Former Guyana Under-19 Cricketer Aaron Latchman And Daughter Gunned Down

By Ravi Madholall
Former Guyana Under-19 cricketer Aaron Latchman passed away on Thursday at his Betterhope home on the East Coast of Demerara, Guyana.

According to reports, Latchman, who was seen as a technically corrected right-handed batsman, was gunned down along with his eighteen-year-old daughter, Arianna.

Latchman, who represented Guyana in 1991 when the regional tournament was held in Jamaica and then 1992, in Guyana, was age 45 when reportedly two gunmen robbed and then shot him.

Latchman allegedly arrived home with a bag of undisclosed cash but confronted the men who also shot his daughter. Arianna was a University of Guyana Medical student.

Latchman was a money changer plying his trade on a daily basis around Stabroek Market Square in Guyana’s Capital, Georgetown.

In an invited comment from Latchman’s cousin, Devon Ramnauth, another ex-Guyana youth cricketer, Aaron was very humble and had wanted to always give back to the game but finding his demise in such a tragical manner is certainly shocking!

“I [am] really saddened to hear the news of Aaron; he was a great individual and a great father; was always in love with cricket and in our young days Aaron liked to encourage us to play the game,” Ramnauth mentioned.

Aaron represented Essequibo at both the youth and senior level as he was born in Huis’t Dieren, a village that also produced another former Guyana under-15 batsman Fazil Gani.

Ramnauth stated that Latchman played a long time and would have honed much of cricketing skills for the popular Jaguars Cricket Club that is based in his village.

Before becoming a money-changer, Latchman lived at Herstelling on the East Bank of Demerara while he represented East Bank at the first-division cricket.

Latchman also bowled a decent right-arm medium pace and according to one of his Essequibo inter-county team-mates, Raul Khan, Latchman was a determined cricketer while ex-Guyana youth batsman and former senior Essequibo inter-county skipper Rovindra Mandolall echoed similar sentiments. Latchman was the second of six siblings including three brothers.