Berbice Cricket Board holds 5th annual awards ceremony

Berbice: Last night the Berbice Cricket Board hosted their 5th annual awards ceremony to honour the county's outstanding players, and also to give thanks to some local cricket enthusiasts for their contributions to the success of the game in the Ancient County. Anil Beharry, a Regional Council member and the branch manager of NBS Berbice hosted the event which was attended by Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General Anil Nandalall, Mr. Faizal Jafferally, MP and Regional Chairman Dr. Permaul Armogan. Chairman of the BCB Mr. Keith Foster gave a brief review of the last year which he deemed as "mostly successful, with the exception of a few embarrassing situations". He went on to say that, "the BCB is often marginalised and our talent is pushed aside; and to ensure the success of our local cricketers we have to work together". Mr. Faizal Jaferally in his remarks congratulated the Board for their continued efforts "in realising the dreams of so many young players and for giving them the opportunity to expand on their talent". In his address to the attendees Minister Nandalall said, " We are meeting in challenging times in sports generally but in particular cricket. Internationally there is almost a revolution which is taking place among the bodies that administer cricket worldwide. Cricket has to be played in a fair way and the organisers of the game have to be accountable, and their operations have to be made transparent. In Guyana there have been allegations of fraudulent elections and mishandled funds but it was thanks to the BCB that a full investigation was launched, through the report filed by the BCB secretary Angela Haniff. You provided the straw that broke the camel's back, you helped in bringing about change". He went on to say " I commend the cricketers that have been produced by Berbice, and I encourage you to continue and I commend the BCB for their sterling contributions to cricket not only in Guyana but the West Indies and I hope that your future endeavours are as successful". Guyana’s senior male Sportsman of the year 2011 and West Indies cricketer Devendra Bishoo of the Albion Community Centre was judged the male cricketer of 2011. Bishoo was also adjudged the ICC emerging player of the year. On the distaff side West Indies female cricketer Shemaine Campbell of the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club has been adjudged female cricketer of the year.

Awards were also given to Arif Chan (Under-15 Cricketer of the Year) , Shailendra Shameer (U-17 Cricketer of the Year) , Clinton Pestano (U-19 Cricketer of the Year) , Narsingh Deonarine (First Division Player of the Year), Assad Fudadin (Senior Inter-County Player of the Year) ,Parmanand Ramdhan (Most Disciplined Male Cricketer of the Year) , Phaffiana Millington (Most Disciplined Female Cricketer of the Year) ,Adrian Amsterdam (Inter-County Coach of the Year) , Winston Smith (Domestic Coach of the Year), Imran Moakan (Umpire of the Year) , Kevin Ramdeen (Most Improved Player) , Kandasammy Surujnarine (Most Promising Cricketer of the Year) and Club of the Year went to the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club.

A number of special awards were also presented to Veerasammy Permaul, Jonathan Foo and Assad Fudadin, who were honoured for being selected on the West Indies A team, while Campbell, Tremayne Smartt and Subrina Munroe were also honoured for being selected on the West Indies Female cricket team during the year; and Brandon Bess received a special prize for making his Test debut last year. Vickram Seebarran received a special award in recognition of his contribution to Berbice Cricket.