Barbados Cricket Association article.
Lancashire, England - The Lancashire Cricket Board (LCB) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA).
2015 will see the sixth year of partnership working between the BCA and the LCB when two Under-20 players from Barbados will come to England via the Lord Gavron Scholarship Programme to play and experience club cricket and cricket development in the UK.
They will be placed in Liverpool under the supervision of David Goodall, the LCB’s Community Cricket Development Co-ordinator in the city and play their club cricket at Sefton Park and Wavertree CC.
The experiences of planning, providing, delivering, managing and reporting successful placements between 2010 and 2014 have provided a positive template that the BCA and LCB would like to acknowledge through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the partners to affirm the ongoing and future working partnership between the cricket authorities in both countries.
As a result of the MoU being signed the LCB commits to support the continuation, and possible expansion, of the Lord Gavron Scholarship Programme whereby BCA players, currently two per annum, under 20 years of age are given the opportunity to experience a season of league cricket in the UK whilst living with a family within the local community in which they are placed.
BCA president Joel Garner, the outstanding former Barbados captain and West Indies fast bowling great, who was present at the signing on Wednesday, said: “This is a welcome development that will go a long way to ensure that our players will experience a different environment, different cultures and help their personal development for the future.”
Bob Hinchliffe, Chairman of the LCB, added: “The LCB is delighted to extend the current agreement with the BCA and help the players to improve their cricket in a different environment to what they are used to.”
Bobby Denning, Managing Director of the LCB, finally said: “Now that we have completed the fifth year of this successful relationship, it is important that it is formalised to strengthen ongoing discussions with both parties.”
The talented, unrelated pair of Jerome Jones and Aaron Jones, who both returned home earlier this week, were the latest beneficiaries of the BCA Lord Gavron Scholarship Programme. Jerome and Aaron, who both attended Christ Church Foundation School, the alma mater of Garner, represented Sefton Park and Wavertree respectively.
The two 19-year-olds also played for the Barbados Under-19 team with Jerome turning out for the West Indies Under-19s at the last two ICC Youth World Cups. Both also represented Guardian General Barbados Youth in major BCA competitions. Jerome is a tall, left-arm fast bowler, who bats right-handed, while Aaron, an elegant batsman and leg-spin bowler, was considered unlucky not to have been selected on the West Indies Under-19 team for the Youth World Cup in the United Arab Emirates earlier this year.
The partnership between the BCA and the LCB is credited with improving a number of young Bajan players with previous winners of the Lord Gavron award such as opening batsman Rashidi Boucher, left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican, fast bowler Miguel Cummins and wicket-keeper/batsman Shane Dowrich all progressing to play first-class cricket after their time in Liverpool.
First Published On bcacricket.org.