Judges

Denise Lewis OBE

Her first year as a BASA judge, Denise Lewis claimed gold in the heptathlon at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 making her the 6th British woman to win an Olympic gold medal in the history of track and field. She also holds the British and Commonwealth heptathlon records.

Denise retired from competing in May 2005 and has since built a career as a sports presenter and reporter. In June 2005, Denise was an Ambassador for London’s successful bid to host the 2012 Olympics and continues to lend her support to ‘London 2012’.

Mihir Bose

Mihir Bose’s journalism and investigative sports reporting has been held in high esteem. He started his journalistic career at the London Broadcasting Corporation, before joining the Sunday Times.

Mihir's journalism has won a number of awards, including Sports News Reporter of the Year. Having a person of Mihir’s stature on the judging panel does indeed demonstrate the qualities and expertise that BASA seeks in its nominees.

Mark Ramprakash

Mark Ramprakash first made his name as a star player for Middlesex Cricket Club at the age of 17, and was selected for England, aged 21. Mark moved to Surrey Cricket Club in 2001. He won the Professional Cricketers’Association Player of theYear Award and was selected as one of five Wisden Cricketers of the Year.

In 2007, Ramprakash was once again the most prolific batsman in county cricket becoming the only man to average over 100 runs per match in two consecutive English seasons

Lorraine Deschamps

Lorraine developed a passion for football that has seen her take on a number of roles in the sport. She is a Level 5 referee (Senior County level) and FA Licensed Referee instructor, still officiating regularly in Men’s semi-professional football and in the Women’s Premier League. Lorraine became a Sporting Equals Trustee in 2006 and works with the team and ambassadors to champion diversity and equality of opportunity for all on behalf of BME communities.

Lorraine was recently appointed to the World Cup 2018 Bid Inclusivity Advisory Group, their role is to ensure that England’s bid continues to build on football’s positive record of inclusion, celebrates diversity and promotes inclusivity.

Manish Bhasin

Manish Bhasin became a household name as host of BBC Sport’s Football Focus. In 2009 he moved over to become the host of the BBC's Football League Show.

A popular Leicester City fan, Manish has spent five years at BBC Radio Leicester as sports presenter and commentator, as well as ITV's Central News programme, including presenting Soccer Sunday. During his successful tenure at ITV, Manish was nominated for Regional Sports Presenter or Commentator of the Year at the Royal Television Society Sport Awards. Soccer Sunday was also nominated as best Regional Sports Actuality Programme.

Manish is the BBC's lead presenter on cricket, covering the Twenty20 World Cup in 2009 and the forthcoming Cricket World Cup in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Neeraj Arora

Neeraj Arora is Executive Vice-President for International Business at Sony Entertainment Network, with over 10 years of experience in the Asian TV market. As such, Neeraj is responsible for all the territories outside of the Indian subcontinent.

Over the last seven years Neeraj has been integral to the growth and success of The British Asian Sports Awards and the important position it plays for the South Asian community in the UK today.

Neeraj is also a keen Golfer and Cricketer in his spare time.