Shepherd, Campbelle are GCB top awardees of 2019

– Shallow apologises for Shiv’s Test exit

Having produced stellar performances during 2019, Guyana Jaguars and West Indies fast-bowling all-rounder Romario Shepherd has copped the top awards at the Guyana Cricket Board’s (GCB’s) awards ceremony held on Wednesday last.
Shepherd had won both the awards for being the Male Cricketer of the Year and the Most Improved Player of 2019,

Besting both Shimron Hetmyer and Keemo Paul who were the other nominees for the Male Cricketer of the Year.
His fellow Berbican, Guyana’s premier female cricketer Shemiane Campbelle, continued to reign supreme, besting nominees Sheneta Grimmond and Shabika Gajnabi for the award of Female Cricketer of the Year.
Incidentally, both Grimmond and Gajnabi are Berbicians, as also is Shimron Hetmyer.
Guyana Jaguars franchise player Raymon Reifer was awarded Senior Regional Player of 2019. West Indies Under-19 youth player Ashmead Nedd was awarded Junior Cricketer of the Year, while Gajanbi was awarded the Most Promising Female Cricketer of the Year.
Guyana Jaguars’ Assistant Coach Rayon Griffith was awarded Coach of 2019 for his outstanding coaching service rendered during the year.
The Lower Corentyne cricket team, which won the Cricket Guyana Inc. SBF Petroleum 50-overs Franchise League, was awarded the Best Franchise Team, while Guyana Times Sports Journalist Brandon Corlette was awarded Journalist of 2019 Print Media for his outstanding services.

Dr Shallow speaks
Meanwhile, Cricket West Indies (CWI) Vice-President Dr Kishore Shallow has lauded the contributions of the Guyana Cricket Board to Regional cricket, declaring that without Guyana’s participation, cricket in the Caribbean would not have existed.
In a moment of humility, Dr Shallow, who in his time had played cricket for St Vincent and the Grenadines, publically apologized to West Indian great Shivnarine Chanderpaul for the way the previous CWI administration had not allowed him to leave the game on his own; and said, “I would like to publically thank him for his contributions to West Indies cricket”.
Dr Shallow who expressed delight at being invited to the GCB Awards Ceremony, thanked the GCB for their continued contribution to cricket during the year, and for the numerous players gaining representation to the West Indies teams during 2019.

Full List of Awardees:
Premium Awards:
Romario Shepherd: Cricket of the Year Male
Shemaine Campbelle: Cricketer of the Year Female
Shabika Gajnabi: Most Promising Female Cricketer of the Year
Romario Shepherd: Most Improved Male Cricketer of the Year:
Ashmead Nedd: Junior Cricketer of the Year
Raymon Reifer: Senior Regional Cricketer of the Year
Mavindra Dindyal: Most Runs scored in Regional Under-15
Isai Thorne: Most Wickets taken in Regional Under-15
Mavindra Dindyal: Most Valuable Player in Regional Under-15
Mathew Nandu: Most Runs scored in Regional Under-17
Sheldon Charles: Most Wickets taken in Regional Under-17
Sheldon Charles: Most Valuable Player in Regional Under-17
Kelvon Anderson: Most Runs scored in Regional Under-19
Ashmead Nedd: Most Wickets taken in Regional Under-19
Kelvon Anderson: Most Valuable Player in Regional Under-19

Corporate Awards:
Hand-in-Hand
Dave West Indian Imports
SBF Petroleum

Special Service Award
Ms Elizabeth Sunich
Everest Cricket Club
Groundsman: Deolall Rajkumar of the Enmore Community Centre ground: For his continued contribution to the development of cricket as a groundsman

Coach: Rayon Griffith: For his outstanding service as a cricket coach for the year.

Print Media: Brandon Corlette: For his dedicated and outstanding service as a cricket reporter in the field of print media.

Lower Corentyne: Best Franchise Team of the Year 2019
Other nominees: West Berbice & Essequibo
Georgetown Cricket Club: Club of the Year 2019
Other nominees: Abion Community Centre Ground & Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club
Players from the Guyana Jaguars 4-Day Team and the Guyana Under-15 Team also received awards for winning their receptive tournaments in 2019.