Lara guest of honour at Zimbabwe Cricket awards

Legendary West Indian batsman Brian Lara is to deliver the keynote address as guest of honour at Zimbabwe's CBZ Bank Cricket Awards in Harare on September 3. The awards honour the men and women who have made a particularly impressive contribution to cricket in the country over the past year.

"We are honoured that a cricket personality like Brian Lara has agreed to come and be with us on the day that we will honour the stars of Zimbabwe Cricket," said Zimbabwe Cricket's managing director Ozias Bvute. "If you have to put it in a football context, it's like Pelé agreeing to come and be the guest of honour at our Soccer Stars of the Year.

"We are humbled by Lara's decision to come here because to us it means a lot more than him gracing the occasion but also shows that he is happy to be a partner of Zimbabwe Cricket. For us that is very important in our quest to get back to where we believe we belong among the Test playing nations of this world and you can't get a better player, as a model Test cricketer for your players, than Brian Lara."

The ceremony includes awards in the categories of Best Schools Cricketer, Batsman, Bowler and Female Cricketer of the Year, as well as paying tribute to the country's best umpire, scorer, groundsman, coach and administrator, among a host of other prizes.