West Indies’ Shimron Hetmyer and Shemaine Campbelle for the second year running were awarded the male and female cricketers of the year when the Guyana Cricket Board held its annual Awards Ceremony last night at the Umana Yana, Kingston.
The pair repeated their outstanding performances on the field of play as they did in 2017 to win the awards once again.
Hetmyer continued to showcase his skills on the international scene, notably in the Caribbean Premier League for the Guyana Amazon Warriors and for the West Indies against India in the One Day International series where he finished as the leading run getter in both tournaments.
Hetmyer, was on Tuesday rewarded (for his international performances that is) with an IPL contract after he was purchased by the Royal Challengers Bangalore for the upcoming season.
Keemo Paul and Chandrapaul Hemraj, who both made their debuts for the West Indies this year were the other contenders.
Campbelle, the lone Guyanese in the West Indies Women’s T20 team for the International Cricket Council’s Women’s World T20 which was held last month in the Caribbean, predictably got the nod ahead of the other nominees Shabika Gajnabi who was part of the West Indies female World T20 training camp and Sheneta Grimmond.
Hemraj, who made his debut for the West Indies this year was adjudged the Most Improved Player and Grimmond the Most Promising Female cricketer.
Grimmond was selected in the West Indies Women’s World T20 squad but was forced to miss the tournament due to injury.
West Indies B captain, Anthony Bramble was adjudged Senior Regional Cricketer-of-the-Year.
In the junior division, U15 cricketer Mavindra Dindyal snapped up the Most Valuable Player (MVP). He had scored a blistering 98 in the Regional One-Day final final against Barbados in a losing effort. His teammate, Chandrapaul Ramraj received the award for taking the most wickets in the same tournament.
For Guyana’s participation in the Regional Under-17 tournament, Sachin Singh copped the most runs and MVP awards while Nigel Deodat received the award for the most wickets.
In the Under-19 tournament where Guyana won the limited-overs version, Joshua Persaud scored the most runs for Guyana, earning him that award while Kevin Sinclair received an award for taking the most wickets in addition to being the MVP and the eventual Junior Cricketer-of-the-Year.
The GCB also honored corporate sponsors, Hand-in-Hand Insurance Company, Dave West Indian Imports and Scotiabank for their outstanding contribution towards the development of cricket through sponsorship.
In the Special Awardees segment, Albert Dass of Everest Cricket Club was awarded for his dedicated service to the sport as a curator, Dr. Pooran Singh of Barbados who has lent assistance towards the health and well-being of Guyanese Cricketers especially in Barbados, Essequibo Coach Ryan Hercules for coach of the year and Stabroek News Sport Journalist, Romario Samaroo for his outstanding service as a cricket journalist in the print-media.
