– Second instalment of Zulfikar Mustapha educational scholarship handed over.
THE Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) in its continued quest to advance the sport in the Ancient County continued to assist clubs under its watch with another distribution of items.
Last Saturday, the board during a special ceremony for the legendary Sir Curtly Ambrose started the distribution of $1M worth of white cricket balls to first division clubs.
The balls were distributed under the BCB Patron Trust Fund.
BCB president Hilbert Foster stated that the trust fund was established in late 2020 when Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, was inducted as the board’s first official Patron.
In 2019, the fund handed over a total of $1.2M worth of balls and cricket gear to clubs and youth players.
Minister Bharrat committed $2.5M to the fund for last year and had handed over a cheque for $1.5M in October 2021.
That amount was used for the hosting of several mini cricket academies and social skills seminars while close to fifty youths benefited from educational grants to assist their pursuit of an educational career.
The distribution of the cricket balls completes the pledge of $2.5M by the Patron for 2021.
Discussions for 2022 would soon start with the Patron, whom Foster described as one of main reasons for success in Berbice over the last few years.
The white balls, Foster stated would be used for practice by the first division teams and in tournaments organised by the BCB.
The BCB has already secured sponsorships for the Ivan Madray 20/20 Memorial tournament, Tenelec 50 0vers and another tournament has been committed by the Guyana Brewery Ltd.
The board would shortly be meeting with representatives of the different clubs to decide on the way forward in light of the ongoing COVID-19 situation.
The board distributed boxes of balls to the Skeldon Community Centr, Upper Corentyne Cricket Association, Police, Albion, Port Mourant, RHTYSC, Rose Hall Canje and West Berbice. The BCB would also hand over balls to Young Warriors CC, Tucber Park CC, Berbice River Cricket Association and Blairmont who were absent from the ceremony.
Legendary icon Sir Curtly Ambrose handed over the balls on behalf of the board and Patron Vickram Bharrat.
Meanwhile, the board also handed over two catching cribs to representatives of the East Bank Berbice CC and Kildonan CC under the Patron Fund.
The board also delivered a several sneakers to four clubs for distribution to less fortunate cricketers.
The sneakers were donated to the BCB by former national player Sheik Mohamed. The clubs receiving sneakers were Achievers, Port Mourant, Edinburgh and East Bank Berbice.
The BCB also handed over a cheque for $247 100 to Naeem Khan. The cheque represented the second payment to Khan as payment for the historic BCB/Zulfikar Mustapha University of Guyana Educational Scholarship.
Early last year, BCB created history when it became the first cricket board in Guyana to hand out a University of Guyana scholarship.
Khan is a medium pacer who plays for the Albion Cricket Club and attends the Tain campus of the University of Guyana.
The young player expressed thanks to BCB president Hilbert Foster and Minister Mustapha for their support.
Minister Mustapha is a Berbician by birth and is a strong supporter of the BCB.
