THE large and colourful crowd at the Albion Cricket ground during the Ivan Madray Memorial 100-ball final broke out in loud applause when president of the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB), Hilbert Foster, announced the launching of the Shimron Hetmyer Intermediate Cricket Tournament.

They were delighted that the Berbice born West Indies player had not forgotten his roots and was giving back to the county where it all began for him.

Foster and Hetmyer recently met to discuss the development of cricket in the county. Hetmyer readily agreed to sponsor the Intermediate Tournament as the BCB strives to host thirty cricket tournaments in 2019 after successfully completing twenty-five of the thirty tournaments it started in 2018.

The Intermediate Tournament would be open to all teams in Berbice and would see teams being allowed to play four First Division players per game.

Only Berbicians would be allowed to play while a player who has played more than three 40-overs, 50-overs and GCB Franchise matches in 2019, will be called a First Division player. Under-19 players shall be considered First Division while a list of senior players has been debarred.

They include Hetmyer, Veerasammy Permaul, Clinton Pestano, Romario Shepherd, Devendra Bishoo, Assad Fudadin and Gajanand Singh.

Teams such as Rose Hall Town Bakewell, Albion Community Centre, Port Mourant, Young Warriors, Blairmont Community Centre, Achievers, Tucber Park, Rose Hall Canje, Skeldon, Edinburgh and Mt. Sinai are all expected to be part of the tournament which will be played on a 50-over knockout basis.

The BCB president praised Hetmyer for giving back to the county and urged him to continue being a positive role model to the thousands of youths in Berbice who look up to him for inspiration.

Foster committed his board to organising a high-class tournament with the final scheduled after Hetmyer returns from the IPL Tournament in India. Foster announced that 2019 would be another record-breaking year for Berbice as the BCB builds on the remarkable progress made in 2018. Cricket, he stated, would be played at the Under-13, Under-15, Under-17, Under-19, Under-21, Female, Intermediate, Internal Zone, Primary School, Secondary School, Second Division, Double Wicket and First Division levels, while dozens of developmental programmes would also be organised.

Meanwhile, Hetmyer, the 18th player from Berbice to play Test cricket, stated that he was delighted to sponsor the tournament as he strongly believes in giving back.

The Berbice Cricket Board, he stated, was doing a great job at promoting the game and recalled playing a similar tournament during his early days at the Young Warriors Cricket Club. He committed himself to playing a major role in the development of Berbice Cricket while discussing other areas of interest with the BCB President.