Kingstown, St. Vincent and the Grenadines – 14th March 2016 – The SVGCA Inc. extends congratulations to Deighton Butler and Gidron Pope on making their debut in First Class Cricket as umpire and player respectively. The achievements came in the 9th round of WICB Professional Cricket League between Windward Islands and Jamaica, hosted at Arnos Vale playing field from the 11th – 14th March 2016.
President Kishore Shallow conveyed commendations and best wishes to his fellow executive member, Butler; and the young national player, Pope, who recently returned from the successful World Cup Under 19 campaign for the West Indies team. President Shallow indicated “this is a sign that SVG cricket is moving in the right direction with persons exceling in different forms of the game. I continue to reiterate that the SVGCA Inc. continues to be guided by its strategic plan, which focuses on holistic development of all components of cricket; so this advancement by Butsy and Gidron is a reflection of our intention and positive strides.”
He further stated “I hope this will be motivation to other young persons who want to get involved in cricket, be it as a player or umpire, or even a scorer for that matter; the opportunities in cricket are endless.”
Mr. Butler started umpiring at the local level, following his retirement at national cricket; he also plays for Team Rivals in the local tournaments. Gidron Pope is only 19 years old, and plays for The News Spartan in the Premier division.
President of the Umpire Association, Roger Davis also featured in the match on the weekend as the stand-by umpire. While other Vincentian players for the Windward Islands team were Sunil Ambris, Keron Cottoy, and Delorn Johnson; with both Ian Allen and Denis Byam as coach and physiotherapist of the team respectively.
