Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat was Saturday sworn in as the honorary patron of the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) and has pledged his support to move cricket in Berbice to new heights.
At a simple ceremony at the St. Francis Complex, Bharrat said, “I am honored and I also feel a sense of pride and privilege to be asked by the Berbice Cricket Board to be the patron for the year 2020-2021 and being here this afternoon to actually be sworn in as the new patron for the next year.”
The minister reflected on his time living in the county up to age 16 when he completed his studies at the New Amsterdam Multilateral School and left for Georgetown in pursuit of his tertiary education.
Bharrat revealed that it was childhood dream to become a cricketer owing to the benefits it afforded such as travelling. He was also desirous of following in the footsteps of those he admired including Clayton Lambert and Sudesh Dhaniram.
The minister reminded those in attendance of the importance of discipline while giving the example of the fruition it has given to the likes of the BCB.
“I also want to say cricket is a discipline but unfortunately over the last 10 years or so, if we mirror that time when West Indies cricket started to decline, it shows a lot that discipline is important to cricket, discipline is important in every faucet of life, discipline is important in managing the Berbice Cricket Board to ensure that it comes out the depth and doldrums to the new heights the Berbice Cricket Board is at right now, it all comes down to discipline,” he said.
He said that he was saddened to see young players, many of whom he wished he had the talent of when he joined the Bermine Cricket Club in 1991, fade away due to lack of discipline.
Bharrat pledged to aid the fight to help develop more talent and boost cricket in the ancient county.
“Over the next year I intend to work especially with the young people of Berbice and it was my intention even though it is only three months as minister of government, it was my intention being the patron or not to assist Berbice cricket in one way or another because I would like to see Berbice cricket move from one height to another. I would like to see more of our young Berbicians making the West Indies team. I would like to see more of our Berbicians making the big leagues like the IPL [Indian Premier League] and others and we have some prime examples of talent in Berbice, we don’t have to look far, both male and female,” he revealed.
“I will try my utmost, along with the support of our government, along with support of the regional administration and along with the support of our corporate community, to ensure that these competitions are played at the highest level and players are comfortable and justly rewarded, that is the only way we could move Berbice cricket forward.”
The former Bermine cricketer pointed out, “We may have the best administration, which we have in Berbice, we may have the best cricketers, which we have in Berbice but if you don’t have the resources to move forward you cannot…I believe not only in my capacity as a Patron but as a minister of government that I can play a meaningful role in that area and that is what I want to do for the next year and beyond and I want to make a commitment to all the cricketers in Berbice and Berbice in general, even when I stop being a Patron sometime in 2021, I would still continue to support the Berbice Cricket Board and Berbice Cricket.”
President of the BCB, Hilbert Foster unfolded a list of accomplishments the board has achieved since assuming office in 2018 and continued in 2020 despite the Novel Coronavirus pandemic.
“On behalf of the board I would like to welcome you Minister Bharrat to the Berbice Cricket Board. You are joining an organization that is virtually unmatched across the Caribbean and we are quite sure with your assistance we would make it a much better cricket board that would benefit our young people.”
