Dear Editor,
The year 2022 was a very successful one for the Berbice Cricket Board despite been a challenging one due to several non-cricketing challenges. As President of the BCB I am proud of the progress and it adds to the remarkable strides we have made from 2018 to 2021. We would all recall the state of Berbice cricket when the present administration took office and we should all be proud of the development made in the last five years. The BCB is now widely considered the most progressive and active cricket board in the West Indies with an unmatched list of activities and achievements. Some of our major achievements in 2022 are:
Over fifty Berbicians represented Guyana at the different levels -junior and senior levels; Berbice won all the titles at the senior levels (female and male). The only title we lost was the under 17. Three under 19 females were selected for the historic West Indies under 19 female team – Ashmini Munisar created history with her appointment as the first ever West Indies under 19 female captain. It is remarkable that a small county could produce the following twelve players for the West Indies in a calendar year – Shimron Hetmyer, Romario Shepherd, Kelvin Sinclair, Veersammy Permaul, Guadakesh Motie, Shemaine Campbelle, Shakabi Gajnabi, Sheneeta Grimmond, Ashmini Munisar, Ashley Ramnauth, Realanne Grimmond, and Isai Thorne.
Several of our players were selected in CWI All Stars teams at the Under 15, under 17 and under 19 levels. Cricket mini academies were held across the ancient county while several coaching programmes were done under the Dr. Tulsi Dyal Singh Programme. Over thirty junior players received financial stipends under the Dr. Puran Singh Scheme. Over one million dollars’ worth of uniforms, balls and gears were shared out to secondary schools in Berbice with assistance from Lochan Samkarran. Twenty clubs received practice nets at the cost of $1m with the assistance of Terrence Blackman in a historic project.
Clubs in the West Berbice area benefitted from the Fazil Jaffarally Trust Fund. Close to eighty clubs received $1m worth of cricket balls under the Shimron and Nirvani Hetmyer Trust Fund. Millions of dollars’ worth of gears were shared out to players, clubs and schools with assistance from Cricket Kindness of England. The BCB successfully completed at least ten tournaments at the different levels while numerous others are on hold due to the rainy season.
The BCB hosted several coaching clinics and inspiration forums for our players- among the coaches were former test greats Sir Curtly Ambrose, Sir Andy Roberts, Jimmy Adams, Roland Butcher, Clyde Butts, Reon King, Dr. Desmond Haynes and former national player Sheik Mohamed. Dr. Frank Denbow and Bobby Deonarine assisted greatly in these visits along with Dr. Tulsi Dyal Singh.
We hosted the Brian Ramphal award ceremony in April with former test captain Jimmy Adams as the guest speaker. Legendary fast bowler Courtney Walsh visited Berbice for a three hours inspiration sessions with our youths especially females. We hosted the Indian High Commissioner for a special visit and massive benefits would start shortly. With the assistance of Local Government Minister Nigel Dharamlall, we now have the services of nineteen coaches/trainers across the county. The BCB handed over the second installment of its University of Guyana scholarship to Mr. A Khan of Albion while Ashmini Munisar received a grant of one hundred thousand dollars for her Guyana School of Agriculture studies.
Honoured several heroes with our Tribute to Heroes Award, several youths benefitted from educational grants to assist them in their studies. Thirty youths from the New Amsterdam area received gears under the Ray Hazel Memorial fund. Honoured the BCB Mother and Father of the Year with support from Brian Ramphal. Mr. Bobby Deonarine returned as a sponsor to Berbice Cricket after an absence of several years. He sponsored our under 15 and first division tournaments. The BCB obtained several pitch covers and now have a total of five at the cost of about $700,000.00.They are stored across the county. Dr. Tulsi Dyal Singh sponsored two of them.
Over eighty clubs across the county received scorebooks from the RHTYSC. Dozens of youth cricketers received cycles from the RHTYSC to attend practice and school. They also received school bags and educational materials. Dave Narine came on board to sponsor a $1.7 M dollars second division tournament for close to ninety teams. Sponsorship for a county wide inter secondary school coaching programme was obtained from Namilco. This list of achievements can go on but we would stop due to space.
I would like to highlight the hard work of Leslie Soloman, Angela Haniff, Rovin Bahadur, Dr. Cecil Beharry, Balram Samaroo and Jonathan Rampersaud. 2023 promises to be another successful year for us once we remain committed and work for the development of the game and our youths. Special thanks to all our supporters, sponsors and donors for their continued support. Please be assured that we appreciate your support and we look forward to working along with you next year as we strive to uphold the rich legacy of Berbice Cricket. The best is yet to come.
Sincerely,
Hilbert Foster
BCB President
