The 70-year-old was presented with the gong in a glittering ceremony this evening at the Brewery in London.
Birkenshaw has recently stood down as England women assistant coach after two and a half years, during which time the side won the World Cup and World Twenty20 as well as retaining the Ashes.The former England, Yorkshire, Leicestershire and Worcestershire all-rounder has been in the game for over 50 years as a player, coach and umpire.
His career coaching highlights also include winning the County Championship in 1996 and 1998 as head coach at Leicestershire.
The ECB’s Gordon Lord was named the coach educator of the year. Lord has had a profound influence on shaping the overall development of the ECB coaching pathway.
He chairs the ECB national source group and is also head of elite coach development, a position that has seen him play a leading role in developing a high-performance coaching strategy.
Graduates of the ECB UKCC Level 4 programme include three current international head coaches; Andy Flower (England), Ottis Gibson (West Indies) and Alan Butcher (Zimbabwe), while 17 of the current 18 first-class county head coaches are also products of the system.
Elsewhere, London Cricket coach Mike Bohndiek was named young coach of the year for making a huge impact in the Tower Hamlets district of London - one of the most deprived areas in the country.
Bohndiek has adapted his coaching to meet the needs of the diverse range of cultures in the borough, which has included securing funding to employ a full-time Bengali coach.
He has increased participation in sport through cricket and has seen five of his district players make the jump to county level in 2010. He has also encouraged under-17 and under-18 players to take coaching courses.
Meanwhile, Flower missed out on the high-performance coach of the year award - won by Peter Cowen, who has helped Lee Westwood to top golf’s rankings
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