Former Albion first-division cricketer Roopnarine Lalbehari has captured several trophies at this year’s Canada Premier Softball Cricket League (CPSCL) presentation and awards ceremony, which was held on Saturday evening at Kalypso Hut Restaurant and Lounge in Mississauga, Toronto.
Lalbehari also took home the prize for the Most Valuable Player for the year, after topping the batting average.
From six matches, Lalbehari made 265 runs, including a best of 117 not out in the Red Zone category. He also dominated with the ball by claiming 15 wickets from six games as well.
Champion team Young Warriors carted off three trophies
Moreover, he was awarded the most economical bowler with impressive figures of 6-8, 5-14 and 5-20 as he represented his team, Cambridge Boyz.
He also took home a prize for hitting 21 sixes in the 20-over competition.
In the Blue Zone category, Jack Mohabir was the top batsman, having accumulated 216 runs, with a highest score of 101. He played for Shawson, while another Shawson’s player, Mohan Budhram, led the bowling with 12 scalps in the same zone.
Other outstanding individual performances were recorded as well as team performances. Young Warriors emerged the champion side, having won the T-10, 100-ball and Grand Champion competitions. The Purple Cup Trophy went to Leguan Boyz.
President of the CPSCL, Patrick Singh, in his remarks, congratulated the champion teams and the awardees. Singh, another Canada-based Guyanese who hails from Wakenaam, also thanked the sponsors.
Acting Consul General of the Guyana Consulate in Toronto, Gerald Whyte, also congratulated the awardees, and spoke about the unity cricket normally brings.
“It [is] an activity that brings people from different backgrounds together, be it religion, race/ethnic make-up, culture, social status, political persuasion and so forth. Although it may be competitive, it creates an atmosphere of camaraderie and possesses a unifying element which brings our diaspora and segments of the society closer together,” Whyte told the gathering.
Tracey Ramsubagh-Mannette, the Consul General of the Trinidad and Tobago Consulate in Toronto, was also in attendance, and the sentiments she expressed to the invitees were similar to Whyte’s.
