The Berbice Cricket Board as part of its intense coaching programme continues to invest heavily into youths across the county.
The board hosted two cricket clinics for youths in two sub zones.
The first clinic was held at the Cotton Tree Ground for youths in the West Berbice area while close to fifty thousand attended the other clinics at the No. 72 Cut and Load Ground for youths in the Upper/Central Corentyne sub-zone.
The West Berbice Clinic was organised by President of the West Berbice Cricket Association, David Black, and attracted youths from Cotton Tree, Bath, Bush Lot United, Achievers and D’Edward.
Head Coach Winston Smith stated that he was highly impressed by the passion and commitment showed by the West Berbice youths.
He explained that emphasis was placed on the six principles of batting including stance, grip, back swing while the five principles of bowling grip, run-up, gather, release and follow through.
Work was also done on improving the players fielding and catching standards and thus overall understanding of the game including its history, laws and tradition.
Level three Cricket Coach Winston Smith was assisted by Cricket coaches, including Trewayne Smartt, Travis Hardcourt and Shamal Angel.
At the No. 72 Cut and Load Ground, the sessions were conducted by Berbice Cricket Coach Leslie Soloman, who hailed the sessions as a resounding success. He was supported by Coaches Bhim Ramkission, Junior Blair and Floyd Benjamin.
Like in West Berbice, special emphasis was placed on batting, bowling, fielding and physical fitness. The youths were also engaged in some intense batting sessions in the batting cage using the bowling machine.
Treasurer of the Upper Corentyne Cricket Associations, Deodat Tharkudin, expressed satisfaction with the work of the coaches and the impact on the players. He hailed the support of the BCB especially its president, Hilbert Foster, towards the development of the game in the Upper Corentyne area.
Foster who visited the clinic at the Cotton Tree Ground, spoke to the players involved and assured them that his administration was fully committed to the development of every one of them.
He recalled that the area has benefitted greatly from cricket balls, cricket gear, uniform, scorebooks, coaching manuals, bicycles, educational grants, cricket practice nets, catching cribs, coaching equipment, batting cage, bowling machine, among other things as the BCB strives to assist as much as possible.
Region Five also has four cricket coaches attached to clubs with the Co-operation of the Minister of local Government.
Foster also announcement that dozens of youths at the Under-13 level will shortly receive over one million dollars’ worth of cricket gear under the Zamal Hussain Trust Fund, while clubs across the county will also benefit for the fifth successive year from the Shimran/Nirvani Trust Fund.
The two coaching sessions were sponsored by overseas donor Dr. Tulsi Dyal Singh, who is the largest BCB sponsors.
Dr Singh, in 2023, sponsored coaching programmes, cricket tournaments, trial matches, cricket academy and bowling machines for the county.