Basil Butcher’s Berbice Development

May 22, 2008 Sports

Trust fund to begin in September

Fund to be run by RHTYSC and financed by the Butcher family

By Sean Devers

Once of 13 Berbicians to play Test cricket since fast bowler John Trim became the first in 1948, former Guyana and West Indies batsman Basil Butcher joined Rohan Kanhai, the county’s most illustrious cricketer, and Joe Solomon, as Port Mourant’s most celebrated batting trio of the 1950s and 1960s before the arrival at Test level of another great Port Mourant batsman; Alvin Kallicharan in 1972.
Butcher, who made his Test debut the same year with Solomon and a year after Kanhai, played 44 Tests from 1958 to 1969. The former right-hander who was born on September 3, 1933, is still very active and extremely outspoken about the administration of Guyana and West Indies cricket.
The once elegant stroke player, who scored seven centuries and 16 fifties to finish his Test career with an average of 43.11, now wants to ‘give back’ to a sport that has made him a household name in the West Indies.

The garrulous Butcher yesterday collaborated with the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club (RHTY&SC), undoubtedly Guyana’s most progressive Sports Club, to launch the Basil Butcher Berbice Cricket Development Trust Fund. The launching was held at the Guyana Cricket Board’s Secretariat at Bourda.

Born less than a half of a mile away from Rose Hall Town, Butcher now resides in Linden and it was disclosed that his family will finance the Fund which will be managed by RHTY&SC. It is scheduled to commence in September to coincide with Butcher’s 75th birthday.

In an era of mediocre batting averages among West Indians, Butcher, who averages 49.90 from 169 first-class matches with 31 tons and 54 half-centuries, wants to see drastic changes in the attitude and level of commitment of local cricket Administrators and players and feels he can play a part in the development of cricket in the County of his birth with this Trust Fund.

The Trust Fund caters for under-15 cricketers from each of the 12 clubs that participate in first division cricket in Berbice and according to RHTY&SC executive Hilbert Foster, the players would each receive a financial grant to enable then to purchase cricket gear while each of the clubs will be provided with cricket balls to assist with their overhead cost of participating in competitions.
“Each of the first division clubs in addition to several others to be identified in Berbice will also receive educational materials for their under-15 players who are being encouraged to make gaining an education a priority in their life,” Foster disclosed.

Foster explained that the Club’s Management will set strict guidelines to ensure that funds are used for its intended purpose. He added that for the young cricketers to qualify they must be attending school, be disciplined individuals and exhibit cricketing potential.

Butcher is an honourary member of RHTY&SC and Foster said that he was one of many to whom Butcher was a childhood hero.

“We (RHTY&SC) is honoured that this project bears the name of Basil Butcher and we wish to assure him that as is normal with this club, everything would be done properly as we make sure he gets the recognition he deserves. A special effort is being made to get one of Butcher’s former West Indies teammates to attend as guest speaker and we are currently attempting to make contact with Derrick Murray, the former West Indies Wicketkeeper and President of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board,” Foster informed.

Butcher finished his first-class career in 1971 and never played a One-Day International although he played five regional One-Day games for Guyana.

The Berbician was known for his mental strength and his responsible 133 out off 229 balls in the memorable draw at Lord’s in 1963 was testimony to his commitment to West Indies cricket.
During an interval in that match he opened a letter which advised him that his wife had had a miscarriage back home in Guyana. Very upset, Butcher continued to play a masterly innings which saved his side.

The ‘Old stager’ is disillusioned with what is happening with West Indies cricket but still thinks the game he loved so much can be saved in the West Indies.

“When the Rose Hall Town club approached me about the Fund, I seized the opportunity since I am very disheartened by the attitude and standard of the young Guyanese and West Indies cricketers.
It is not just their fault since it is clear to see that the (cricket) authorities are not putting in what is required to help the players or lift the standard. Its sad but its true,” Butcher lamented.

He also feels that the young players need to know the game before they play it.

“You look even at our first-class level and you see players who don’t understand how to run between the wickets or basic strategies.

You have to be taught theses things. Some things you can’t learn from a book but from those who played the game or are genuinely interested in seeing cricket rise again and when you look at the cricket boards you don’t see too many of those around today,” Butcher lamented.

Butcher, who took all of his five Test wickets in one innings when he snatched 5-34 against England in 1968 with his leg-spin, feels there is no proper development programme. “Until this, and the attitude of some officials and players changes, West Indies cricket will continue to do badly even if we manage to win a match here and there,” Butcher opined.

“Essequibo beat Berbice and Demerara in the recent Inter-County competition and one reporter wrote about the great performance of Essequibo. This shows the way we think today…..we pay little attention to standards and glorify ordinary performances.

Essequibo’s cricket might have improved a bit but the real story was that Essequibo’s success was mainly due to the regression of the standard of cricket in Demerara and Berbice,” Butcher, a former West Indies selector added.

The main aim of the Trust Fund is to reach out to the young generation of cricketers and the clubs that participate in Division One cricket in Berbice, in an attempt to strengthen the standard of the game from the lower levels and not wait until the national level to try and fix problems that have been ignored before.