Chanderpaul is Cricketer-of-the-Year

December 21, 2008

GCB AWARDS…

THE Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) held its annual award ceremony on Friday evening at the Umana Yana to honour cricketers and officials for their sterling performances to raise the level of cricket during the year, and Shivnarine Chanderpaul has copped the Cricketer-of-the-Year trophy for the third successive year.GCB’s president Chetram Singh in his report stated that cricket in Guyana had its vicissitudes for the year but he and his officials were pleased with the overall progress of the body.

On the other hand, Singh was confident that the good work of the GCB will continue next year.

In his address to the gathering that included Sir Hillary Beckles, Roger Harper, Basil Butcher and many other outstanding public figures, Singh said the GCB has run many tournaments to develop the sport and the body would not relax its efforts in the coming year. He expressed “Change and development are ongoing processes”.

Delivering the feature address at the ceremony was Pro Vice- Chancellor and Historian of the Cave Hill Campus in Barbados, Sir Hillary Beckles.

He stated that his students carried out a research around Barbados to find out what were the reasons for the decline of West Indies cricket. Beckles shared ten of the most likely reasons with the gathering. He stated that all these reasons have limits to their argument.

It is believed that cricket is life so there will be the ups and downs. He was unable to fathom why after such great success from West Indies glory days the regional team is struggling to beat quality opponents.

The other point he raised was the fact that people believe the players today have lost the technical skill to cope with the international game.

Beckles stated that the game has gone to a new threshold and it is possible that now the community to a large extent is not interested in the game. He remembered growing up and the entire community was an academy for learning and improving aspects of the game.

“People knew the technical aspects of the game, now it is mind-boggling to hear a bowler not knowing how to bowl an in-swinger or out-swinger. The bowler not being able to control the ball is something I cannot comprehend.”

Another point that came out of the research was that West Indies has lost its purpose. West Indian cricketers as the findings state are not “playing for West Indian pride, nationhood and community … cricket has become a business and anything that is done solely for the money will not be done with the pride that is required as opposed to someone who is doing it for the sheer love of it.”

Finally, it was noted in the research that West Indian cricketers are intellectually inferior to the other squads they play. Therefore, it is up to the powers responsible to put all the necessary systems for West Indies to cope with the modern game. Beckles also implored the local cricketers to be committed to the game of the Caribbean.

The proud recipients pose with their awards at the GCB ceremony at the Umana Yana. Cricketer-of-the-Year! Brandon Chanderpaul receives the Cricket-of-the-Year trophy from Pro Vice Chancellor of the Cave Hill campus Sir Hillary Beckles on behalf of his father Shivnarine.

Awardees 2008
Special Awards: Club-of-the-Year – Young Warriors Cricket Club (President’s Trophy)
Most Improved Player: Devendra Bishoo (Lance Gibbs Trophy)
Junior Cricket-of-the-Year: Amir Khan (Roy Fredericks)
Senior Domestic Cricketer-of-the-Year: Shemroy Barrington (Rohan Kanhai)
Senior Regional Cricketer-of-the-Year: Ramnaresh Sarwan
Cricketer-of-the-Year: Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

Source: Guyana Chronicle