TRIBUTES have been paid to Jack Greenwood, one of cricket’s great volunteers.

Known as ‘Mr Denholme Cricket Club’, Jack, who has died aged 90, not only won a national cricketing OSCA (Outstanding Services to Cricket Awards) lifetime achievement award at Lord’s, but also a Torch Trust Award and a British Empire Medal (BEM).

These awards not only took him from the scorebox at Denholme to the home of cricket but also to a garden party at Buckingham Palace.

But considering that Jack had served his club for over 60 years, few would begrudge him the stellar recognition on the back of being a regular fund-raiser and scorer, alongside the countless other tasks that need doing at a cricket club in both summer and winter.

His efforts, including donating money back to the club, which earned him his lifetime achievement award in 2013, were well summed up back then by three more Denholme stalwarts – Linda Wear, Geoff Fisher and Phil Poole Snr.

Treasurer Wear said: “Jack’s a lovely man. What does he do around the club? Everything.

“He empties the bins, he paints, he does a bit of gardening, anything you ask him to do, Jack will turn his hand to – and he won’t be happy until he has done it to the best of his ability.”

Club president Fisher said: “He’s just brilliant. He does all the jobs that we need him to do, he supports us on a Saturday and he’s Denholme Cricket Club through and through.”

Poole Snr added: “He’s a stalwart of our club and he’s stuck with us through thick and thin. An award like this is very well deserved.”

The only difficulty with awards is that you have to get the recipient to the ceremony without them knowing that they are about to be honoured.

For example, for the lifetime achievement award in 2013, Denholme CC had to make a short video as to why Jack should win the award, with the ECB claiming that all 120 nominees on the day had had videos made about them, when in reality it was only the winners.

Similar secrecy was needed early in 2014 when Jack was nominated for a BEM and Wear was asked to write a few words supporting his nomination.

In May 2014 the ECB nominated Jack for a Torch Trust Award – the governing body were delighted as they hadn’t had many nominees accepted over the years.

Jack was presented to Princess Anne to receive his award and celebrated in true understated fashion afterwards at a Wetherspoons pub.

Jack’s BEM award came in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in June 2014, and he received that from the Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire that December.

Then to cap things off, Jack attended a garden party at Buckingham Palace with Fisher in May 2015, with Jack proudly wearing his medal and enjoying all of the pomp and ceremony.

Wear summed it up best, saying: “What a journey, what achievements, what a man.”

Jack’s funeral service was at Denholme Shared Church earlier this month, followed by cremation at Nab Wood Crematorium. Donations went to the British Heart Foundation.