; Hetmyer, Shepherd and Permaul among players honoured

FORMER Guyana/West Indies batsman Clayton Lambert was the recipient of the Tribute to Heroes Award while Shimron Hetmyer, Romario Shepherd and others were honoured recently as part of the Berbice Cricket Board’s (BCB) recent Brian Ramphal ceremony.
“You are our hero as you have always represented our county, country and the West Indies with pride, passion and commitment. Every young cricketer in the county should take a page out of your book and strive to follow in your footstep.

“We at the Berbice Cricket Board are very proud to honour you for your service and your contribution to the development of the game.” Those were the words of BCB president Hilbert Foster as the Board presented former Berbice, Guyana and West Indies player Clayton Lambert with its highest award, the Tribute to Heroes, under the annual Brian Ramphal Awards Programme.
Lambert also received the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club, MS highest award, the Dolphin Award of Excellence during a moving tribute programme held at the BCB, Charlotte Street Office in New Amsterdam. Lambert for over fifteen years was the mainstay of the batting lineup for Berbice at the Inter- County level and is considered the second-best opening batsman for Guyana after the late Roy Clinton Fredericks.

He played five Test matches for the West Indies, scoring 284 runs at an average of 31.56 with a single century (104) versus England. Lambert also played eleven One Day Internationals scoring 368 runs at an average of 33.45 with a highest score of 119 versus England.
The burly opener also scored over 8 000 first-class runs with a top score of 263 not out versus Winward Islands at Skeldon. He retired from first-class cricket in 1999 before migrating to the United States of America, where he represented that country at the international level for a brief period at the age of forty-two years.
Foster, whose administration strongly believes in honouring the heroes of Berbice Cricket stated that the Tribute to Heroes Award is the highest one in the Ancient County and is reserved especially for persons who excelled on the cricket field and those who served beyond the call of duty as administrators and umpires.

Foster urged Lambert to share his vast experience with the younger players and expressed gratitude to him for his investment into Berbice Cricket. Lambert recently obtained $1.5M worth of cricket gear for the BCB youth development programme.
Lambert, in a heartfelt speech, stated that he felt humbled to receive the award. He hailed the outstanding work of the Foster-led administration and committed himself to assisting more in the future. Other awardees of the Tribute to Heroes in the past include Carl Moore, Basil Butcher, Mortimer George, Malcolm Peters, Joe Solomon, Leslaine Lambert, Roy Baijnauth, Ancel Hazel and Lennox Phillips. Lambert received trophies, medals, gifts and a special Christmas cake from the BCB and RHTYSC, MS.
Meanwhile, BCB also honoured national players Veersammy Permaul, Anthony Bramble, Romario Shepherd, Kevin Sinclair, Niall Smith and Romario Shepherd under the Brian Ramphal Awards Programme.

Permaul, who is eyeing a return to the international cricket was recognised for been the top bowler at the regional level in 2020 while Bramble was honoured for being the top wicketkeeper for Guyana at the first-class level.
Shepherd was recognised for scoring his 1st first-class century and Hetmyer received a special award for being an outstanding ambassador of Berbice Cricket. Smith and Sinclair were also honoured for making their first-class debut during 2020.
Foster congratulated the awardees for being good representatives of Berbice and for continuing the rich tradition of Rohan Kanhai, Basil Butcher and Alvin Kallicharran. Each one of the awardees received a trophy and medal. Former West Indies player Clayton Lambert handed over the awards on behalf of the board.
Brian Ramphal is a long-standing sponsor of the BCB, who lives in the United States and is an investor in the Tech Industry. Over the last three years, he has invested over $2M in the development of Berbice cricket.