Former England International Cricketer, Monty Panesar, at the Optimists Awards Dinner, March 2024;
On Saturday 2 March 2024, the Optimists Cricket Club hosted their annual awards dinner at the Hotel Parc-Belair in Luxembourg-Merl, with guest speaker England cricket legend, Monty Panesar.
Following a short welcome speech from Optimists CC Vice-Chairman, Tim Andrews, the around 90 guests enjoyed a three-course meal before the 2023 club awards were presented.
The winners were each presented with their trophy by Monty Panesar.
- Best Batsman: Ed Packard
- Best Bowler: Pankaj Malav
- Best All-rounder: Ed Packard
- Best fielder: Yama Abdiani
- Best performance: Asgar Barkat
- Clubman of the Year: Graham Cope
- New Member: Ben McIlroy & Andries Venter
Monty Panesar then hosted a Q&A session where guests had the opportunity to ask questions. Monty spoke very eloquently and went into great detail on a variety of topics including playing for England the pressures associated, as well as the importance of women’s and juniors cricket. He also addressed racism in cricket and sport as a whole and what can be done to eradicate this.
It was a fantastic evening and members had the opportunity to speak to Monty afterwards and take photographs and get his autograph.
About Monty Panesar
A left-arm spinner, he played English county cricket for Northamptonshire, Sussex and Essex. He made his Test cricket debut in 2006 against India in Nagpur and One Day International (ODI) debut for England in 2007. He played 50 test matches and 26 ODIs.
