Practice facilities in Berbice among BCB plans for cricket development

The Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) has kept itself busy over the last six months despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and continues to make a positive impact on the development of the game in the Ancient County.

Dozens of clubs and junior cricketers have benefitted from donations of cricket gear, cricket balls, stumps, scorebooks and food hampers.

The BCB has also joined hands with the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club to distribute over 5,000 food hampers and other items such as medical supplies, cleaning detergents and household items to less fortunate families and public institutions.

Additionally, the BCB has also hosted several programmes such as Father-of-the-Year, Mother-of-the-Year, Basil Butcher Cricket Development Programme and Youth Information booklet.

As part of its developmental programme, the BCB has also extended an invitation to the Head of a regional Caribbean Cricket Board to visit Berbice.

The Head has since accepted the invitation to visit after the pandemic and then a BCB delegation will make a return trip.

The BCB is also in discussion with numerous sponsors so that Berbice Cricket will hit the ground running when the permission is given to restart. Support for a second two-day tournament has already been secured for 2021, while the board’s dream of having its own cricket pitch covers was achieved with the cooperation of former President Anil Beharry.

BCB President Hilbert Foster has also been very busy and over the last month has had official discussions with Region Six Chairman David Armogan, Regional Executive Officer Navindra Persaud and Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha.

The BCB President is expected to meet shortly with officials of the Region Five RDC and Minister of Sport Charles Ramson Jnr. Foster stated that the BCB is seeking to have all-weather cricket practice facilities constructed in Regions Five and Six.

Minister Mustapha, who is also the Member of Parliament for Region Six, congratulated the BCB on its outstanding work and has committed to securing funding for at least one of the facilities.

Proposals are currently being prepared for submission to the relevant authorities. The board would also be pushing the regional bodies to invest in some of the major cricket grounds in the county.

Meanwhile, the BCB/Dr. Tulsi Dyal Singh Coaching Programme will restart on Saturday (October 3) under strict COVID-19 guidelines.

A maximum of 10 Under-15 cricketers would be involved in each session. Players would be required to wear masks, practice social distancing, sanitise their hands regularly and walk along with their own gear for the two-hour sessions.

The schedule for the Coaching programme is as follows:

October 3: Port Mourant (starts 10:00h)

October 4: Albion (starts 10:00h)

October 7: Rose Hall Town Area ‘H’ Ground (starts 15:00h)

October 10: Rose Hall Canje Cricket Ground (starts 10:00h)

October 11: Edinburgh CC (starts 10:00h)

October 14: Area ‘H’ Ground (starts 15:00h)

October 18: Blairmont Cricket Ground (starts 10:00h); Achievers Cricket Ground (starts 13:00h)

October 19: Number 73 Cricket Ground (starts 10:00h); Scottsburg Cricket Ground (starts 13:00h)

October 26: Tucber Park CC (starts 10:00h)

October 27: Kendall’s Union Cricket Ground (starts 10:00h)