Yadram goes big at GCB 2016 awards

One of the country’s leading young talents, Bhaskar Yadram, emerged with the lion’s share of accolades on Thursday evening when the Guyana Cricket Board hosted its annual awards ceremony for 2016 at the Umana Yana in Georgetown.

The 17-year-old of the Enterprise Busta Sports Club claimed four individual and two team awards, continuing his phenomenal rise in the sport during the past 12 months.

The tall right-handed batsman and right-arm medium pacer, who can also bowl off-spin and wicket-keep, received the Roy Fredericks Trophy for Junior Cricketer-of-the-Year. He also copped awards for Most Valuable Player in the Regional Under-19; Most Runs in the Regional Under-19; and Most Wickets in the Regional Under-17, an accolade he shared with Kevin Sinclair.

During 2016, Yadram was outstanding for Guyana in Regional youth cricket and continued that form at the senior level, hitting 547 runs for the East Coast Demerara franchise in the inaugural Jaguars Franchise League Three-day tournament.

His aggregate was the fifth most in the competition, and he created history along the way, becoming the first, and only player to date, to score two centuries (118 and 121 against Essequibo) in the same match. Yadram also collected medals for being part of the Guyana Under-17 and Under-19 teams.

Guyana Jaguars skipper and Test batsman, Leon Johnson, also won more than one awards, copping the Male Cricketer-of-the-Year and the Rohan Kanhai Trophy for the Senior Regional Cricketer-of-the-Year.

Under the Premium Awards segment, West Indies player Shemaine Campbelle was Female Cricketer-of-the-Year, while Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club won the Club-of-the-Year accolade.

Leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo was recognised for his outstanding performance for West Indies team, while left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie received the Lance Gibbs Trophy for Most Improved Male Cricketer. Lashana Toussaint took the honour of Most Improved Female Cricketer.

Among the other awardees in the Special Cricket Awards segment were Sachin Singh- Most runs in Regional Under-15 and Most Valuable Player in Regional Under-15; Nigel Deodat- Most wickets in Regional Under-15; Joshua Persaud- Most runs in Regional Under-17 and Most Valuable Player in Regional Under-17; and Keemo Paul- Most wickets in Regional Under-19.

In the Special Service Awards segment, six persons were honoured, namely Shannon Crawford (for dedicated service as an umpire); News Room’s Avenash Ramzan (for outstanding service rendered as a journalist); Chanderpaul Singh (for outstanding service as a curator); Atto Christiani (dedicated service as a cricket administrator); and Ryan Banwarie and Javed Persaud (in recognition of their elevation to the West Indies B Panel of Umpires).

Hand-in-Hand Insurance and Sterling Products Limited received corporate awards for their sponsorship of cricket throughout the year, while the Guyana Under-19 and the Guyana Jaguars teams received medals for winning their regional tournaments, while the national Under-17 team was also honoured for finishing second in the regional competition.