“We strongly believed in honouring our heroes and we want to do so while they are alive. Berbice Cricket has been successful over the last 80 years due to the outstanding contributions of countless work and performances of countless individuals. Honouring them is just the Berbice Cricket Board’s way of saying thank you for your services and for putting the Ancient County on the world cricketing map.”
Those were the words of Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) Public Relations Officer, Simon Naidu, as he unveiled the Board’s plans to honour several outstanding Berbicians as part of its 80th Anniversary Celebrations.
West Indies players Narsingh Deonarine, Shemaine Campbelle and the legendary Rohan Kanhai would be honoured as Berbice greatest cricketers at the Junior, Female and Senior levels respectively. Deonarine represented Albion, Berbice, Guyana and the West Indies at the Under-15 and Under-19 levels with great success while serving as captain as well.
Campbelle is the only Guyanese female cricketer to have centuries at the Club, County, Regional and International levels and has represented the West Indies at the 20/20 and ODI levels for close to a decade.
Rohan Bholalall Kanhai is widely regarded as Berbice greatest cricketer and holds the record for the most Test runs, most Test appearances and most Test centuries by a Berbician.
Kanhai was also part of the West Indies team, winning the 1975 World Cup. A portrait of the three players would be unveiled in the Berbice Cricket Board Office on the Dr. Tulsi Dyal Singh Wall of Fame.
Former outstanding cricketers Leslaine Lambert, Clayton Lambert, Mahendra Nagamootoo, Narsingh Deonarine and Derick Kallicharran would also be inducted into the Berbice Hall of Fame, while outstanding Administrators Keith Foster, Anil Beharry, Malcolm Peters, Manohar Pooran and Carl Moore would also be inducted into the BCB Hall of Fame for Administrators.
The contribution of former players Sudesh Dhanirasm, Orvin Mangru, Deonarine Persaud, Andre Percival and Zaheer Moakan would be recognised under the Tribute to Retired Cricketers programme while, Angela Haniff, Joseph Simon, Dennis D’Andrade and Esuan Crandon would each receive the BCB highest individual award, The Tribute to Hero Award of Excellence.
BCB President Hilbert Foster stated that every year, the Board under his leadership would strive to honour outstanding heroes.
Noting that clubs in Berbice were suffering from the lack of visionary and dedicated officials, the Berbice Cricket Board boss stated that it was important for positive role models and cricket executives to be honoured.
The awards have been made possible via sponsorship from Metro Office Supplies, Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club, MS, Spready’s Snackette, Republic Bank (Guy) Ltd, J’s Printery and Sentinel Security.
