… sponsors pump $350 000 into tourney
“GUYANA’S cricket is not in a state that we can be proud of and we at Demerara Insurance want to play our part in helping in its resuscitation.” Those were the words of the General Manager of Diamond Fire and General Insurance Incorporated (DFGI), Tara Chandra, prior to handing over the sponsorship cheque and winners’ trophy to vice-president of the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB), David Black, for this year’s Under-19 Inter-district competition in the Ancient County.
She stated: “We at the Diamond Insurance are very pleased to continue this sponsorship of the Berbice Cricket Board’s Inter-district Under-19 competition. As I indicated when this competition was launched last year, Diamond Insurance was conscious of the role it must play in the community and we feel that healthy sporting activities and competitions should be encouraged.
“We are also very encouraged by the way the Berbice Cricket Board has been conducting its business and we are pleased to partner with them in this competition, and we hope it will help the Berbice Cricket Board to identify some new talent which can help us win the Regional competition this year.”
Responding on behalf of the BCB, Public Relations Officer (PRO) and chairman of the BCB’s Special Events Committee Hilbert Foster expressed profound gratitude to the sponsors for once again coming on board.
“Your support means the world to us, especially in these difficult economic times where every dollar is cherished. We look forward to having a long-standing relationship with the Diamond Fire and General Insurance Company, as we seek to get our youths to say ‘No to Drugs’ and at the same time, lift the standard of West Indies cricket to the level it once was under Sir Frank Worrell and Clive Lloyd.”
According to the National Sports Council’s 2009 Male Sports Personality-of-the-Year winner, the tournament which is being sponsored to the tune of $350 000, will be played amongst four districts, namely West Berbice, New Amsterdam/Canje, Lower Corentyne and Central/Upper Corentyne.
The fixtures for this year’s tournament, which will have the winner pocket $60 000 and a trophy, along with financial rewards to the other three finishers, have already being drafted, with West Berbice meeting NA/Canje at the Blairmont Community Centre ground and Lower Corentyne facing Central/Upper Corentyne at the Area ‘H’ ground.
This tournament, which is being used by the BCB to select their team for the upcoming Guyana Cricket Board (GCB)-organised GTM-sponsored Under-19 Inter-county competition, will see players who have been selected from the BCB’s Spready’s Under-19 competition in action.
“There can be no doubt, that the game in the Ancient County is on the move again and the progress over the last three years, has been unbelievable. The BCB has worked beyond the call of duty to make this possible and I am proud to announce that unlike the rest of cricket boards in Guyana, Berbice’s cricket is stable and does not suffer from internal fighting, power struggles or lack of vision.
“Our dream is to be the best cricket board in the Caribbean and every day, we strive to fulfil this dream via hard work, dedication and visionary leadership. Our only objective is to serve our youths not ourselves and in this, we have been very successful, with the BCB organising over 20 tournaments and 60 off-the-field projects for this year,” said Foster.
The 2009 tournament was a success and numerous cricketing talents were unearthed and as everyone knows, Berbice went on to completely dominate the GCB’s Inter-county tournament and according to Foster, this was only possible because of the BCB’s Inter-zone tournament which allowed the junior selectors led by Leslie Solomon, to pick the best possible team.