PREISIDENT of the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) Hilbert Foster, during his annual report to members of the Board last December had made a commitment to acquire a total of three more 100 by 24 feet cricket covers by the end of his third term in December, 2023.

Foster announced that the commitment would be fulfilled by the end of February 2022, almost two years before. He spearheaded a major revival of Berbice cricket since his election in 2018 after a court- ordered election. He stated that obtaining covers for pitches was one of the board’s main objectives since several major matches were badly affected by rain.

The BCB was first able to obtain a set of covers in 2020 and it is been stored at the historic Albion Cricket Ground. The board, in late 2021, then obtained funding from a friend of Berbice cricket, who lives way down in Australia, to purchase a second set of covers, which is in the custody of the Cotton Tree Cricket Club in West Berbice.

Junior Minister in the Ministry of Housing and Water, Susan Rodrigues, on Friday last, officially handed over a cheque for three hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars towards obtaining one set of covers.

Rodrigues had committed herself to raising funds for the covers to the BCB President during a meeting to discuss areas of co-operation at her Brickdam Office. The cheque was donated by Vitality Inc at the urging of the Minister and the covers would be handed over shortly to the Upper Corentyne Cricket Association for usage in the area.

Foster noted that the area, which has twenty-eight teams, plays a lot of major finals and the covers would be a major boost towards cutting down the hours of play affected by the weather.

The UCCA, he stated, would be responsible for the storage, transportation and upkeep of the expensive covers but warned that it shall not be used for privately arranged festive matches.

Long-time overseas-based donor, Dr Tulsi Dyal Singh has also joined in to make the covers project a success by pledging to donate six hundred and eighty thousand dollars (680,000) towards obtaining the other two. These covers, which would be purchased next month, would be stored at the Area H Ground, Rose Hall Town in the Lower Corentyne area and the Edinburgh Ground on the East Bank Of Berbice.

Foster noted that with these investments being made by the BCB, matches in Berbice would hardly be affected by heavy rain.

The BCB would also be prepared to host major inter-county matches along with regional tournaments organised by Cricket West Indies. The five covers combined would safely protect the entire square (pitch) at any ground and Foster hailed this as a positive development in the history of Berbice cricket.

Two of the covers were recently used at the Albion Ground for the GCB best of best matches and Foster boasted that the days of rain washing out major matches due to a short heavy downpour are things of the past.

The BCB, he stated, would continue to seek ways of obtaining more covers and committed to obtaining one set for the Berbice riverain area before the middle of this year.

He proudly noted that never in the history of Guyana cricket has a county board invested so heavily in protecting against the weather.

Thanks were expressed to Minister Susan Rodrigues, the Management and staff of Vitality Inc and Dr. Tulsi Dyal Singh for their co-operation in obtaining the last three pairs of covers and Foster promised that they would be taken care of.