Cricket Without Boundaries volunteer Olly Ralph has been named the ECB Young Coach of the Year for the South West.

The 23-year-old from Bristol picked up the award for his work with Gloucestershire’s county and district teams and in local schools.

Olly – who works for bowling machine manufacturers BOLA  - visited Uganda with CWB in February and he says the experience has had a hugely positive impact on him both as a person and as a coach.

He said: “Going to Uganda has helped enhance my coaching by giving me new ideas for skills and practices. Working with such a wide variety of children and adults in a range of settings also helped me develop different coaching methods to get the message across to different people.

“It also taught me that our youngsters are very lucky to have the facilities that they do have, and this has made me think about how I coach some players back here.”

Olly was presented with his Young Coach of the Year certificate at a special awards day for all 27 winners from across the country at the ECB’s High Performance Centre at Loughborough.

The day consisted of a tour of England’s training HQ and coaching sessions with ex-international batsman Graeme Thorpe, spinner Peter Such, former Gloucestershire captain Chris Taylor and ECB bowling coach Kevin Shine.

He was originally nominated by the Gloucestershire Cricket Board (GCB) for his outstanding work on a number of its programmes.

Olly is currently manager of the under 12 county team, coaches both the Bristol under 11 and under 15 squads and has worked extensively in schools. This year - working alongside fellow CWB volunteer coach Colin Brunt - he took the Bristol under 15s on tour to Jersey . This was the first time a district side has been on an overseas tour. He also organised a similar trip for the under 11s to go to Jersey.

CWB volunteer Luke Sellers, who works for the Gloucestershire Cricket Board said: “Olly thoroughly deserved this award. As those that worked with him in Uganda will testify his passion for cricket and helping young players improve is unquestioned and he is always prepared to go the extra mile without being asked.

“His success also shows the powerful impact CWB projects can have not only with the players we coach in Africa but also with volunteers who coach them.”