… Schools to benefit shortly.

THE Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) as part of its ongoing cricket developmental programme last weekend handed over a large amount of cricket gear to several clubs in the Ancient County under it’s Cricket Kindness Project.

The presentation was done during the BCB gala Brian Ramphal Awards Ceremony at the St. Francis Community Developers Training Centre in Rose Hall Town. The presentation was done by cricket legends Sir Andy Roberts and Roland Butcher, who both serves as ambassadors for the England based cricket charity organization Cricket Kindness.

President of BCB, Hilbert Foster disclosed that in late 2020, he was approached by Butcher, who wanted his blessings to submit the BCB name to Ms. Tamara J. Lowe of Cricket Kindness for a donation of cricket gear.

Foster readily agreed and later submitted a comprehensive project document to Ms. Lowe.

Cricket Kindness agreed to assist the county but the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic slowed down plans but a shipment eventually left England in late 2021.

The shipment included a large collection of bats, batting pads, batting gloves, wicket keeping pads, wicket keeping gloves, cricket boots, uniforms among others.

The BCB several weeks ago, assisted seventy-two youth cricketers with personal gear via a transparent raffle system. The players were selected by their respective clubs and sub- associations.

Among the clubs benefitting from the donations were Achievers, Cotton Tree, Mt. Sinai, Tucber Park, Rose Hall Canje, Guymine, Scottsburg, Radha Krishna and Skeldon. Among the items donated were bats, batting pads, helmets, batting gloves, thigh pads and fore arm guards.

Cricket Kindness is based in England and is the brainchild of Australia born Tamara Lowe, a passionate lover of the game. The Charity group receives donation of gear from across England and then it is shipped to countries in the Caribbean like Barbados, Antigua and St. Kitts.

This is the first time that Guyana has benefitted. Foster expressed the BCB gratitude to Ms. Lowe and her band of sports ambassadors which includes Chris Lewis, Roland Butcher, Sir Andy Roberts, Sir Richie Richardson and Sir Vivian Richards.

Special thanks was also made to Minister of Sport Charles Ramson Jnr and the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Sports for their assistance in obtaining duty free concessions from the Guyana Revenue Authority.

The BCB also expressed thanks to the Management of ECU Worldwide for shipping the gear from England to Guyana free of cost and also to Carl Griffith of Laparkan.