Leslie Amsterdam honoured through Project “Cricket Gear for Young and Promising Cricketers in Guyana”

The contributions of former West Indies Senior Cricket Team Manager and long-serving Vice President of the Guyana Cricket Board, the late Leslie Amsterdam, to cricket and life in general, were recognised and honoured through the “Cricket Gear for Young and Promising Cricketers in Guyana” Project.

Uncle Leslie, as he was fondly known, was born at Anna Regina on the Essequibo Coast, but moved with his family to Blairmont, West Bank Berbice (WBB), where he later started his cricket career. The former Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) long-serving President was a prolific run scorer at all levels he played. The left-handed opener represented Berbice and British Gu-ana. He played eight First-Class matches, finishing with an average of 34.27 and scoring two centuries. During his term as President of the BCB, he nurtured many outstanding cricketers from the County who went on to represent Guyana and West Indies. Academically, he was qualified as an Occupational Therapist at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica.
At the time of his unfortunate passing in 1997, Amsterdam was the President of the BCB. His achievements are too many to mention, but included being conferred with one of Guyana’s highest national awards, the Golden Arrow of Achievement (AA).

In commemorating his work, Peter Ramkissoon, a close relative who now lives in the USA, has contributed $90,000 to purchase cricket gear and other equipment to support the project.
Anil Beharry, a partner in the cricket gear initiative, along with Kishan Das of the USA, explained that Ramkissoon reached out to him and said that he wanted to honour Amsterdam and saw this project as a fitting way to do so. He also promised to sponsor a tournament in Amsterdam’s honour. Ramkissoon added that Uncle Leslie played a major part in his development as a youth and his life in general and he was forever grateful. Beharry responded by saying thanks and alluding to the fact that Uncle Leslie also played a role in his development as a cricketer, cricket administrator and a well-rounded person. He also said that he was offered the role of Treasurer of the BCB in 1997 by Amsterdam and never regretted accepting. Beharry, a former Berbice left-arm all-rounder, continued to serve Berbice cricket and was President in 2015 when he was transferred by his employer to Georgetown. He is currently a technocrat of the Guyana Cricket Board with responsibility for governance, marketing and finance.
Total cricket-related items collected so far: $130,000 cash, two trophies, 11 cricket boots, 15 pairs of batting pads, 15 bats, nine pairs of batting gloves, 18 thigh pads, one wicketkeeping pad, one arm guard and four cricket bags.
To date, 30 young players from all three counties of Guyana have already benefited from a junior gear bag, two trophies, nine bats, seven pairs of cricket shoes, six pairs of batting pads, and seven pairs of batting gloves. In addition, the Rose Hall Estate Cricket Club benefited from a pair of stumps and bails, and two clubs in the Pomeroon area benefited from two used bats. Pomeroon, Leguan, and Wakenaam Cricket Committees also received one box of red cricket balls each.
Skills, discipline, and education are important characteristics of the recipients. Talent spotting is being done across the country and club leaders will also assist to identify talent.
Beharry and Das take this opportunity to thank Javed and Imran of West Indian Sports Complex, Option Group of USA, Hilbert Foster, Bish Panday of P and P Insurance Brokers, Sean Devers, Trevis Simon, Årïêl J Tïlkú, Aaron Beharry, Leanna Bachan and Imran Saccoor, Devon Ramnauth, Teddy Singh, Romash Munna, Ravi Etwaroo, Ravin Harkishun, Surendra Harkishun, Allan Mangru, Vishal Mahabir, Sherman Austin, Huburn Evans, Rajendra Sadeo and Ramesh Sunich of Trophy Stall, Sheik Mohamed of Star Sports Awards and Trophies, Ajay Gainda of Cricket Equipment Guyana, and Peter Ramkissoon.
Distribution will continue. Anyone interested in contributing to the project can contact Anil Beharry on 623-6875 or Kishan Das on 1-718-664-0896.