WHEN the Hilbert Foster-led executives took control of the Berbice Cricket Board in early 2018, Berbice cricket was in total decline due to local cricket politics. Very few, if any cricket tournaments, were being played, clubs were closing down at a very fast rate while youths were looking at other sports as alternatives. No developmental programme was in place to assist youths to fulfil their potentials on or off the cricket field.

On the first day of his presidency, Foster contacted former Secretary of the Berbice Cricket Board, Oscar Ramjeet, for assistance in getting some business persons on board as sponsors. The USA-based Attorney-at-Law readily agreed to assist and introduced the new president to several persons. Among them were Founder and Chief Executive Officer of RBS Tech Center Inc., located in Georgetown – Brian Ramphal.

A strong cricket fan, and after a brief discussion with the new executives, agreed to come on board as a major sponsor of Berbice cricket donating a million dollars and has continued his assistance every year since with an annual contribution of five hundred thousand dollars. His support over the last five years has been one of the main reasons why Berbice cricket is now widely considered the most active and progressive in Guyana and the Caribbean.

Along with Dr Tulsi Dyal Singh and West Indies player Shimron Hetmyer, Ramphal is among the top three individual sponsors of Berbice Cricket. Over the last five years, Berbice has dominated cricket at the inter county level, produced the majority of cricketers for the national teams at all levels, organised dozens of developmental programmes while the number of active cricket clubs and players have returned to the 2015 all time high after a three-year decline.

Foster noted that with Ramphal’s sponsorship, the BCB was able to host several cricket tournaments including a double-wicket first division for the county eleven teams and an under-19 tournament in West Berbice. The popular businessman’s support was also used to publish the historic BCB Coaching manual, organise numerous coaching sessions, fund the hosting of trial matches to select inter county teams at the junior levels and publish informational posters and the BCB Youth Information Booklet.

Additionally, the businessman is also the major sponsor of the board’s annual award ceremony, Mother-of-the-Year and Father-of-the-Year Awards. With funding from Ramphal , the BCB also assisted several youth cricketers with needed gears.Players like West indies players Shimron Hetmyer, Veersammy Permaul , Romario Shepherd, and Shemaine Campbelle were honoured for making Berbice proud while young talents like Jonathan Rampersaud, Isai Thorne, Rampertab Ramnauth, Ashmini Munisar and Ashley Ramnauth have all emerged from the coaching sessions.

The BCB President has hailed Ramphal as a hero of the county cricket and one of the main reasons why Berbice cricket was able to rise to the top. The businessman, who has employed several young Guyanese in his business, has committed to renewing his sponsoring in 2023 at the cost of five hundred thousand dollars .

The sponsorship will cover the hosting of a historic two-day tournament at the under-21 level , the 2023 Award Ceremony and the annual Mother and Father of the Year Awards.

Foster noted that he was confident that with the support of Ramphal, Berbice cricket would continue to move forward at a very rapid rate. He disclosed that the two-day under-17 tournament is part of the BCB’s effort to get their youth players involved in playing the longer version of the game in a comprehensive developmental plan. An elite squad of twenty-four players would be selected for a special coaching programme and possible selection to the Berbice under-17 team.

RBS TechCenter Inc is a technology, call centre and BPO Services company with employees in Georgetown and can be contacted via email-brian@ramphal.com