His outstanding coaching contributions to the Ballarat women's and Buninyong clubs, and Ballarat Cricket Association led to the accolade.

BCA operations and female cricket coordinator Greg Wakeling said Byrne had been a prominent figure in Ballarat's cricketing community in holding three different coaching roles across junior and women's teams, as well as various other volunteer roles in the game.

He received the award at the National A Sport For All Awards, which reccognise the work volunteers, clubs and associations do for the cricket community.

Byrne was one of two award recipients from Victoria across 12 award categories.