Cricket chief lauds British Gas

THE Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) are grateful to British Gas for their sponsorship of Under-15 and Under-17 youth cricket since 1995 which has produced some outstanding cricketers.

Among the names that readily come to mind, according to Alloy Lequay, Chief Executive Officer of the TTCB, is Tishan Maharaj, who captained the regional team that won the World Costcutter Under-15 Tournament in 2000 in the United Kingdom. Others are Lendl Simmons, Dinesh Ramdin, Aaron Jaggernauth, Dwane Bravo, Jonathan Augustus, Rishi Bachan, Amit Jaggernath, Ravi Rampaul (who is with the West Indies senior team in South Africa), and Zaheer Ali. Lequay said that British Gas was a key factor in corporate sponsorship who are helping the board build a solid foundation on which the future of local and regional cricket was being built. “They deserve the highest commendation in youth investment,” said Lequay.

At the time Lequay was addressing a gathering at the formal launch of the 2004 Under-15 Competition at the National Cricket Centre, Balmain, Couva last Tuesday. After cricket fans witnessed a first round clash between a Central X1 (Rangy Nanan Division)  and a South East Team (Rajendra Dhanraj Division). Lequay added that the Under-19 Team which left on Sunday to compete in the World Tournament in Bangladesh (February-March) also included six Trinidadians and this  was a tribute to the continuing sponsorship of British Gas. Dudnath Ramkissoon, first vice-president of the TTCB, said that British Gas must be praised for their initiative in sports which so far has included cricket, football, netball and golf.

Ramkissoon said that British Gas was “model corporate citizen who should be emulated by other corporate groups in Trinidad and Tobago. They must seize the opportunity to play a positive role in reducing indiscipline and violence among young people by getting them involved in sporting activities like British Gas. “We must all aim at getting young people engaged  in creative activities  that will help them to pursue a path in life that will make them useful in the process of nation building,” the first vice president said. Lenore Joseph, Government Relations and Public Affairs Manager of British Gas said they were  again extremely pleased to be associated with the worthwhile initiative to promote cricket at the Under-15 level. “And this we believe is the spirit of practising good corporate responsibility,” Joseph said.

“In this regard we are always involved in working with organisations to build communities to ensure a better quality of life especially to those at the lower end of the economic divide who are the most vulnerable,” she said.  Joseph hoped that cricket “would help to  generate discipline and team spirit that would help in striving for excellence, on and off the field of play, and that would motivate players to represent the country and the region some time in the future.” At the end of her speech, Joseph presented a cheque for $100,000 to Anand Daniel, secretary of the TTCB, that would incorporate the sponsorship of both the Under-15 and Under-17 tournaments.