A number of former players and executives have thrown their support behind the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB).
The BCB, in a release detailed its plan to host several one-day tournaments in 2021 at venues where clubs may be struggling to attract youth players and where the passion of the game has faded over the years.
“Another objective of the tournaments would be to give clubs who struggle to compete against the more established clubs like the RHTYSC [Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club] and Albion, an opportunity to win a BCB tournament,” the release stated.
The release stated that one of the tournaments in the making will be for the Nagamootoo Brothers trophy.
That competition will be sponsored by former West Indies player, Mahendra Nagamootoo and his brother, Vishal in their home village of Whim. The tournament will likely be hosted at Whim, Port Mourant and Belvedere.
Meanwhile, another former West Indies player, Narsingh Deonarine, has come on board to sponsor the Deonarine Cup. This tournament will be played between Chesney, Fyrish and Courtland at Chesney Ground, where Deonarine was born.
He received co-sponsorship from Faheed Ahmad, Jaynath Chakravarthy, Khavita Deonarine and Dariel Inshan Ali Deonarine.
Also, West Berbice born, Troy Halley, has agreed to sponsor another tournament at the Bush Lot Ground. This tournament will feature four teams, namely, Bush Lot United, Bush Lot Rising Star, Achievers and D’Edward.
Current players such as Shimron Hetmeyer, Kevin Sinclair and Romario Sheperd have already sponsored tournaments while former West Indies opener, Clayton Lambert, recently spearheaded a $1.5M project that attracted support from former national players, Ray Joseph, Leslaine Lambert, Kevin Darlington and Demerara-born Nolan Mckenzie and which provided gear to the BCB.
Former national captain, Jerry Angus, also contributed to the joint BCB/RHTYSC Basil Butcher gear project. Others like Anthony Bramble, Veersammy Permaul, Devendra Bishoo, Esaun Crandon, Ishwar Singh and Gudakesh Motie have also assisted the BCB work programme.
Meanwhile, former BCB executive, Lloyd Simpson, at the request of the BCB President will shortly be handing over an office photo copier to the board as efforts continue to reduce overall operating costs.
