“Represent us with pride, passion and discipline. The Berbice Cricket Board is proud of each one of you and I urge you to be good ambassadors of the legacy of Kanhai, Butcher, Solomon, Fredericks and Kallicharran. The Berbice Cricket Board intends to make Berbice Cricket, the role model in the Caribbean and it is my sincere hope that you would reflect that status.”
Those were the words of President of the Berbice Cricket Board, Hilbert Foster, to nine female cricketers selected to represent Guyana at the Cricket West Indies Female Tournament to be held in Jamaica from June 10-25, 2018.
The President handed over US$450 to the nine female national players who are part of the team. They each received US$50 from the Berbice Cricket Board to assist them during their stay in Jamaica.
Foster, in handing over the stipends to the players, recalled that on his election, he pledged that the Berbice Cricket Board would assist all players selected to represent Guyana.
The Berbice Cricket Board in April, 2018, had provided $200,000 to Under-15 and Under-19 Female players and would early next month, provide stipends to the Berbice Under-17 and Under-19 players who would represent Guyana at that level.
The Berbice Cricket Board, he noted, is the only county board in Guyana to assist its cricketers via the Financial Stipend System and this is being done to boost the morale of the players.
Foster spoke at length about the importance of discipline and the need for the nine Berbice players to look out for each other as they strive to bring glory to Guyana.
The Berbice Cricket Board boss informed the players that the two-weeks cricket tournament would be vital to their cricketing career as outstanding individual performance could result in players being selected to represent the West Indies.
He urged the players to play as a united team and to retain their focus. He assured the female players that the Berbice Cricket Board would be investing heavily into their careers with special emphasis being placed on arranging coaching programmes, organising cricket tournaments and hosting personal developmental programmes.
The Berbice Cricket Board would also start preparation for next year’s defence of its Inter-county titles as soon as the players return by organising Elite Training Sessions with Level III Coach Winston Smith as part of the Dr. Tulsi Dyal Singh Countywide Coaching Programme.
The Berbice Female team would also be involved in several practice matches against selected Male Under-15 and Under-17 Teams.
The players who received the stipend were Katana Mentore, Tremayne Smartt, Sabrina Munroe, Shemaine Campbelle, Erva Giddings, Shabika Gajnabi, Melanie Henry, Plaffiana Millington and Sheneta Grimmond.
The highly talented Campbelle, who has represented the West Indies in 71 ODIs, hailed the support of the Berbice Cricket Board and noted that it was the first time in her cricket career, she had received a stipend from her County Board.
The West Indies player stated that every Berbician cricketer is very proud of the Berbice Cricket Board and the work it was doing. She pledged that the nine players would make the Ancient County proud and bring back the title to Guyana.
