Sir James France Cricket Tournament: Wiruni registers second Championship win over Sand Hills Friendship

Cricket in Berbice riverine areas received a major boost over the last weekend when the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) hosted two major finals at the Area H Ground on the Corentyne.
The finals of the BCB/Dave West Indian Imports 40 overs’ tournament were held on Friday last, and the finals of the Sir James France 20/20 Cup were held on Sunday last. Finalists for both matches were Sand Hills Friendship and Wiruni villages.
The Dave West Indian Imports tournament saw Wiruni registering a victory over Sand Hills Friendship by 112 runs, while they also lifted the Sir James France Trophy by defeating that team by 5 wickets.
Sunday’s finals were played in front of one of the largest crowds at a Berbice finals in recent history. Sand Hills Friendship batted first and scored 84 for 6 after heavy rainfall forced the umpires to reduce the match to 15 overs per team.
The top performers for the runners-up were Winsbarth Caple with 27 (3×4) and Michael Caple with 15. The best bowlers for Wiruni were Neil Thomas with 2 wickets for 17 runs from 2 overs and Kurt Sinclair with 2 for 20 off 3 overs.
Needing to score 85 from 20 overs to win their second consecutive title in three days, Wiruni reached their target off 13.3 overs when the in-form Delroy Osborne sealed victory with a massive six. Osborne ended on 34 not out, which included three sixes. He received support from John Sinclair, who scored 15.
Bowling for the runners-up, Joshua Leacock took 3 wickets for 9 runs off his three impressive overs, while Kevlin Evans took 1 for 18 off 2 overs, and Waqar McKenzie took 1 for 20 off 3 overs as the other wicket takers.
The tournament was sponsored by popular contractor Nolan France and his wife Charlyn Artiga in honour of his dad, James France. “Sir James” as he was popularly known, was an outstanding educator in the Berbice riverine area.
Chairman of the BCB Competitions Committee, Leslie Solomon, hailed the tournament as a great success and expressed delight at the massive turnout of fans in the area. Fans had travelled for hours to be at the Area H Ground. Solomon committed the board to organizing more tournaments in the future.
BCB President Hilbert Foster had met with the representatives of both teams earlier in the day, and had responded positively to their several requests, which included coaching programmes for youth cricketers, training for umpires, provision of bowling machines and cricket gear. He also announced that the area would shortly create history by playing First Division cricket for the first time.
Representative of the sponsor, Dr. Mark France, expressed great delight at the success of the tournament and hailed the outstanding work of the Hilbert Foster-led administration in promoting cricket across Berbice.
He committed the France family to continuing their sponsorship in the future and also to seek other areas for cooperation. The winner; runner-up; and man of the finals, Delroy Osborne, all received trophies and monetary prizes from the BCB, while the two teams received several items that were donated by the cricket teams of the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club.