More Inter-County games should be played in B’ceFoster has been advocating for this since he became BCB President

May 15, 2019 Sports

Says Sean Devers

BCB President Hilbert Foster (left) at last Monday’s match at Albion.

The return of Inter-County cricket to Berbice for more than a decade produced the largest turnout for a match between two Counties in the last 11 years, created an absolutely fantastic atmosphere, provided the sponsor excellent ‘mileage’and was a resounding success.
The Hand-in-Hand 50-over U-19 Inter-County contest between host and double defending Champions Berbice and Essequibo was played on Monday last at the historic Albion ground, with Berbice beating Essequibo by six wickets in a match that was done and dusted before 16:00hrs.
Had the game not been set on a working and school day and played between Berbice and Demerara or the National U-17s which includes Berbicians instead of Essequibo, was properly promoted and was not completed so early, the estimated 400 vocal fans would have swelled to a much larger number.
This fixture in itself gives the impression that the competitions Committee of the embattled GCB do not fully understand Marketing and Guyana’s cricketing culture.

The Hucksters selling their products to the large and noisy crowd at Albion.

Albion which hosted the first ever ODI in the West Indies in 1978 when West Indies beat Pakistan, has five pavilions including four ‘double deckers’ in addition to the main pavilion and can accommodate close to 8,000 fans.
Load Music from a group among the partisan crowd, the agriculture settings with Coconut trees around the venue swaying in the breeze, hucksters selling nuts, Channa, biscuits, ice cream and juice among other things, added to the ambiance last Monday as they set up trays or walked around the stands.
It was also a great opportunity for Berbicians to rally round their team and for the youngsters from Essequibo to gain the experience of playing in an environment outside of Demerara where such tournaments are consistently held and the sights and sounds of the way people live in Berbice.
My trip to Albion was highlighted by two main things.

These fans walked with their chairs to the venue.

The cricket history spurting out of the mouth of semi-intoxicated old men and the amazed look on the faces of the two young and eager cricket Journalists who had crossed two Rivers to reach the Corentyne and the Nostalgia of being in the dressing room when West Indies players Shimron Hetymer and Devendra Bishoo spoke to the young Berbice players where I stood once as Berbice player.
The Biggest crowds that I have played before in Senior Inter-County cricket were at Albion and Blairmont in Berbice and Hampton Court in Essequibo. And those were the days when fans in Demerara showed great interest in matches at that level.
Last Monday’s turnout was the biggest I have seen in recent times even at Providence for Regional First-Class matches (only CPL has larger crowds).

This woman was selling things to eat & drink at Albion on Monday.

Hilbert Foster became BCB President in December 2017 and is in his second and final year of his first term. He also called for more such matches in Guyana’s second largest County and the home of the biggest population of local cricket fans.
Foster, who played a role is getting Hand-in-Hand to play this game at Albion, made these calls on the Public Address System which was set up by the BCB to inform the spectators of the state of the game after each over.
Every 15 minutes the sponsors were mentioned and Barbicans told that Hand-in-Hand had branches in Region five and six.
Floodlights were installed at the venue in July 2014 by a project funded by the Government of Guyana in partnership with the Berbice Chambers of the Commerce and the Berbice Cricket Board.

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