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Chris Redford
A CAMPAIGN to induct a cricketer into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame for the first time is gathering momentum. You may not have heard of him but Frederick Heather is a Canadian cricket hero.
I must admit a vested interest – he was my great uncle. I was only two when he died in 1976 but have taken care of Heather’s unique and large cricket collection, which includes a letter from Jack Hobbs. Heather emigrated to Canada from England aged 31 in 1921 and took his love of the game with him. He had deep roots in the development of Canadian cricket and, as a player, Heather won two Toronto City Championships in 1922 and 1927 and competed for the national title in 1928.
Continue reading Hero of the Canadian game (Wisden Cricketer)
The trustees wish to send this press release to the cricket community of the Greater Toronto Area. Maple Leaf Cricket Club Trust is the titled owner of the cricket facility at King City Ontario. The Trust, as owner of the facility, recognizes that the priority and historical user of the facility to be Toronto & District Cricket [...]
By: Rob Brown
A north Winnipeg community centre is going to bat for young cricket players. Representatives of Maples Community Centre recently announced details of a new club-run cricket program for boys and girls between the ages of six and 16. The program, which was launched Feb. 19, will be offered Saturday mornings until May 28. It will provide instruction as well as organized games and is open to kids from across the city. Garvin Budhoo, president of the Manitoba Cricket Association, said Maples is the first community centre in Manitoba to offer such a program.
“It’s fantastic,” he said, adding he expected the area to become a hub of cricket activity during the next five years.
Kamta Roy Singh, a Maples resident and captain of the Winnipeg Lions Cricket club, echoed Budhoo’s sentiments. He said the level of interest in the sport among youth continues to grow.
“While we don’t have the participation of hockey, there are teams and practices going on indoors throughout the winter with more than 150 players,” he said.
Continue reading Manitoba community centre starts youth cricket programme (Winnipeg Free Press )
Ronald Turnbull will be inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame next month. He will be honoured at the Sport for Life Gala on April 28. Turnbull, who will be inducted posthumously, started playing cricket in 1924 at age 12 and has a trophy named after him that the Manitoba Cricket Association gives annually to [...]
The touring Ontario CA of Canada opened their tour of Sri Lanka with two comfortable wins.
In the first fixture at St. Benedict’s College they coasted to a nine wickets win over Copper Chimney.
Batting first, a solid knock of 75 runs by Yanish Captain enabled Copper Chimney to reach 180 before they were dismissed. Ontario CA in reply with a top score of 72 not out by A. Vaisnavi and 52 not out by N. Dutta raced to their target with nine wickets to spare.In their second fixture at Moratuwa, Ontario CA beat Asoka De Silva School of Cricket by 53 runs.
Taking first lease of the wicket, the tourists with D. Ramsammy (48) and N. Dutta (47) the main contributors posted 228 for nine wickets in their quota of 50 overs and wrapped up Asoka De Silva School of Cricket for 175 runs.
Continue reading Two wins for Ontario Cricket Academy (Sri Lanka Daily Mirror)
Valley Park Middle School, Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office and Flemingdon Neighbourhood Services Announce the Crazy for Cricket Sleepover to Celebrate Valley Park’s Go Green Cricket Field
From Friday April 1st at 9 PM to Saturday April 2nd at 2 PM, Valley Park Middle School will host the Crazy for Cricket Sleepover: Toronto’s Biggest World Cup Cricket Party Ever! The event, which includes students, their families and community members at a cost of $3/person, will raise funds for the school’s Go Green Cricket Field Initiative. The Friday evening will come alive with Bollywood dancing, a DJ, indoor cricket, games rooms, ghost stories and movies. A CBC personality will be hosting the evening featuring performances by singer Prita Chhabra and 7 Arts Dance Company, a Bollywood dance troupe. Ghost stories will be told by Greenwood College Director of Community Life and Kilcoo Camp Director David (Lub) Latimer. On Saturday morning, sleepover guests will wake up to catch the final Cricket World Cup match on big screens with cable feeds provided by Rogers Communications Inc. Fun and interactive games will be supplied by Cineplex Entertainment.
Continue reading Crazy for cricket event
The Edmonton Journal features a new play “West Indian Diary” by author Patricia Darbasie. The play centres on immigration to alberta in the 1970s. “Three generations arrived from various islands, each with their own motivation, then tried to find connections, and forge an identity and a sense of community.
“They tried to find other immigrants,” says Darbasie. [...]
A look at how Canada, one of the Associates in Group A, fared in the 2011 World Cup
Sriram Veera
Canada viewed this World Cup as a major turning point in their cricketing journey. Self reliance appeared to be a mirage until this tournament, but according to board president Ranjit Sahni, sponsors are beginning to show up at their door. Plans are afoot to launch a five-team competition along the lines of the IPL in Canada, with the involvement of foreign players. They are striving to go beyond the handouts they get from the ICC and script their own destiny. Much depended on their young team stringing together a few good performances in this tournament and they have done that.
Continue reading Multicultural hopes and dreams (Cricinfo)
The North Toronto Cricket Association (NTCA) is closing in on achieving its team participation objectives, for T20 and forty over competition during the 2011 cricket season.
This is a new League, that will operate in the GTA, will play most of its games at Maple Leaf Cricket Club (MLCC) in the township of King, based on its agreement with MLCC.
