished athletes with disabilities at last night’s Disability Sports Awards, and to see the efforts that clubs and centres across the country are making when it comes to improving inclusivity.

“We should feel very proud of the achievements that have been made in recent years, to make UK sports more diverse and inclusive. But more work still needs to be done, and so we hope that last night’s event inspires and encourages others to make strides in this area. A huge congratulations to all our amazing nominees and winners. You are truly exceptional, and we can’t wait to see what the future has in store for you.”

Alfie won the Sports Person award at this year’s Crawley Community Awards, held at the Hawth in June.

The evening also hosted special performances from comedians Rosie Jones and Katerina Vrana, and saw attendance from stars including Christine McGuiness, Dr Amir Khan, JJ Chalmers, Jamie-Jones Buchanan MBE, Tom Bosworth, Ed Jackson, Tanya Arnold, Natalie Anderson, Nile Wilson, and players from Leeds United and the Leeds Rhinos.

Event partners included Channel 4, British Paralympics Association, England Cricket Board, England Golf, Leeds United, Leeds Rhinos, British Rowing, GB Wheelchair Rugby, Motorsport UK, and more.

Variety, the Children’s Charity provides practical support to disabled and disadvantaged children through providing wheelchairs, specialist equipment, their fully accessible Sunshine Coaches to SEND schools, and experiences on their Great Days Out.