Tom Priestley won top accolade.

Two JCT 600 Bradford League stalwarts have won coveted newspaper awards to recognise their outstanding service.

Management board member Tom Priestley was the recipient of the Telegraph & Argus's Best Community Sport Contribution award in the newspaper's Bradford Best Awards.

And Hanging Heaton's long-serving secretary Nat Lawrence won the Lifetime Achiever Awars in the Dewsbury Reporter Sports Awards.

JCT 600 Bradford League chief executive Bob Shackleton said: "These are very well deserved accolades for Tom and Nat. The awards acknowledge their outstanding contributions to cricket. I am sure that everybody in the Bradford League will join in congraulating them on their success."

Tom Priestley was nominated for his award for the consoderable contribution he has made to junior cricket.

The 82-year-old, played for several Bradford clubs between 1947 and 1973 and went on to umpire until last year. His final match was the 2008 Sovereign Health Care Priestley Shield final between Cleckheaton and East Bierley.

The current president of the Bradford JUnior League, Tom was made a life vice-president of the Sunday School League in 1981 and a life member of the Yorkshire Cricket Association in 2008.

He established the highly-popular Gordon Bowers eight-a-side junior cricket competition for children aged under 12 in 1983. The tournament, which has been a popular fixture ever since, was supported by funding from the Gordon Bowers’ Trust.

He said: "Junior cricket in those days was at under 13 level or under-17s or under -and most clubs had a couple of good batsmen and bowlers and they tended to dominate things.

"We had this money from the Gordon Bowers’ Trust Fund, and we needed to do something with it. So, in 1983, I decided to organise an eight-a-side under-12 tournament."

On receiving his Bradford’s Best award, Tom said: "I am very pleased. I think it’s a tribute to all the people who have contributed to the tournament and taken part in it over the years. We have had such people as Matthew Hoggard play in it. It’s a great tribute to the memory of Gordon Bowers.”

The age group of the Gordon Bowers Trophy Competition changed this year from under 12s to under nines, as it was thought the event would now be more beneficial if it was aimed at a younger age group.

Tom, who represents the JCT 600 Bradford League Umpires Association on the Management Board, was also secretary of the Bradford Area Cricket Council for many years.

Nat Lawrence's association with Hanging Heaton cricket club stretches back over 60-years when he started scoring at senior games.

Having played for the club for many years, mainly for the second team, Nat turned his attentions to the administration side of things and he has held the role of cricket secretary for over 30 years.

Nat doubles up as the junior secretary and also spends time coaching some of the younger cricketers and ensuring that the team have transport to matches.

Over the years Nat has coached hundreds of youngsters - many of whom have gone on to play at a high level. Nat gives up many hours of his time to carry out work on behalf of the club, while he is also on the committee of the Heavy Woollen Cup and Black Sheep Yorkshire Champions Trophy.

During the summer, Nat spends seven-days-a-week at the Bennett Lane club, either attending matches, meetings or to do general administration work, while a typical matchday can see him spending over 12 hours ensuring everything runs smoothly.

At a recent junior presentation, every junior cricketer from the club donated money to buy Nat a gold pen as a token of their appreciation.