… hails him as a positive role model, leader

PRESIDENT of the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) Hilbert Foster has hailed Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, as an outstanding patron of the board.

The BCB president stated that he and his executives have made hundreds of decisions for the board over the last four years but the appointment of Minister Bharrat was perhaps the best ever.

The BCB in early October 2020 had visited the minister and had offered him the position to become the first-ever Honorary Patron and he readily agreed.

He was officially sworn in on November 7 and immediately established the Patron Fund with a $1M contribution which was used to provide cricket balls to all the clubs in the county.

Several youths also received a combined $200 000 worth of cricket gear. In 2021, the Patron committed $2.5M to the Fund which was used to provide white balls to first division clubs along with some catching cribs.

He recommended the hosting of special social development seminars for youth players and the fund assisted to organise four sessions which attracted a total of over 150 Under-19 players.

The fund also assisted 50 youths with an educational grant to assist them in their pursuit of an educational career. The Patron, the BCB noted, also attended the opening ceremony of the Social Skills seminar and was heavily involved in the programme. The BCB Patron has also met the executives of the board on numerous occasions at very short notice and has pledged to make the proposed Professional League a success later in the year.

He also played a major role in the recent visit of the legendary Sir Curtly Ambrose for a fast-bowling clinic and has assisted junior cricketers, including West Indies junior player Rampertab Ramnauth, with their own gear.

The BCB would like to publicly express its thanks to Minister Bharrat for his passion, dedication and hard work as Patron.
The board also expressed confidence that Berbice cricket under his patronage would continue to grow and most importantly would make sure that every youth is given the opportunity to fulfil his/her potential on and off the cricket field.

The board would also like to express thanks to the Government of Guyana for its cooperation with special mention being made of President Irfaan Ali and Ministers Charles Ramson, Zulfikar Mustapha, Nigel Dharamlall, Colin Croal, Susan Rodrigues and Attorney-General Anil Nandlall.

President Ali, during a recent courtesy call with Sir Curtly Ambrose, had committed to assisting the BCB with a modern grass-cutter.