“To develop any sport you must have a programme. If there is no programme in place then you will be working on a hit and miss basis. But with a programme, you know where you are going and you can work to get there. You should also have past players involved at the administrative level. ”
So said former West Indies middle order batsman Basil Butcher who was making a brief statement following the announcement that a Cricket Development Trust Fund in his name was being established by the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club (RHTYSC).
“Here in the West Indies, the cricket administrators are not bringing any thing to the table. They need to have more past cricketers involved in the administration of the game,” stated the 74-year-old Butcher who played 44 Test matches for the West Indies and averaged 43.11 from scoring 3104 runs which included seven centuries and 16 fifties.
The Port Mourant-born Butcher, who also bowled leg spin and had best bowling figures of 5-34 against England in 1968, said he felt that there was no proper development programme in place especially in Guyana.
“When you look at the just concluded GTM Under-19 Inter County tournament and you saw Essequibo defeating both Demerara and Berbice, you would want to say that Essequibo cricket is on the rise.
“Even if that is so and I am more than happy for them in that area, the bottom line is both Demerara and Berbice’s cricket have retrogressed. That is the way we think today, we show little respect to standards and glorify ordinary performances,” the former West Indies selector stated.
Secretary of the RHTY&SC Hilbert Foster had earlier stated his Clubs’ willingness to associate itself with one of the ancient county’s 13 test cricketers in this venture.
“The management of RHTYSC is very excited by this new project especially as it bears the name of one of the Club’s honorary member and to most of us including me, a childhood hero. We wish to assure Mr. Butcher that it is the normal practice of this club to have everything done in a proper manner and we will ensure that is done whilst at the same time, giving him the recognition he truly deserves.”
“This Trust Fund will be under our management therefore some very strict guidelines would be in place to ensure that the funds are used for its intended purpose. The young under-15 cricketers who are attending schools will be the beneficiaries of this fund and one of the criteria must be discipline and they must have the potential to go all the way.”
Foster added that the Trust Fund which will be officially launched in September, was the second of its kind managed by the club.
National captain and West Indies vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan’s Educational Trust Fund is the first.
“We will be launching the fund in September which is the birth month of Butcher and for the occasion, we are looking at bringing in one of his former teammates to be the guest speaker at the launching.
We are currently attempting to contact former West Indies wicketkeeper and current president of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board Deryck Murray to see if he can grace us with his presence and do the honors,”Foster declared.
Butchers’ Trust Fund whose main aim is to assist with the redevelopment of cricket in the ancient county, will be financed by Butcher himself with assistance from his family and will benefit 12 under-15 cricketers selected from the first- division teams across the county.
Each of the 12 clubs along with others to be identified in Berbice would receive educational materials for their under-15 cricketers to encourage them to make education a priority along with a financial grant that will enable them to purchase some necessary cricket gears. The clubs would also be assisted with cricket balls to assist them with their high overhead costs.
