The International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman, Shashank Manohar, has applauded Rwanda Cricket Association (RCA) for its efforts to promote cricket in Rwanda.

Manohar was speaking on Thursday as he handed over the ICC 2015 Cricket Development Annual Program award of the year to the RCA president, Charles Haba during the ICC annual conference in Edinburgh, Scotland.

In May, RCA was announced as the winner of the annual award for the second year in a row.

The ICC annual development program award was established to recognise and acknowledge the efforts of individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to the development and growth of cricket across the world.

"Rwanda cricket Association has played a significant role in the development of cricket in Rwanda with many people, from the young to the old, now knowing about cricket,” said Manohar in a statement.

Upon announcing Rwanda the winners of this year’s award, the ICC president Abbas Zaheer also commended "the great work done” by RCA towards the development of the sport in Rwanda.

He said that, "They have a lot of projects that are geared towards promoting cricket awareness in the country and the number of cricketers has fundamentally increased.”

On his part, the RCA president, Haba, said: "I am very excited for these two ICC awards, it is a testimony that we are growing steadily.”

He added that RCA will continue working hard to ensure that Rwanda cricket develops internationally.

Over 10,000 people play cricket in Rwanda.

This has been achieved through various projects, among them, the Cricket without Boundaries, which is organised every year with an aim of extending the game to all areas in the country as well as encouraging the youth to abstain and guard against sexually transmitted diseases.

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