The Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) has successfully completed another cricket tournament for 2023 with the hosting of the Romario Shepherd Under-13 countywide tourney.
Playing in front of a sizable crowd of parents and supporters, the Rose Hall Town Poonai Pharmacy team defeated arch-rivals Rose Hall Canje Community Centre Cricket Club by six wickets to win their second Berbice Under-13 title in three years.
Rose Hall Canje won the toss and elected to bat first in steamy sunny conditions at their home ground. They got off to a flying start, with skipper Richard Ramdehol and Luke Amsterdam adding 51 in nine overs for the first wicket. Ramdehol was the first batsman to be dismissed when offspinner Dinesh Singh trapped him leg before, after he made an attacking 30 which included six sweetly-struck boundaries. Dinesh Singh then bowled Donovan Newland for nought to leave the home team at 53 for two. Fellow offspinner Balraj Narine then had Amsterdam caught for 8 as the visitors started to apply pressure with the ball. Rose Hall Canje were eventually bowled out for 82 in 27.2 overs. The rest of their batting collapsed against the medium pace of Leon Reddi and the off spin of Dinesh Singh. None of the remaining batsmen apart from Elijah Sukhdeo (13) reached double figures. The outstanding bowlers for Rose Hall Town Poonai Pharmacy were Reddi with three wickets for nine runs from five overs, Dinesh Singh with four wickets for six runs from six impressive overs of off spin, Narine with one for 15, Sohail Shirkissoon with one for five and Vinesh Singh with one for one from two overs.
Dinesh Singh and Leon Reddi
Needing to score 83 from their allotted 30 overs, Rose Hall Town Poonai lost opener Narine via a leg before wicket decision on the first ball of their innings to Guyana’s Under-13 Vice Captain Ramdehol. Skipper Tameshwar Deonandan and Reddi then added 22 runs for the second wicket before Deonandan was bowled by Ramdehol for eight in the fifth over. Ramdehol then bowled Rafael Mckenzie and Julian Hicks for nought to leave the visitors at 43 for four in the ninth over. Reddi was joined by a solid-looking Shirkissoon and together they added 43 runs for the fifth wicket to see their team to a six-wicket victory. Reddi was left unbeaten on 30 with three boundaries, while Shirkissoon supported with 15 not out. Ramdehol was the only wicket-taker for Rose Hall Canje with four wickets for 20 runs from his six overs. Extras contributed 27 runs for Rose Hall Town Poonai Pharmacy.
The champions received $70,000 and the championship trophy while the runners-up carried home $50,000 and a trophy. Dinesh Singh and Reddi were named joint Man of the Final and each received a cash prize along with trophies. BCB Competition Committee Chairman Leslie Solomon expressed thanks to Romario Shepherd for his support of the tournament and noted that it was refreshing when players give back to the game that made them household names. The BCB, over the years, has been using the Under-11 and Under-13 tournaments as a nursery for the Under-15s, and Solomon observed that several exciting cricket talents like Reddi, Dinesh Singh, Ramdehol, and Farooq Balli of Albion are coming through as promising players for the future. BCB President Hilbert Foster announced that in 2024, the Board would introduce an Under-9 inter-club tournament under its ongoing developmental programme. He also announced that very shortly 100 of the most promising Under-17 cricketers from Berbice would receive over $8 million worth of cricket gear while 23 youth teams would benefit from about $3 million worth of coaching equipment.
