THREE Under-17 cricketers who represented Berbice in the recently concluded Inter-county tournament _administered by the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), have received their cricket gear, sourced by Derrick Kallicharran, Raj Rai, Kumar Dindyal and members of the Kaieteur Cricket Club of Canada.

Berbice captain and national vice-captain, Afraz Budhoo and standby player Micah Amsterdam, each received a pair of metal spikes cricket, while Guyana selectee Romario Ramdehol also benefited with a floppy hat.

Budhoo is a left-hand batsman who bowls right arm off-spin and is a member of the Albion Cricket Club. Right-arm fast bowler Amsterdam is from Tucber Cricket Club, while Ramdehol, a product of Rose Hall Community Centre CC is a right-arm batsman and off-spinner.

Guyana will participate in the upcoming regional tournament to be held in Trinidad and Tobago shortly. The gear were donated by Derrick Kallicharran, Raj Rai, Kumar Dindyal, and members of the Kaieteur Cricket Club of Canada after representation was made to this joint initiative between Kishan Das of the USA and Anil Beharry, by their coach Leslie Solomon.

The tokens were presented by Marvin Abbensett, who represented the sponsors. He encouraged the players to remain disciplined and f_ocused. The project reached out to Kallicharran, a former West Indies ‘B’ cricketer who along with his friends responded immediately. The project thanked the donors for their continued support in assisting young people to develop their cricket.

Total cricket-related items received/purchased so far: $460,000 in cash, 13 coloured cricket uniforms, two trophies, 27 pairs of cricket shoes, 30 pairs of batting pads, 35 cricket bats, 30 pairs of batting gloves, 25 thigh pads, three pairs of wicket-keeping pads, six arm guards, two chest pads, two boxes, 12 cricket bags, six bat rubbers, six helmets, one fibre-glass bat, 13 boxes of white cricket balls, three boxes of red balls and 28 footballs.

In addition to the above, gear worth more than $600,000 was donated by Sheik Mohamed, former national wicket-keeper/batsman. All cash collected is being used to purchase cricket gear requested and not available at the time.

Several others also benefitted indirectly. In addition, two clubs in the Pomeroon area received two used bats. Pomeroon, Leguan and Wakenaam Cricket Committees and Cotton Tree Die Hard also collected one box of red cricket balls each; Cold Fusion Cricket Club 13 coloured uniforms, while RHCCCC received four and a half boxes of balls, 15 white cricket shirts, one pair of junior batting pads, one pair of wicket-keeping gloves, a set of stumps and bails.

Other beneficiaries include the Essequibo Cricket Board, the Town of Lethem, youth coach Travis Persaud (one box of red cricket balls), male and female teams playing the traditional hardball and softball in the Upper Corentyne area, Number 65 Young Titans with 30 t-shirts, youths of Just Try Cricket Club, Wakenaam Cricket Academy (one box of white balls), Shamar Joseph, Nehemiah Hohenkirk, Shamar Apple, Leguan Cricket Committee, Tucber Park Cricket Club and Malteenoes Sports Club (nine cricket balls each).

Distribution will continue. Anyone interested in contributing can contact Anil Beharry on 623 6875 or Kishan Das on 1 718 664 0896.