The Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) on Sunday hosted a one-day cricket academy at the Cotton Tree Cricket Ground for close to 40 youths from West Berbice.
The academy is the second of four that will be organized across the county by the board under the Dr Tulsi Dyal Singh Coaching Programme. The first one-day academy was held on November 7 at the Rose Canje Ground for youths in the New Amsterdam/Canje area.
BCB Public Relations Officer Simon Naidu expressed delight at the success of the academy and hailed the hard work of the West Berbice Cricket Association in organising the event.
Naidu noted that the hosting of the academies was being done in conjunction with a social skills developmental seminar in each of the four sub associations.
The BCB, for the first time also used the services of three local cricket coaches in Travis Hardcourt, Shamal Angel and K Sejoc. They were guided during the day by senior coach Leslie Solomon. The three coaches expressed gratitude to BCB President Hilbert Foster for fulfilling his commitment to use local coaches in the area as part of a developmental plan to allow them to grow. Special emphasis was placed on batting stance, bat grip, running between the wicket, fielding, bowling run up, physical fitness and wicket-keeping.
The coaches were also on the lookout for any special talent for recommendation to the Berbice junior selectors for the upcoming inter-county under-15 tournament.
Foster, who is personally spearheading the organising of the academies stated that his board was committed to making sure that every potential talent is given the opportunity to excel and follow in the footsteps of Rohan Kanhai and Basil Butcher.
The coaches also used the historic coaching manual published by the BCB and among the topics covered during the day were mental preparations, attributes of a batsman, ways of dismissals, importance of discipline and leadership. Head Coach Leslie Solomon and WBCA President David Black led the off the field lectures on the different topics. Solomon shared that the vibrant board not only wanted to develop outstanding players on the field but also to produce role models for others to emulate.
