RHTY&SC Bakewell/Busta Cricket Academy 2025… : McKenzie cops $300,000 worth of prizes as Cricketer of the Academy

Cricket manager of the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club (RHTY&SC), Robby Kissoonlall has stated that the 35th annual RHTY&SC Bakewell/Busta Cricket Academy was the most successful in the history of the club.
Kissoonlall noted that the cricket management committee was very pleased with the hard work, discipline and dedication of the large pool of young cricketers and the coaching staff of four.

The Academy started on Monday, July 14 and ended on Friday, July 25 at the Area H Ground With Level Three Coach Winston Smith being the cricket director. He was ably assisted by Floyd Benjamin, Ryan Algu and Leslie Solomon. West Indies players Kevlon Anderson, Shemaine Campbell, Shabika Gajnabi and Sheneta Grimmond, along with national player Clinton Pestano, also dropped in at the camp and closing ceremony.
Club Secretary Hilbert Foster disclosed that special emphasis was placed on improving the batting, bowling and fielding skills of each participant along with their physical fitness. Indoor sessions were also held to increase the cricketing knowledge of the players on a wide range of topics including the history of cricket, fielding positions, captaincy, laws of cricket, and structure of West Indies cricket.
The youths were also exposed to special lectures on topics such as peer pressure, public speaking, importance of education, personal hygiene, drug abuse, importance of discipline and choosing friends. The students were also involved in several quiz competitions where the youths received a wide range of prizes, including cricket gear and uniforms when they provided the correct answers.
Foster expressed thanks to the official sponsors of the academy – Bakewell and the Guyana Beverage Company. Head Coach Winston Smith stated that he was very impressed with the overall discipline of the cricketers and expressed his confidence that the RHTY&SC would continue to produce players of the highest standard.
The RHTY&SC cricket academy was first hosted in July 1991 and to date, it has produced more than 128 players for Berbice. Seventy-five have gone on to represent Guyana while 14 have played for the West Indies or the United States. They include Esuan Crandon, Assad Fudadin, Royston Crandon, Kevin Sinclair, Kevlon Anderson, Dominic Rikhi, Akshay Homraj, Shemaine Campbell, Sheneta Grimmond, Shabika Gajnabi, Neil Williams, Shawn Grant, Abel Fudadin, Khemraj Mahadeo, Erva Giddings, Clinton Pestano, Delbert Hicks, Shawn Perriera, Junior Williams, Slyus Tyndall and Plaffina Millington. The highly-successful club has also won five Guyana Cricket Board Club of the Year awards and also recently won the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) Club of the Year award for the 10th time. The cricket teams since 1992 have also won a record 126 cricket titles at all levels, including three national championships.
Additionally, National Under-15 pacer Rafael McKenzie was named by the coaches as the Cricketer of the Academy for his discipline and dedication. McKenzie carried home a total of $300,000 in prizes including an e-bike, West Indies King Jewellery cricket medallion, electronic tablet, household and kitchen items, designer clothing/watch and cricket gear. The runner-up cricketer awardee was national Under-13 player Leon Reddy who received about $150,000 worth of prizes.
The other awardees included:
Best Under-11 player Devish Raghoo
Best Under-13 player Randy Williams
Best Under-15 player Jayden Ganpat
Best Under-17 player Tameshwar Deonandan
Best Under-19 player Romesh Bharrat
Most Discipled player Munesh Rampersaud
Most Improved Jonathan Hicks and Junior Babb
Most promising: Matthew Perreira and Akash Sooklall
Most Committed: Matthew Pottaya
Best Informed Student: Dharvish Narine
Worker of the academy: Ronaldo
Six players received financial prizes from Shemaine Campbell for having a positive mindset at the academy while another 15 players received gifts that acknowledged their potential for the future. The RHTY&SC also honoured its four members who recently represented Guyana at this year’s West Indies Under-19 female tournament and a total of 12 persons who made the academy a success. Each academy participant also received an educational package and a food hamper. A combined $1.8 million worth of prizes and gifts was distributed.
The management of the RHTY&SC wished to express gratitude to all of the sponsors who made the academy a success, especially Bakewell; Busta; the National Assembly; Beacon’s Café; SD and L Accounting; Carol Trim Construction; Regional Vice Chairman Zamal Hussain; Channizam Agro Chemicals; Labour Minister Joseph Hamilton; Water Minister Collin Croal; Fazil Jafferally, MP; GNNL; DeSinco Trading; The Gift Centre; HA Snacks; V Net Communications, and Colin Elcock among others.