Six Under-15 cricketers late last month received $200,000 worth of cricket gear and educational materials from the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club under the auspices of the Basil Butcher Berbice Cricket Development Trust Fund.
According to a release from the organization, Arif Chan, Jameson Anderson and Daniel Lewis of the RHTYSC, Jameal Jackman of Upper Corentyne, Osbert Cain of West Berbice and Kassam Khan of Young Warriors were the recipients.
Each cricketer received a cricket bat, a pair of batting gloves and a supply of educational materials.
Secretary/CEO of the RHTYSC Hilbert Foster in referring to the trust fund stated that the former West Indies batting legend strongly believes in assisting young cricketers to achieve their dreams. Butcher, over the last three years, has invested $600,000 into the fund that benefitted 26 young cricketers.
Foster also challenged the young cricketers to accept the opportunities being presented to them and to work hard and remain disciplined in order to succeed in their cricketing endeavours. He also expressed gratitude to Butcher for his investment in the cricketing future of Berbice and called on other former cricketers to do the same.
President of the RHTYSC and Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) Keith Foster hailed the presentation as an important day in the development of cricket in the Ancient County. Foster, who is also the eldest son of Basil Butcher, praised his father for remembering his roots and issued a challenge to the six awardees to emulate the legend, who played 44 Test matches.
Butcher in the feature address called on the cricketers to play the game out of love and not for financial rewards.
Discipline is important to a cricketer, the 77-year-old former West Indies middle order batsman stated. He also told the audience that massive investments were needed to stop the rapid decline in the fortunes of West Indies cricket.
Butcher expressed his pleasure in giving back to the game that made him famous and provided an income.
