By Colin Bynoe Jr

West Indies batsman Shimron Hetmyer and out of favour West Indies Women’s left-arm pacer Erva Giddings received the Berbice Male and Female cricketer of the year awards respectively when the 2nd Annual Brian Ramphal Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) Awards Ceremony was held at the Port Mourant Cricket Club on Sunday.

 The BCB executives rewarded the top performers of the past year as well as umpires, coaches and clubs, who were all recognised for their contributions to the game. The BCB, formed in 1939, is easily the best run of the three county boards with a number of well-run tournaments since its new executives were elected.

Hetmyer, who is currently in England with the West Indies  World  Cup team, has enjoyed a stellar 2018, regionally and internationally. While Giddings has continually knocked on the doors of the West Indies selectors with her consistent outing with the ball for Berbice and Guyana.

Gracing the BCB awards was Chairman and Vice Chairman of Region 6, David Armagon and Dennis Deoroop, and Mayor of New Amsterdam, Winifred Haywood, along with the hard-working executives of the Berbice Cricket Board and cricket officials of various clubs.

Hilbert Foster, President of the BCB, reviewed the activities for the year 2018 and expressed, “Our main objectives in 2018 were: to return order to Berbice cricket, to raise funds via sponsorship for the development of Berbice cricket, to organize developmental programmes to lift the overall standards of the cricket”.

The head of BCB gave detailed reports of the day-to-day operations of the board and stressed on upcoming tournaments that will hit the ancient county as soon as the rainy season ends.

Among the tournaments to be started are five tournaments under the Lets Bet Sports 20/20, NBS 40-overs Second Division, Stag Beer 50-overs, Ivan Madray 20/20, Rhonda Lewis 20/20, among several others.

Dennis Deoroop ushered sentiments of hope to the young cricketers who were in attendance.

“I want to urge you to always remember where you came from, and don’t be distracted by the big money in cricket these days; make the best out of the cricket you play and I want to congratulate all of the cricketers who will be receiving awards”.

For 2018, the BCB had a number of players who were selected for National duties: six under-15, four under-17, 6 under-19 males and four females, while a total of eight females were selected to the senior female team. In addition, Shabika Gajnabi, Jonathan Rampersaud, Kevlon Anderson and Kevin Umroa were called up for various West Indies Training camps.

The 2018 list of awardees are:

1. Under – 13 Player of the Year – Rampertab Ramnauth
2. Under – 15 Player of the Year – Jonathan Rampersaud
3. Under -17 Player of the Year – Seon Glasgow
4. Under- 19 ( One Day) Player of the Year – Keith Simpson
5. Under – 19 (Three Days ) Player of the Year – Kevin Sinclair
6. Under- 19 ( Female ) Player of the year -Shabika Gajnabi
7. Under – 21 Player of the Year – Javed Karim
8. Female Cricketer of the Year – Erva Gidding
9. Female International Player of Year – Shemaine Campbelle
10. National Senior Player – Anthony Bramble
11. Male International Player – Shimron Hetmyer
12. Discipline Male Player 2018 –  Gourav Ramesh
13. Discipline Female Player 2018 – Marian Samaroo
14. Most Promising Male Player – Isaiah Throne
15. Most Promising Female Player – Ashley Ramnauth
16. Most Improved Male Player – Trevlon Stanislaus
17. Most Improved Female Player – Oma Matadin
18. Coach of the Year ( Inter Country) – Andre Percival
19. Coach of the Year (Local) – Winston Smith
20. Umpire of the year (local) – Moses Ramphal
21. Regional Umpire of the Year – Imran Moakan
22. Second Division Player of the Year- West Berbice – Devindra Lalsa
23. Second Division Player of the Year-N/A/Canje – Balram Samaroo
24. Second Division Player of the Year- Lower Corentyne – Junior Sinclair
25. Second Division Player of the Year – Upper Corentyne – Rishi Persaud
26. Club of the Year- West Berbice – Blairmont Community Centre
27. Blub of the Year – N/A/ Canje – Young Warrior Cricket Club
28. Club of the year – RHTY&SC
29. Club of the year upper Corentyne No 72 all stars
30. Most improved club Fyrish Cricket Club
31. Most Improved Club (first division) Rose Hall Canje Welfare
32. Cricketer of the Year Shimron Hetmyer