THE Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) continues to invest heavily in the development of young players across the Ancient County by using the current rainy season to visit every corner of Berbice with the Dr Tulsi Dyal Singh coaching programme.

The Programme started early this year with the preparation of the Berbice Under-15, U-17, U-19 and the female Under-19 and senior teams, along with several coaching clinics.
Last weekend, BCB launched another aspect of the comprehensive programme with new members of the Berbice Under-15 and U-17 teams involved in an intense four-hour coaching clinic.

Under the guidance of coach Balram Samaroo, special emphasis was placed on fielding, physical fitness, batting techniques and game situation.

Samaroo, a former national junior player and Berbice senior player, is currently heading the programme in the absence of Winston Smith, who is on vacation overseas.

Twenty-five players were involved in the session at the Albion Community Centre ground.
BCB president Hilbert Foster disclosed that the sessions would continue every weekend with sessions for fast bowlers, batsmen, wicketkeepers and spinners.

The panel of coaches would also be visiting every club in Berbice which has a junior cricket team for a two-day clinic.
Over the next few weeks, the coaches, including Samaroo and Delbert Hicks, would be visiting clubs like East Bank Blazer, Edinburgh Warriors, Mt Sinai, Rose Hall Canje, Albion Community Centre, Port Mourant, Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club, No. 73 and Scottsburg United among others.

The coaches would also visit clubs in the West Coast Berbice area. At the completion of the visits, the coaches would select a squad of 70 youths for the second edition of the Dr Tulsi Dyal Singh Coaching Academy that would be held in August.

Meanwhile, BCB last Saturday honoured Tyrone Pottaya of Belvedere Village as its Dr Tulsi Dyal Singh Father-of-the-Year awardee for 2019. Pottaya, a cane-cutter attached to the Albion Estate is the proud father of three. His only son and youngest child, Matthew represented Guyana at the Under-15 level in 2019.

Further, BCB Public Relations Officer, Simon Naidu, expressed gratitude to Dr Tulsi Dyal Singh for his massive investment in Berbice cricket.