The International Cricket Council (ICC) and Africa Cricket Association (ACA) has awarded Rwanda the 2014 Spirit of Cricket Award.

The award was handed over to the president of the Rwanda Cricket Association (RCA), Charles Haba, during the ACA annual general meeting on Saturday in Johannesburg, South Africa.

After receiving the award, the joyful Haba said, "In addition to our tireless work to develop the game and make it accessible to more people, the association’s charity project, done at Ntarama memorial site last year, was the reason for this award.”

During the visit to Ntarama last year, a delegation of up to 150 people consisting locals and expatriates, not only introduced the game of cricket to the over 200 survivors in attendance but also donated an assortment of foodstuff and clothes to different homes.

Rwanda beat 20 other African nations that submitted their applications to the ICC regional office in December last year. The panel that decided the winners included the ACA executive board members. This is the first time Rwanda has won this award.

At the same event, Namibia won the Best overall Cricket Development Programme, Mali won the Photo of the Year; while Uganda won the Best Junior Participation Initiative and the best women’s cricket initiative.

All the Africa Regional winners will be forwarded to the global judging panel for the ICC Global award winning process.

ICC Global Development Manager Tim Andersen congratulated all of the award winners on their achievements saying: "Winning these awards is a fantastic tribute to the successful countries.”

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