“The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) should establish a cricket museum so that our younger generation can have some knowledge on our players of yesteryear.”
This is the view expressed by acting president of the Berbice Cricket Board of Control (BCBC) Keith Foster while delivering the main address at the launch of the BCBC Hall of Fame last Thursday at the board’s New Amsterdam office.
“Our younger generation of cricketers needs to have somewhere they can go and receive adequate information on those cricketers who have contributed to the success of not only cricket in Guyana, but the West Indies on the whole.
“What better a place for them to do so, than a cricket museum. In such a place, they can not only see the achievements of their heroes of yesteryear, but also have a look at the apparel they used to achieved their feats whilst doing so and may even be able to see for themselves, the progress cricket has made from then to now,” he added.
“We have our heroes and we have photographs of them, but what is missing in Guyana, is the memorabilia or even souvenirs that our cricketers have used.
“It would be very nice if the GCB can set up the museum to that effect, as Guyana has produced some outstanding West Indian cricketers.”
Foster pointed out that all of the test cricketers in Berbice have come from clubs or areas associated with the sugar estates and urged clubs such as Young Warriors, Scottsburg and even Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club, to break the stranglehold the estates have on the production of Test cricketers by producing the next Test cricketer.
“Eighty (80) years ago, West Indies started playing Test cricket and a very strange thing has happened, wherein the bulk of the Berbice test cricketers in particularly the 60’s, have originated from the sugar estates and strange enough, the latest test cricketer out of Guyana is a Berbician in Sewnarine Chattergoon.
“All of the Test cricketers coming out of Berbice are from the sugar estates and whilst there is nothing wrong with such an occurrence, it would be great if one of the clubs that are not managed by the sugar estates, can produced a test cricketer.”
In closing, Foster who took over the stewardship of the BCBC following the resignation of the last president Jafarally Asrafally earlier in the week, thanked the BCBC Special Events Committee for its sterling efforts in ensuring the Hall of Fame became a reality and also expressed his gratitude to Metro Office Supplies for their sponsorship of same.
