Guyana’s Romario Shepherd has fond memories

GUYANESE cricketer Romario Shepherd can still remember everything about his childhood days in Baracara – a small community along the Canje River in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) that is now home to roughly 300 persons.

As a boy attending Baracara Primary, Romario cannot recall ever wearing shoes to school – something that he looks back on with pure fondness. It added to the fun of walking to school with his friends, 99 percent of whom also went without shoes. Perhaps it even worked well as he made his way in and out with a paddleboat whenever one was available.

Whatever the case, this Canje Creek community holds a special place in Romario’s heart and he still regards it as a “fun” place to be, especially for someone who enjoys nature.

The right-arm fast bowler, who plays for Guyana in domestic cricket and for the West Indies in international cricket, was actually born in Linden, but moved to Berbice with his family as a youngster. “I can’t recall when I actually moved to Berbice; I was still quite young then to remember,” he reflected in an interview with Pepperpot Magazine a few days ago.

The 27-year-old, who was earlier this month ‘bought’ by the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the auction for the 2022 Indian Premier League tournament, said he especially loves the quietness in the river. “I also like that everyone lives like family, along with the support you had if there was a wedding, funeral or any function.”

Romario still has many family members living in the river. “It’s still a place I am attached to. I visited there in 2020 after about 10 years, and a lot has changed, but everyone basically lives in the same place,” he recalled.

Asked if he played cricket while there, he said the circumstances were not conducive. It was when he came out of the river to attend secondary school in New Amsterdam that he got a break. “I was basically too young then to play hardball. We didn’t have all the cricketing equipment for a young man to take part in the sport and the guys were pretty strong; they bowled fast and hit the ball hard,” he recalled.

Vryman’s Erven Secondary
Romario’s career all started during secondary school. Together with his pal Orlando Tanner, whom he had known since pre-school days, he attended the Vryman’s Erven Secondary School in New Amsterdam.

“Together, we used to team up and play two on two against the other students for money and you can tell by now in this conversation who were the winners,” he joked. At that point, Sir Iram Moakan saw the duo, both about 12 years old at the time, and got them enrolled on the school team.

“He put me to open the batting; I got 129 in my first game, and then he told me I have to join a club. The only club he would let me join was Mr Carl Moore’s club, Tucber Park Cricket Club. I can safely say I am where I am today because of Mr. Moore.

“He didn’t only teach us about cricket; he taught us discipline outside of cricket. He told us to read our Bible and pray every morning, which I still do every morning,” Romario shared.

He has no photos to show for all that he shared about his childhood days because he didn’t have a cellphone back then. “I got my first phone from my older brother, Kenny. I was like about 15 years old. Now, my son is four years old and has a cellphone, so life has changed.”