Johnson and Ogle-Thomas voted Cricketers of the Year : … Chanderpaul carts off four awards

FOLLOWING a two-year hiatus for reasons unknown, the Dru Bahadur-steward Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) last Tuesday night hosted its Annual Awards Ceremony and Reception for 2013 in the upper pavilion of the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) where Leon Johnson and June Ogle-Thomas were voted Male and Female Cricketers of the Year.Eighteen-year-old Guyana and West Indies Under-19 First Class opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul stole the spotlight from Johnson, by carting off four individual awards, including accolades for the Junior Cricketer-of-the-Year, for which he received the Roy Fredericks Trophy.

Senior national skipper and West Indies left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul took home three individual awards, including spoils for being named the Senior Regional Cricketer-of-the-Year, while Johnson was also rewarded for his achievements with the West Indies ‘A’ team this year, along with Permaul, Narsingh Deonarine and Assad Fudadin.
The 26-year-old Johnson, who led all of Guyana’s batsmen in this year’s West Indies Cricket Board Regional four-day tournament, stood head and shoulders above his other two competitors (Barnwell and Permaul) for the title of GCB Cricketer-of-the-Year, on the night.
The former West Indies Under-19 skipper ended the preliminary phase of the competition as the third highest run-scorer with 430 runs from six matches at an average of 35.83, scoring three fifties in the process, with Windward Islands’ Devon Smith (682) and Barbados’ Kraigg Brathwaite (440) occupying the top two positions, enabling him to be Guyana’s leading run-scorer in the process.
In the Super50 tournament, Johnson is averaging 29.65 from the 45 first class matches he has played wherein he accumulated 2 224 runs with a highest score of 144 for West Indies ‘A’ against Sri Lanka ‘A’ last June. He also finished the preliminaries as the third leading run-scorer with 204 from six games at an average of 34.00, with a solitary half-century.
The Windward Islands duo in Andre Fletcher (239) and Smith (222), sat at the top of the run scorers’ chart leading into the semifinals of the tournament, for which Guyana failed to qualify, thus decreasing Johnson’s opportunity of scoring more runs, as he sat at the top of his country’s aggregate list.
Apart from the Junior Cricketer-of-the-Year title, Chanderpaul, who is the eldest son of Guyana and West Indies middle order batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul, received accolades for his selection to the West Indies Under-19 team, Highest Individual Score in the WICB TCL Under-19 tournament and also for being named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the TCL tournament.
Shimron Hetmyer and Gudakesh Motie-Kanhai also received awards for their selection to the West Indies Under-19 team, with Motie-Kanhai being rewarded further for taking the Most Wickets in the WICB TCL Under-19 tournament.
Ronsford Beaton started the awards rolling following the president’s Year in Review report, brief remarks from Director of Sport Neil Kumar and the feature address from WICB Director Baldath Mahabir, when he was named the Most Improved Player, for which he received the Lance Gibbs Trophy.
Barnwell, who is an energetic Guyana and West Indies T20 all-rounder, carted off the Rohan Kanhai Trophy after being named the Senior Domestic Cricketer-of-the-Year and another trophy for his outstanding performance in the Caribbean T20 tournament, where he blasted 88 against Jamaica to lead Guyana into the final, despite a belligerent 122 from Christopher Gayle.
Renaldo Ali-Mohammed’s feats in the WICB Under-15 tournament did not go in vain, for while he was named the MVP of that tournament, he received an award for his outstanding performances in the same tournament.
Special Awards were given to Shivnarine Chanderpaul for achieving the unique distinction of playing 150 Test matches, Anand Sanasie, former president Chetram Singh, Terry Holder, Hardat Thomas, Ryan Banwarie and Chronicle Sport’s Calvin Roberts.
Corporate Awards were handed to New GPC/Limacol, Hand-in-Hand and Demerara Distillers Limited, for their outstanding contributions to the development of cricket through sponsorship. Albion Cricket Club was voted Club-of-the-Year from Demerara Cricket Club and Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club.
Johnson made the thank-you remarks on behalf of the awardees, while Sanasie moved the vote of thanks on behalf of the GCB, following which the awardees and special invitees took part in the cocktail reception.

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