BCB to invest over $1M in pitch covers as support comes in

Jan 19, 2022 Sports

– County to have adequate covers by next month

Kaieteur News – President of the Berbice Cricket Hilbert Foster during his annual report to members of the Board last December had make a commitment to acquire a total of three more 100 by 24 feet cricket covers by the end of his third term in December , 2023. The President, who leads an aggressive marketing team for Guyana most vibrant cricket board, on Friday, last announced that the commitment would be fulfilled by the end of February 2022, almost two years before.

Minister Susan Rodrigues hands over sponsorship cheque to BCB Secretary Angela Haniff

Foster, who has spearheaded a major revival of Berbice cricket since his election in 2018 after a Court ordered elections, stated that obtaining covers for pitches was one of the board’s main objective as several major matches were badly affected by rain.
The BCB was first able to obtain a set of covers in 2020 and it has been stored at the historic Albion Cricket Ground. The board in late 2021 then obtained funding from a friend of Berbice cricket who lives way down in Australia to purchase a second set of covers, which is in the custody of the Cotton Tree Cricket Club for cricket in West Berbice.
Junior Minister in the Ministry of Housing and Water, Susan Rodrigues, on Friday last officially handed over a cheque for three hundred and twenty five thousand dollars towards obtaining one set of covers. Rodrigues had committed herself to raising funds for the covers to the BCB President during a meeting to discuss areas of cooperation at her Brickdam Office. The cheque was donated by Vitality Inc at the urging of the Minister and the covers would be handed over shortly to Upper Corentyne Cricket Association for usage in the area.
Foster noted that the area, which has twenty eight teams, plays a lots of major finals and the covers would be a major boost towards cutting down the hours of play affected by the weather. The UCCA, he stated, would be responsible for the storage, transportation and upkeep of the expensive covers, but warned that it shall not be used for privately arranged festive matches.
Long time overseas based donor Dr Tulsi Dyal Singh has also joined in to make the covers project a success by pledging to donate six hundred and eighty thousand dollars towards obtaining the other two.

– Dr Tulsi Dyal Singh

These covers, which would be purchased next month, would be stored at the Area H Ground, Rose Hall Town in the Lower Corentyne area and the Edinburgh Ground on the East Bank of Berbice.
Foster noted that with these investments been made by the BCB, Berbice cricket finals and crucial matches would hardly be affected by heavy rain. The BCB would also be prepared to host major inter county matches along with regional tournaments organised by Cricket West Indies. The five covers combined would safety protect the entire cricketing square at any ground and Foster hailed this as a positive development in the history of Berbice cricket.
Two of the covers were recently used at the Albion Ground for the GCB best of the best matches and Foster boasted that the days of wash out of major matches due to a short heavy downpour are things of the past. The BCB, he stated, would continue to seek ways of obtaining more covers and committed to obtaining one set for the Berbice riverain area before the middle of this year. He proudly noted that never in the history of Guyana’s Cricket has a county board would have invested so heavily in protection against the weather.
Thanks was expressed to Minister Susan Rodrigues, the Management and staff of Vitality Inc and Dr. Tulsi Dyal Singh for their cooperation in obtaining the last three pairs of covers and Foster promised that they would be taken care of.

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Latest News