RHTYSC Cricket teams hosts annual Basil Butcher Trust Fund programme

Jul 10, 2023 Sports

Kaieteur Sports – The cricket teams of the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club last week started to host activities under the annual Basil Butcher Memorial Trust Fund programme. The teams under the Trust Fund would host several activities in memory of the late West Indies batting legend, who, died in 2019 at the age of 86 years.

RHTYSC Secretary Hilbert Foster hands over the Basil Butcher Honour Roll Board to CCHS Head Teacher Nirmala Hussain.

The teams – Rose Hall Poonai Pharmacy Under13, Farfan and Mendes Under15, Bakewell Under17 and Second Division, Pepsi Under19 and Intermediate, Metro Females, Namilco Under21 and First Division, donated to several organisations during the week.

The Rose Hall Town Nursery School received trophies, certificates frames and medals for their annual graduation ceremony. The teams also donated six honour boards to schools in the area between Rose Hall Town and Port Mourant. The schools receiving the honour boards were Port Mourant Primary, Rose Hall Town Primary School, Lower Corentyne Secondary, Port Mourant Secondary, JC Chandisingh and Corentyne Comprehensive Secondary.

Ryan Kissoonlall hands over donated items to Rose Hall Town Clerk Natasha Griffith.

The aim objective of the Basil Butcher Honour Board would be to highlight the top student of the different school at the CSEC and National Grade Six Examinations. RHTYSC Secretary/CEO Hilbert Foster stated that it is important for role model students be promoted that others would be inspired to follow in their footsteps. The RHTYSC, he noted is determined to promote the importance of education to all youths in the county of Berbice.

The Cricket Teams also donated five special gifts along with certificates frame and medals to the Mayor and Town Council of Rose Hall Town. The council would use the donated items to host a special award ceremony to honour the outstanding workers in the council under the annual RHTYSC tribute to Municipality Workers Programme. The club and council have enjoyed a very close and cordial relationship under the tenure of Mayor Dave Budhu.

Foster stated that the club has been sponsoring the programme for four years now and would continue to do so in the future. One worker from each of the council’s departments would be honoured – finance, market, security, works and administration.

The club would also shortly undertake repairs to the Area H Ground under the Trust Fund. With sponsorship of Pathera Solutions, the front internal fence would be repaired to prevent animals’ access to the ground, while West Indies white ball allronder Kevin Sinclair would assist the club to repair the main pavilion at the ground.

The venue has since 1995 produced a total of one hundred and twenty players for Berbice, Guyana and the West Indies. The players include: Kevin Sinclair, Kelvon Anderson, Assad Fudadin, Clinton Pestano, Junior Sinclair, Shemaine Campbelle, Shakabi Gajnabi and Sheneta Grimmond. Numerous youths over the next few weeks would also receive bicycles and electronic tablets under the trust fund. The club would also honour outstanding performers at the National Grade Six exams.

The RHTYSC Secretary stated that the teams was happy to honour Basil Butcher because he was a true friend of Guyana’s leading youth and sports club and also a role model/mentor to all the club members. Butcher played 44 test matches for the West Indies, scoring 3109 runs at an impressive average of 43.11 with seven centuries and sixteen half centuries. He also served as a selector at the national and regional level after he retired in 1969. He was the fourth Berbician to play Test Cricket after John Trim, Rohan Kanhai and Ivan Madray.