BCB West Berbice inter-primary and secondary school tournaments: Latchmansingh Primary, Bush Lot Secondary in winners’ row

History was created at the Bush Lot Ground last Wednesday when the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) hosted two cricket finals for both primary and secondary schools in the West Berbice area.
This was the first time the BCB was hosting a ‘finals’ for primary schools in the county. Playing in front of a sizeable crowd of parents and supporters, Latchmansingh Primary defeated their Rosignol counterparts by ten wickets to cop the Caribbean Motor Spares/Dhanpaul Sukhra Primary School tournament, while Bush Lot Secondary got past Fort Wellington Secondary by nine wickets to lift the Latchman Construction Trophy.
BCB President Hilbert Foster, West Berbice President David Black, and Competitions Chairman Leslie Soloman witnessed Rosignol Primary being restricted to 36 for 8 from their allotted ten overs, with Lelroy Blair scoring 12 and Delaney McKenzie scoring 10 as the principal scorers, while Josiah Walcott took 3 wickets for 5 runs in an impressive spell of bowling for Latchmansingh Primary School.
Needing to score 37 runs from 60 balls to claim the first-ever primary school title, Latchmansingh raced to 40 without loss in just 4.3 overs.
An impressive 11-year-old Lelroy Blair hit an unbeaten 27 with three boundaries, while Jonathan Cheemorn supported with 12 not out. Blair received the prize of five thousand dollars’ worth of educational materials after being named player of the finals.
The Latchman Construction Inter-Secondary School ‘finals’ were played immediately after the primary school finals. Fort Wellington were bowled out for 62 in 18.5 overs, as Justin Doobay took five wickets for 12 runs in five impressive overs. He received support from Tulsiram Ramcharran with 2 for 18 and Julian Gabriel with 2 for 13.
The only Fort Wellington batsman to reach double figures was Arlin Albert, with 13.
Ramcharran returned with the bat to complete a successful match by scoring 24 not out to lead his team to a massive nine-wicket victory and the championship title. Doobay was named man of the finals for his match-winning bowling spell of 5 for 12.
The two champions carried home fifty thousand dollars’ worth of educational materials, while runners-up received thirty thousand dollars’ worth. The men of the finals each received vouchers for five thousand dollars’ worth of school supplies.
BCB President Hilbert Foster hailed the success of both tournaments and praised President of the West Berbice Cricket Association, David Black, for his hard work. Foster expressed confidence that, with the introduction of primary school cricket, the BCB would be able to unearth more promising talents.
He called on clubs across the county to do all in their power to attract the junior cricketers into their membership. The BCB boss also expressed delight that secondary schools are once again involve in cricket, and hailed the competitive spirit among the schools for championship honours.
BCB Competition Chairman Leslie Soloman expressed gratitude for the support of the three sponsors of the two tournaments. Soloman, who is also a county selector, said the BCB is very delighted with the support, and expressed gratitude to Government Member of Parliament Fazil Jafferally for his assistance in obtaining the sponsorship.
He described Jafferally as a true friend of Berbice Cricket.
The two West Berbice champions would now play in the overall Berbice championship next term, when the other inter-zone champions are known in the New Amsterdam/Canje, Lower Corentyne and Upper Corentyne areas.