“He lived most of his life in the township of Linden; he was totally committed to the development of the game there and as such, it is only right that we remember Linden as we pay tribute to the legacy of the late great Basil Fitzherbert Butcher.”
Those were the words of the RHTY&SC, MS, Assistant Secretary/CEO, Simon Naidu, as the club and V-Net Communications handed over cricket gear and two bicycles to Mr. Bradley Frederick, who is associated with the promotion of cricket in the Region 10 area.
The cricket gear would be distributed to 10 youth players, while two less fortunate players would receive the bicycles to assist them to get to school. The gear included helmets, batting gloves, wicket-keeping gloves and wicket-keeping pads.
Club Secretary/CEO Hilbert Foster stated that under the first-ever Basil Butcher Trust Fund, over 100 youth cricketers benefitted from donations of cricket gear, bicycles and educational materials.
The main aims of the Trust Fund, he disclosed, are to encourage youths to Say Yes to Education and Sport, to assist young players to fulfill their dreams of playing cricket at the highest level and to promote the legacy of Basil Butcher.
Foster urged Mr. Fredericks to make sure that the most suitable players receive the donated items based on their talent, income status, discipline and personal attitude. Special thanks was expressed to Chief Executive Officer of V-Net Communications, Sarfraz Sheriffudeen.
Foster stated that V-Net Communications has been a great partner of the RHTY&SC and has assisted the club over the years by co-sponsoring its Christmas Village, Cricket Development Programme, annual award ceremony, annual youth review magazine among others.
Sheriffudeen stated that as an honorary member of the RHTY&SC, he was happy to assist in any way possible and pledged that he would continue to do so in the future.
Basil Butcher, a Berbice Cricket Board Hall of Fame Cricketer, played 44 Test matches for the West Indies until his retirement in 1969. He scored over 3,000 runs at an average of 43.11 with seven Test centuries and 16 half-centuries.
The RHTY&SC, with support from the Berbice Cricket Board under the Trust Fund, has shared millions of dollars’ worth in items across Berbice. They include 3,000 food hampers, bicycles, school bags, clocks, medical items, educational materials, cleaning detergents, face masks among others.
The presentation was the final one for the 2020 leg of the Fund, which was held as part of Butcher’s 87th birthday celebration by the 10 cricket teams of the club, namely Poonai Pharmacy Under-12 and Under-13, Farfan and Mendes Under-15, Bakewell Under-17 and Second Division, Pepsi Under-19 and Intermediate, Metro Female, Namilco Thunder Flour Under-21 and First Division.
