Dozens of the young cricketers of the Ancient County would shortly be benefitting from over G$1.5 million worth of cricket gear as the Hilbert Foster-led Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) continues its aggressive campaign to develop the game at the junior level.
The donation will be done under the joint BCB/Clayton Lambert Gear project and over 60 youths are expected to benefit in the largest-ever distribution of gear to be done by a county board in Guyana to youth cricketers.
BCB President Hilbert Foster, since his election in 2018, has spearheaded an effort to assist less fortunate and promising cricketers to fulfill their potential on and off the cricket field. He stated that the equipment are expected in the country by December 10 and the distribution would start soon after.
The gear to be shared out include junior bats, senior bats, batting pads, wicketkeeping gloves, wicketkeeping pads, helmets, thigh pads, forehand guards and bat rubbers among others.
A special presentation of gear would be made to the Berbice River Cricket Association as the BCB strives to develop the game in the remote area.
The President stated that in 2021 at least two cricket tournaments (T20 and 40-over) would be held for the four teams in the area, while a combined riverain team would also participate in the BCB historic Semi-Professional League fixed for middle next year.
In an effort to distribute the gear in a transparent way, the board would be very grateful if the following clubs who have junior teams can submit names of players who should benefit.
Clubs: Edinburg, East Bank Blazers and Guymine have to submit four names, while two names are expected from Paradise, Bush Lot United, Bush Lot Rising Star, Bath, Achievers, Blairmont, Tucber Park, Mt Sinai, Rose Hall Canje, Young Warriors, Kendall Union, Albion, RHTY&SC, Port Mourant, Number 73, Rama Krishna and Scottsburg.
The BCB would also select some youths based on the recommendation of senior coach Winston Smith, who has been conducting coaching sessions across the county.
The board has set down guidelines for the submission of the players to benefit.
Players have to be between the Under-13 and Under-17 levels, must be discipline, must have a good attendance rate in school, be from a less fortunate background and must not have received assistance during the year. The deadline for the submission of names is December 7.
At the end of the project, the BCB would have assisted close to 300 youths with cricket gear or bicycles over the last 30 months.
Lambert, who played five Test matches for the West Indies, stated that he was delighted to work along with his county board as he was very impressed with the progress being made under Foster leadership and stated that this was just the first of several shipment of gear that would be sent to Berbice.
He recalled that he did not have his own bat until he scored his first regional century versus the Leeward Islands at Albion in 1984.
His first century was scored using a bat lent to him by teammate Clyde Butts. Lambert stated that he wanted to assist others to fulfill their dreams of playing at the highest level.
Meanwhile, the BCB recently presented close to 1,000 face masks to several clubs during a special meeting at the Albion Ground as part of its COVID-19 response programme.
Among the clubs receiving the face masks were Albion, Port Mourant, Chesney, Police, Edinburg, Rose Hall Canje, Ramnarine Memorial, Kendall Union, Tucber Park, Achievers, Number 73, Number 69 Vikings and the University of Guyana Tain Campus.
The masks were donated by cricketer Ishwar Singh of Ishwar Guybiz Est. The BCB, over the last nine months, has shared out thousands of food hampers and distributed hundreds of educational posters as part of its COVID-19 response.