London Tigers Cricket Club picked up the Asian Club of the Year at this year's Asian Cricket Awards.

The club was formed to give an opportunity to play cricket to youngsters from deprived inner-city areas in boroughs including Westminster.

And their hard work paid off at the awards at Lord's this month and former England captain Mike Gatting was on hand to present the award to club ambassadors Jawar Ali and Abdus Salam.

“I am really honoured London Tigers have won the club of the year award,” said Ali.

“This season has been one of the biggest and most momentous the club has ever had. In West London we won [Middlesex Championship] Division Four and the cup.

“One of our main aims is nurturing local talent to play at the highest level. We have the facilities [a new ground in Southall] and the coaching staff, so it will be great for us to develop future players for England and Middlesex, and I think the opportunity is there.”

Salam added: “Asian cricket means a lot to me. I have been in this country since 1987 and have not seen opportunities as big as this. We are really humbled by this award. It is good for us and the whole Asian community to hold events like tonight.

“This year we have achieved so many great things and plan to continue the success as we go forward.”

Meanwhile, Middlesex and England Lions bowler Ravi Patel won the Young Player of the Year Award, fending off Kishen Velani of Essex to earn the accolade.

Presenters of the 12 awards included high-profile figures such as former England captain Gatting and ex-Pakistan international Azhar Mahmood.

“It has been a fantastic day for cricket,” said Gatting, who is now managing director of the ECB's cricket partnerships programme.

“To see a community spreading the word of cricket is fantastic. When something like these awards turn up, it doesn’t matter what community, we try and support the game of cricket."