FORMER Guyana and West Indies ‘A’ leg-spinning all-rounder Derek Kallicharran, along with several friends – Sohan Beer, Ramjit Singh, Shazam Hussein, Raj Rai, Tony Kallicharran, Krishna Kallicharran, Kumar Dindyal, Shanon Raghunath, Sean Bahadur and John Harihar, all former members of the Richmond Hill Vikings Cricket Club of New York, have provided US$600 to purchase 10 pairs of cricket shoes for Under-15 players who are expected to participate in the upcoming Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Inter-County Under-15 tournament. Players from all three counties will benefit.

The players will be vying for places in the national team to represent Guyana at the Regional Tournament to be held later in the year. So far, eight players have already been identified – Romario Ramdihol, Vishal Williams, Gavin Kristen, Henrique Mickle, Nicholas Lovell, Elisha Ramdat, Christopher Williams and Earo Benjamin. One of the players listed is an orphan.

At a simple ceremony, held last weekend, Beer, a representative of the group and currently on vacation, presented the cash to former BCB long-serving executive and current GCB executive, Anil Beharry.

Beharry was high in praise for the timely assistance to these young and talented players who were carefully selected. According to Beharry, he was happy to facilitate this initiative and is certain that the cricket shoes will go a long way in helping these aspiring players to achieve their dream.

Beharry thanked Kallicharran and team on behalf of the players and is confident that a new breed of cricketers will emerge and will help Guyana and West Indies cricket return to its rightful place. He also made special mention of the role the former Guyana player played in mobilising the funds.

Beer was also glad to be part of such a noble idea, conceptualised by Kallicharran in collaboration with Beharry. He also promised that this is the first of more things to come and is especially pleased that a child who is an orphan is the recipient of one pair of cricket shoes.

Beer further encouraged the players to be focused and disciplined at all times. The cricket shoes will be distributed shortly.