Berbice Cricket Board 2024 awards… : Motie named BCB Player of the Year; Joseph – International Performer of the Year

West Indies left-arm spin bowler Gudakesh Motie is the Berbice Cricket Board’s Cricketer of the Year.
This was announced when the BCB held its award ceremony for 2024. The event, which was held at St Francis Community Developers auditorium at Port Mourant, also saw West Indies right-arm fast bowler Shamar Joseph being hailed as Berbice’s International Cricketer of the Year.

Motie has been the most consistent player in all formats of the game. He has played for the Windies men’s team and is considered one of the players who continue to bring hope to West Indian fans while Joseph, who grabbed 7-68 against Australia, has been seen as the future of Windies cricket.
On the female side, Under-19 opening batswoman Crystal Durant, who is set to represent Guyana soon at the U-19 level for the third year, was the most outstanding cricketer during 2024.
Speaking at the awards ceremony, BCB President, Dr Cecil Beharry noted that the Board has run off quite a few competitions during 2024 at all levels, starting with the U-11s.

“We had the Ricky Moore U-11 tape ball, which was won by Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club, the Romario Shepherd U-13 competition, which was won by, again, Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club, the Dr Dukie U-15, which was won by the Rose Hall Community Centre Cricket Club in Canje. We had the Quality Deliver U-17 competition, which was won by Albion Community Centre Cricket Club. We had the Orvin Mangru U-19, which was won by the Port Mourant Community Centre Cricket Club. The Ivan Madre First Division T20 was won by Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club, and the BCB Premier Cup T20 competition was won by Tucber Park,” the BCB President recounted.
“So, as we can see, the talent in Berbice is not only centred in one or two clubs, because many of these clubs would have won competitions in 2024.”
Overall, Berbice have been the runners-up in the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB)-run U-13 inter-county competition, which was won by Essequibo.
At the U-15 level, Berbice were also the runners-up as Demerara won that title.
However, according to the BCB President, at those two levels, Berbice did exceptionally well.
“Five of our players from the Under-13 team, the Under-15 team, went on to play for Guyana, namely Arif Khan, Gilbert Griffith, Richard Ramdial, and Sohail Mohammed. In the Under-17s, in a rain-interrupted tournament, we had defeated Demerara by six wickets. And in the second game, in a rain-shortened game, Berbice had made 198 in 34 overs and had Essequibo on the ropes on 24-3 after five overs when the game was washed out. So that tournament was washed out. I’m pretty sure if it was completed, Barbies would have won,” Dr Beharry shared.
From the Berbice U-17 team, six players went on to represent Guyana – Afraz Boodhoo, Romario Ramdeholl, Rampersad Ramnauth, Devon Wharton, Romesh Bharat, and Adrian Hetmyer. Three of them were select for the West Indies Pathway programme for formal training: Boodhoo, Ramdeholl, and Ramnauth.
Meanwhile, two coaches from Berbice were selected to coach the Guyana national U-17 team – Amir Rahman as the coach, and Neil Rudder as the assistant coach.
In 2024, the Berbice female team won the inter-county competition at the U-19 level, and six players went on to represent Guyana: Realeanna Grimmond, Crystal Durant, Trisha Hardat, Tia Isaacs, Danielle Manns, and Danielle Lindy.
Grimmond captained the Guyana team to victory in the West Indies U-19 regional tournament. She was also selected to play for the Guyana senior team and made her Windies senior debut this year.
The BCB President said he was disappointed with the performance of the senior men’s team in 2024, as they were neither winners nor runners-up in the lone inter-county tournament played in 2024. However, seven players from Berbice were selected to represent Guyana Harpy Eagles (GHE) in the 50-over competition and four represented Guyana in the Four-Day competition, and nine players from Berbice were selected to play in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
Meanwhile, GCB President Bissoondial Singh, speaking at the awards ceremony, said Berbice should be proud of its achievements on and off the field of cricket during 2024.
For the other awards, Gilbert Griffith of Tucber Park, who bowls left-arm orthodox and represented Guyana at the U-19 level, was judged as the Most Improved Cricketer of the Year. For the females in the same age group, the award went to Danielle Manns of Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club.
The U-13 male Cricketer of the Year is Leon Randy of Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club, with Adrian Hetmyer being the U-15 Player of the Year after registering three double centuries and 14 half-centuries. The U-17 Player of the Year is Afraz Ali Boodhoo, with Rampersaud Ramnauth being his U-19 counterpart.
Imran Moakhan, who recently made his regional First-Class debut as an umpire, was adjudged Umpire of the Year.
The Coach of the Year went to Tremaine Smartt, the former Windies player who coaches the Regional U-19 female team.
Meanwhile, a special award was given to Kevlon Anderson for his consistent performance with the bat over the past year; Kevin Sinclair as an all-rounder, and Trisha Hardat from Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club, who recently represented the West Indies at the U-19 World Cup.
Romario Ramdeholl, who had a match haul of 12-100 against Trinidad in his U-17 debut, was also the recipient of a special award. (G4)