THE first edition of the Faizal Jaferally Trust Fund was launched last week at a simple ceremony at the Cotton Tree Ground.

BCB president, Hilbert Foster, addressed the launch, saying “You are a true friend of Berbice cricket and I am very proud to work along with you to improve the level of the game in the county, especially in the West Berbice area. You are an inspiration to us in the BCB and I look forward to working with you in the future to make sure that all our players are given the equal opportunity to develop themselves. West Berbice cricket is on the move and you are one of the main reason for this.’

The fund is sponsored by the People’s Progressive Party Member of Parliament and targets the development of clubs in the West Berbice area.

Foster stated that he had approached the proactive Member of Parliament for assistance in getting the fund set up and had received a positive reply in less than twelve hours.

He stated that one of the main objective of his administration is to assist clubs as much as possible to fulfil their mandate of producing high class players who would go on to represent the county, Guyana and the West Indies.

He recalled that clubs and players in the area have benefitted from a wide range of items from the BCB and the RHTYSC, under his leadership.

The items include cricket gear, cricket balls, catching cribs, grass cutters, bicycles, scorebooks, uniforms, educational grants, school bags, educational materials and water pitchers, among others.

Numerous players have also benefitted from their own personal gears and from the board comprehensive coaching programmes.

The BCB president also unveiled plans for the legendary Sir Andy Roberts to visit the area shortly as West Berbice is well known for its tradition of fast bowling.

He expressed thanks to Jaferally for his continuing support of his administration .The MP has also sponsored a cricket tournament on an annual basis in the area and assisted to attract other sponsors on board.

Foster used the opportunity to announce that several other tournaments are on the card for the area including two other for the seniors, under 15 and under 23 players.

In addition, the BCB would be expanding its coaching programme in the area and offering even more assistance to players.

A total of twenty-four youth players from West Berbice would soon receive a piece of personal gear while thirty would benefit from computer training in a joint project with the Office of the Prime Minister.

Mr Jaferally, in well received remarks, stated that he was very pleased with the current development of cricket under the administration of Hilbert Foster, whom he described as a visionary and transparent leader.

He committed himself to assisting Berbice cricket as much as possible once Foster remains in charge and also hailed the leadership of David Black in the West Berbice area.

He urged the BCB and the West Berbice Cricket Association to host a special awards ceremony for the area and committed himself to donating five laptops to outstanding students who would be selected by the BCB in a transparent way.

Each of the team received a box of red cricket balls, a pair of wicket-keeping gloves, along with a pair of inners. The Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club also handed over a scorebook to each of the clubs present at the meeting.

Among the clubs that benefitted were Bath, Cotton Tree, Achievers, Bush Lot Sports Club, Bush Lot Rising Stars, Paradise and D’Edwards.

The BCB also handed over a box of cricket balls and a scorebook to the Fort Wellington Secondary School while the Cotton Tree Primary School collected a cricket nursery kit.