GOPAUL Ramchand, Udesh Jaikarran and Munesh Outar, three Under-15 players of East Coast, Demerara-based cricket clubs, were the latest young players to benefit from the ‘Cricket Gear for young and promising players’, a joint initiative between Kishan Das of the USA and Anil Beharry, former Berbice left-handed all-rounder.

The youngsters are currently participating in the Demerara Cricket Board Under-15 Inter-Sub Association Championship which will be used to select the County team to participate in the 2023 Inter-County Tournament.

The tournament was halted due to the consistent heavy rainfall. The three recipients received one cricket bat, three pairs of batting gloves, three pairs of cricket shoes and one white cricket shirt. Ramchand is a wicketkeeper/batter, Jaikarran a seam-bowling all-rounder and Outar an opener/right-arm off-spinner. They are all attending secondary schools.

At a simple ceremony, held recently, the three youngsters expressed their gratitude for the gear and promised to continue to work hard to further improve. The project is happy to be part of the development of young and talented cricketers in Guyana.

Total cricket-related items collected so far: $290 000 in cash, two trophies, 12 cricket boots, 20 pairs of batting pads, 25 bats, 17 pairs of batting gloves, 20 thigh pads, one pair of wicket-keeping pad, three arm guards, two boxes, six cricket bags and three helmets. In addition to the above, $600 000 worth in gear was donated by Sheik Mohamed, former National wicketkeeper/batter.

To date, 47 young players from all three counties of Guyana have already benefited from three junior gear bags, two trophies, three arm guards, 18 bats, two boxes, three helmets, 16 pairs of cricket shoes, 10 pairs of batting pads, one thigh pad, one bat rubber and 15 pairs of batting gloves.

In addition, two clubs in the Pomeroon area collected two used bats. Pomeroon, Leguan and Wakenaam Cricket Committees and Cotton Tree Die Hard also received one box of red cricket balls each while RHCCCC received two boxes, 15 white cricket shirts, one pair of junior batting pads, one pair of wicket-keeping gloves and a set of stumps and bails. The Essequibo Cricket Board and the Town of Lethem also benefited.

Cricket-related items, used or new are distributed free of cost to young and promising cricketers in Guyana. Skills, discipline and education are important characteristics of the recipients.

Talent-spotting is being done across the country and club leaders also assist in identifying the recipients.