The Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club (RHTYSC)/ Basil Butcher Berbice Cricket Development Trust Fund (BBBCDTF) was last Sunday launched with an impressive ceremony at the St Francis Annex restaurant.
Over $840,000 in cash and educational materials were distributed to 12 under-15 cricketers and the same amount of first division clubs, drawn from across the Ancient County.
Secretary and CEO of RHTYSC Hilbert Foster stated that the main aim of the BBBCDTF was to assist young cricketers to fulfill their potentials, whilst at the same time, assisting the clubs to develop.
“Mr. Butcher wanted to give something back to the game that has given him so much and was of the view that assistance must be given to our under-15 cricketers in the county of Berbice who were from a low income family.”
Whilst calling the fund the only one of its’ kind here in Guyana, Foster challenged the young cricketers to dedicate themselves to the game, whilst avoiding at all cost, the social ills of the world.
The 75 years old Butcher who played 44 tests and scored 3104 runs with an highest score of 209 not out, recalled the impact cricket had on his life to those gathered in the audience, including his close friend, teammate, guest speaker and president of Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board of Control (TTCBC) Deryck Murray.
“This lovely game of cricket opened doors for not only myself, but other cricketers that would have remained closed and with that in mind, I have decided to give back to the game in this manner. And I want to take this opportunity to inform those in charge of the Fund, that same would expand over the years to accommodate more youths and clubs countrywide.”
Like Foster before him, Murray also hailed the Trust Fund as historic in his well received feature address.
“Funds such as these are needed across the Caribbean to assist clubs and young aspiring cricketers, as the West Indies work hard to once again climb the ladder of success and I want to urge the young cricketers to always be discipline, work hard and pay attention to advice.”
Murray also challenged the leaders of the clubs present to work harder, to be visionary in their planning and most importantly, be honest in whatever they do, before both himself and Butcher assisted with the distribution of the packages to the young cricketers and clubs.
The 12 cricketers who received their packages of $12,000 and $10,000 worth of educational materials were Quacy Mc Pherson (West Indies), K. Singh (Blairmont), Kwesi Nickle(Police), Orlando Tanner (Bermine), Linden Austin (Young Warriors), Udesh Imrit (Canje), Gudakesh Motie (Albion), Arif Chan (Port Mourant), Clifford Mc Kenzie (Kildonan), Harris Innandeen (Skeldon), Trevor Thomas (Scottsburg) and Lloyden Lewis (RHTYSC).
The clubs of the 12 cricketers also received funding to purchase 12 cricket balls and $45,000 worth of educational kits each respectively from the BBBCDTF, which is being funded by Butcher’s family and the RHTYSC under the guidance of the RHTYSC Cricket Development Committee.
The club also took the opportunity to express heartfelt gratitude to the Joseph ‘Reds’ Pereira Sports Foundation, Caribbean Airlines, Stanley Ming, Conrad Plummer, Berbice Cricket Board of Control, Little Rock Suites, Guyana Beverage Company and St Francis Community Developers for their contributions which helped made the launching a successful one.
Photo Caption for picture saved in sportspic/ 2008berbice cricket/ basil2
Basil Butcher (left) and Deryck Murray (right), strike a pose with representatives of the clubs, after they received their funding for the purchase of the cricket balls.
