The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), lauded for its “commendable” work, was challenged to seek out and nurture the talent existing in Guyana so as to help facilitate the revival of West Indies cricket. Throwing out the challenge to the GCB top brass was Minister within the Ministry of Education, Nicolette Henry, who has responsibility for sport and who made the remarks at the GCB annual Awards Ceremony last Thursday evening at the Umana Yana.
“There is cricketing talent in every region in this country and I challenge you to seek out these talent and nurture them so that the rich legacy that we are enjoying now can be preserved and passed on to the next generation,” said the minister.
Among those in attendance at the ceremony were Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge, West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Director, Conde Riley and president of the Guyana Olympic
Association, (GOA) K. A Juman–Yassin. Minister Henry spoke of the rich heritage of Guyana’s cricket which has produced players such as Clive Lloyd, Rohan Kanhai, Lance Gibbs, Alvin Kallicharran, Roger Harper, Carl Hooper, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Clyde Butts and Ramnaresh Sarwan to name a few, although she was to quip that the list of international players produced by Guyana was too long to mention at the ceremony.
The minister congratulated the GCB, whose president Drubahadur and Secretary Anand Sanasie played important roles at the ceremony, for its work over the years.
“Let me first off all congratulate the Guyana Cricket Board for the excellent work it has done over the years and continues to do in nurturing our cricketers. The fact that Guyana has produced so many outstanding cricketers both male and female, who gain not only regional but international acclaim, is testimony of the commendable work that the Guyana Cricket Board has done. I’m almost tempted to list the names of outstanding cricketers but given that the list is that long I would not even go there,” she quipped.
The minister also recognized the role played by the clubs and spoke of the rich tradition of club cricket in Guyana. Some clubs like the Demerara Cricket Club, the Georgetown Cricket Club, the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club (winner of the GCB’s club of the year award) the Port Mourant and Albion Cricket Clubs and the Everest Cricket Club, have produced cricketers for Guyana.
“The strength and legacy of club cricket in Guyana is rich and in many ways unparalleled in the region. The recent good showing of the Guyana Jaguars confirms that clubs in each of the three counties have nurtured players from their cricketing infancy all the way to the test arena. This country has certainly produced cricketing legends of the finest calibre and some of you are here with us this evening,” she declared.
Minister Henry then spoke of the government’s commitment to the development of sport adding that she longed for the day when West Indies cricket would return to its glory days.
“I certainly long for the day when West Indies teams can return to its glorious days and I hope that we will see Guyanese players in that team,” she said adding…”I wish to reaffirm the government’s commitment to providing whatever assistance we can provide with the resources that are allocated and what is needed to help develop the sport across the country.”
Earlier, Sanasie had spoken of the “reasonable assistance for the national schools’ cricket programme,” given by the Minister adding that it was a tournament that the GCB would like to see develop. “This is something that we would like to see grow not only in the secondary schools but at the primary level,” said Sanasie. “We understand financial constraints but as things get better we will hope that more funding will go not only to cricket but all sports here in Guyana,” he ended.
