Bishoo, Munroe cop male and female Cricketer of the Year awards

Devendra Bishoo and Subrina Munroe were crowned male and female Cricketer of the Year when the Guyana Cricket Board held its 15th Annual Awards Ceremony at the Umana Yana last evening.

In his opening speech, president of the GCB, Ramsey Alli declared that the board has received funding for two major events next year. These are the national secondary schools tournament and the establishment of a professional league. He said the national secondary schools tournament will feature 175 secondary schools across Guyana.

Alli sees the event as an ambitious programme as umpires, coaches and gears will be put into the schools to aid it, and some local cricketers will assist in coaching. He said Food for the Poor will be partnering with the GCB for this event.

Alli claimed that the establishment of the professional league will serve to keep players in Guyana. He pointed out that too many good players are leaving Guyana to play in Trinidad and other foreign countries. Alli pointed out that funding for four teams has already been realised, with funding for two more expected.

Alli said that 2011 has been a “different” year for cricket in Guyana, but he is optimistic that the bad phase will end soon. The GCB president said that he hears countless ideas about developing cricket in Guyana some of which are excellent, but no one really suggested to him how these ideas would be funded.

He went on to say that the GCB has come up with a plan which will be rolled out in January 2012. According to Alli the plan is a viable one, involving every aspect of cricket. He added that the GCB has allied its plan with that of the West Indies.

Alli also gave a review of all local, regional and international cricket matches that were played in Guyana in 2011. He thanked the sponsors and everyone else who in some way made the matches possible.

The feature address was given by legendary cricket commentator, Joseph ‘Reds’ Pereira, who in most of his presentation went down memory lane and refreshed the audience with memories of some of Guyana’s outstanding cricketers. He said Guyana has made a significant contribution to cricket in the West Indies and the world, and impressed upon clubs and boards to take Guyana’s cricket to higher levels.

Pereira applauded the GCB on conceiving the school cricket tournament and the professional league. But he passionately expressed his concerns about the unpleasant state of cricket in Guyana. “I’m begging the administrators not to hurt this game. Do not play politics with it. The damage you cause cannot be repaired easily. Do not put self and power first. Do what is right for the game,” Pereira concluded.

In addition to the Cricketers of the Year, awards were also given to corporate entities, members of the media, other outstanding cricketers, curators, and umpires.

Among the other awards were: DCC-Club of the year (President’s Trophy) Christopher Barnwell-Most Improved Player (Lance Gibbs Trophy) Amir Khan-Junior-Cricketer of the Year (Roy Fredricks Trophy) Assad Fudadin-Senior Domestic Cricketer of the Year (Rohan Kanhai Trophy) Leon Johnson-Senior Regional Cricketer of the Year (Clive Lloyd Trophy) Ransford Beaton-Emerging Cricketer of the Year, Tagenarine Chanderpaul-Regional Under- 15 Cricketer of the Year.