THE Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) last Thursday handed over some cricket gear to 20 of the Ancient County’s upcoming talents, as they continue to place emphasis on its youth development programme.

The youngsters who hail from across different demographics of the Ancient County like Albion, Port Mourant, RHTYSC and Rose Hall Canje to name a few, acquired pieces of gear which comprised batting gloves, batting pads, wicket-keeping pads, wicket-keeping gloves and helmets.

Foster handed over the gear to three of the players at a simple presentation ceremony at the Area H Ground and stated that BCB would continue to invest in young players as the board intends to make sure that the legacies of Rohan Kanhai and Basil Butcher live on.

BCB president Hilbert Foster said the bestowment of the cricket gear was part of the ongoing effort to assist players to fulfil their talents in spite of their financial situation at home. Finance for the project was made possible from funds donated to the BCB early in 2020 by Dr Tulsi Dyal Singh and Dr Puran Singh, two overseas-based Guyanese.

Dr Dyal had sponsored a comprehensive coaching programme for young players but the programme was placed on hold in the later part of March, while his brother Dr Singh had supported the annual National players’ stipend scheme. Under this scheme, every Berbice player who gained selection to the national team at the junior and female levels would receive $10 000.

The Tulsi Dyal Singh Coaching Programme has been on hold for five months after a busy first three-month start to the year. The programme was responsible for the preparation of the Berbice Under-15, Under-17 and Female teams and also the hosting of several trial matches to select the best possible teams. Several coaching clinics were also organised while visits were made to over 20 clubs for coaching sessions with their members.

He urged the players to remain focussed and to continue training at home. He stated that once the pandemic was over, BCB would hit the ground running with numerous junior and female tournaments, while the coaching sessions would be expanded in 2021.

Meanwhile, the 2020 Dyal Coaching Clinic is set to restart in October with strict guidelines due to the coronavirus crisis. BCB head coach Winston Smith would be visiting clubs to conduct sessions with groups of 10 players below the age of ten.

Clubs to be visited include RHTYSC, Albion, Port Mourant, Rose Hall Canje, Blairmont, Achievers and Edinburg. Plans would be put into place for the checking of players’ temperature, social distancing and washing of hands etc.

The BCB also shared out 150 food hampers as part of the programme with each player receiving one, while several clubs also received several hampers, compliments of the Singh brothers, for distribution to their membership.

The board in partnership with RHTYSC has shared out over 5 300 food hampers to less fortunate families across Berbice. Over 142 young cricketers have so far benefited from donations of cricket gear in 2020 with more to receive later.