BCB renews sponsorship for Ivan Madray Memorial 20/20 knockout tournament

– receives sponsorship for Sir Curtly’s visit, 12 clubs to get $1M worth of balls from Patron Fund

The Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) on Friday attracted more sponsorship as it forges ahead with its plans for a very active 2022 cricket season despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Board President Hilbert Foster, who also serves as the Managing Manager, was able to get Chandradat Chintamani to renew his sponsorship of the Ivan Madray Memorial 20/20 First-Division tournament.
The sponsorship worth $380,000 was handed over to Foster at the Water Street, Georgetown office of Chintamani, who is the General Manager of Muneshwers Ltd. The Madray Cup is one of at least four First-Division tournaments that the vibrant BCB hopes to put on in 2022. The Board has already obtained sponsorship for the Tenelec Inc 50-over tournament from overseas-based Berbician Bobby Deonarine and plans to lobby for a 40-over tournament and another 20/20.

Foster expressed thanks to Chintamani for his support and committed the Board to organising a tournament of the highest standard. Chintamani had sponsored the tournament in 2018 and 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic forced its cancellation in 2020 and 2021. The teams that would play in the third edition are West Berbice, Blairmont, Police, Tucber Park, Young Warriors, Rose Hall Canje, Albion, Rose Hall Town Thunderbolt Flour, Port Mourant, Upper Corentyne, Skeldon and Berbice River. The involvement of the Berbice River team would be historic as it would be their first time playing at the First-Division level in the county.
Foster disclosed that the BCB wanted to give all persons across the county the opportunity to develop their potential and as such, the riverine team have been given the chance to play at the highest level in the county.
Chintamani, in brief remarks, stated that he was very impressed with the development of Berbice cricket and was delighted to contribute to the BCB. The Berbice-born business executive explained that Madray had played a major role in his early development and as such, he was pleased to keep his memory alive by sponsoring the tournament in his name.
Madray was the third Berbician to play Test cricket after John Trim and Rohan Kanhai. He played two Test matches in 1958 before migrating to England, where he died in 2009 at the age of 75. The first edition was won by Young Warriors CC in 2018 and the second, by Rose Hall Town Thunderbolt Flour in 2019.
Meanwhile, Foster on Friday also collected the $1.3 million sponsorship from Dr Frank Denbow for the upcoming visit of Sir Curtly Ambrose to Berbice. Ambrose would be visiting the county from the 9th to 14th of February to host three days of fast-bowling clinics at the Albion Ground.
The sponsorship was handed over by a representative at the Princess Hotel in Providence, and would cover all the costs of the visit, including stipend, airline ticket, accommodation, meals, etc.
The BCB would also be distributing close to $1 million worth of cricket balls to the 12 teams that would be playing in the 2022 First-Division season . The distribution would be done as part of the BCB Patron Fund, which is financed by BCB Patron, Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat. The donation of balls should allow the clubs to play the entire 2022 season.