By Avenash Ramzan
Cricket development at the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) received a massive boost on Saturday morning with Guyana Shore Base Inc. (GYSBI) donating a two-ton YANMAR motorised roller to executives of the Queenstown-based club.
After a brief but significant formal ceremony, President of DCC, Roger Harper, received the keys to the piece of equipment from Englishman Mark Edwards, the General Manager of GYSBI, in the presence of other GYSBI executives, Robin Muneshwer and Robin Chandarpal, and DCC members.
Moments before, Harper, the former Guyana and West Indies all-rounder, touched on the impact such benevolence from GYSBI would have on the game at DCC, the Home of Legends.
“For a club like ours to continue in the path to success, to continue in the path to producing legends, we really needed this piece of equipment,” Harper told the gathering.
“This roller would automatically mean that our match pitches are better prepared. It would mean that our practice pitches are also better prepared. Significantly, it would also mean we can now have two pitches on selected afternoons for practice, which would allow more players to have the opportunity to bat and bowl at these sessions, and this will have a direct impact on the hundreds of players who use our pitches and facilities.”
Harper lauded the company for choosing DCC as part of its efforts to fulfill its corporate/social responsibility, noting that the benefits would be felt beyond the DCC sward.
“While we as a cricket club would benefit, the spin-off would be that our youths are benefitting and our country would benefit because one of the roles we play as a club is not just developing cricketing legends, but we hope that we help to shape the lives of all the people who are in contact with our club; our youths, we hope to impact their lives in a positive way. And I think if we do that we make better citizens.”
Speaking on behalf of GYSBI, Edwards, while noting the rich history of the club, posited that Saturday’s ceremony is centred on charting a bright future for the sport at DCC and beyond.
“It’s about developing the next generation of good players to come from the West Indies. The West Indies was an unbeatable force for many years; not quite so good these days having a bit of a period of development. So let’s hope that by doing what we do today we can help to develop the next generation of outstanding cricketers to come from the West Indies, particularly from Guyana and the Demerara Cricket Club,” Edwards said.
Captain extraordinaire Clive Lloyd, flambouyant opener Roy Fredericks, record-breaking off-spinner Lance Gibbs and effervescent all-rounder Roger Harper, who all played during the golden era of West Indies cricket, are products of DCC.