Currently, there is opposition from the Toronto and District Cricket Association for the use of the facility by NTCA, and have taken the MLCC to court to decide the matter.
Continue reading North Toronto Cricket Association Press Release
Shivani Naik
They are not nostalgic about mustard fields, nor pumped up about bhangra. The eight Indian-origin players of Canada’s World Cup squad talk about the sport in their country, playing in India and being Canadians first
They do go crazy over cricket and crave for curry at times, but the eight Indian-origin players in the Canadian cricket team certainly aren’t confused desis. The team’s batting prodigy, Nitish Kumar, has not learnt to mouth the “I love ghar ka khaana” cliché. Nor is the 16-year-old boy with spiked hair, born to Punjabi parents in Canada, pining to visit the mustard fields of his native state, like the movies would have you believe. “Actually, I like butter chicken, but I love having it outside when eating at restaurants, like most of us Canadians do,” he says, staking no claim to the supposed land of birth of the dish.
Continue reading Canada’s Curry Connection (Indian Express)
Dave Liverman for Canada Cricket
Although the World Cup has weeks yet to run, Canada’s cup is over, and they return to their homes this weekend, before the first round is even complete. Although we heard some optimistic noises about qualifying for the second round, anyone with a solid understanding of international cricket knew that Canada’s expectations were somewhat lower – mainly to avoid embarrassment and to represent associates cricket well.
So how did they do? I would argue that this was perhaps Canada’s most successful World Cup of the four they have played.
Continue reading Canada’s Cup – a report card
By Richard Mauntah
The World Cup was a mixed bag for Canada. A nice win over Kenya and a poor outing against Zimbabwe were draped around some good moments and some trying moments for the inexperienced associate nation against the best in the world.
“Our bowlers did a fantastic job throughout the tournament,” captain Ashish Bagai said. “But [...]
The Canadaian batsman may well fade into oblivion after this World Cup, but his back-foot six off a 145kph Shaun Tait thunderbolt will be part of drunken pub conversations for years to come
Sriram Veera at the Chinnaswamy Stadium
Sometimes, we freeze an entire career of a batsman into a solitary frame of action. Kris Srikkanth’s timeless square drive on a bent knee off Andy Roberts, Javed Miandad’s last-ball six, Doug Walters’ six off the last ball of the day to bring up a Test hundred, and Tamim Iqbal rushing down the track to lash Zaheer Khan over long-on during the 2007 World Cup. There are some shots that get tattooed on your brain forever. And sometimes, just sometimes, a batsman might just be remembered for a single shot. Vikram Rathour, a very fine domestic player, never made it in international cricket, but in a mindless game in Sharjah, he played a stroke that made even Sachin Tendulkar, the non-striker at the time, turn to look at the trajectory of the ball with astonishment. It was the last ball of an over from Shaun Pollock, and Rathour leaned forward a touch and wafted his bat on the up and through the line of a short-of-length delivery and the ball went screaming over long-on.
On Wednesday, Hiral Patel had one such priceless moment, which a fan may bring up in some inane drunken chat in some pub in the future. It was a sizzling knock from Patel, filled with cuts and drives, but one shot screamed out for attention from posterity. It was a 148.5kph thunderbolt from Shaun Tait that bounced short of a length. It demanded respect, but it got insouciance. Patel just leaned back, lifted the front leg in the air and absolutely thumped it on the up and over cover for a mind-blowing six.
Continue reading Hiral Patel’s timeless moment (CricInfo)
by George Binoy
By the time Shane Watson and Brad Haddin were launching the ball with frightening regularity into sparsely populated stands at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Australia had taken control of a game that extended their unbeaten run in World Cups to 34 matches, and vaulted them from fourth to first in Group A. Though the margin of victory – seven wickets with 91 balls to spare – was huge, they did not have it easy throughout. Canada ambushed them with the bat, and then created some chances with the new ball. Australia’s pace and power eventually swamped them but Ashish Bagai’s team exceeded expectations in their final World Cup appearance.
When Bagai chose to bat, the probability of an early finish in Bangalore increased significantly, but Australia’s inevitable supremacy was delayed by an extraordinary attack from 19-year-old Hiral Patel, who batted fearlessly to score a rapid half-century off the world’s fastest bowlers. After the labour against Kenya, Ponting had said he wanted to win this convincingly but it wasn’t until the 29th over, by which time Canada had reached 150 for 2, that Australia began to dominate.
Continue reading Rusty Australia swamp fighting Canada (CricInfo)
Canada’s John Davison is, fittingly, to take his final bow as an international player for Canada against Australia. His efforts in the 2001 ICC Trophy, staged in the Greater Toronto Area, helped Canada qualify for the 2003 Cricket World Cup in South Africa. There, his whirlwind 111 in 76 balls against the West Indies raised his stature as a player. His century came from 67 balls and was part of Canada’s first cricket world cup win against Bangladesh. He thumped 75 runs against New Zealand.
It was fitting that Davison was at the crease with the other survivor of Canada’s 2003 campaign, Ashish Bagai, in the recent win over ICC Associate rivals, Kenya. It followed a narrow loss to Kenya in the 2003 Cricket World Cup and a really disappointing seven wicket loss to the Kenyans at the start of the 2007 CWC campaign in St. Lucia.
Canada rebounded with the bat in St Lucia by posting scores beyond the 200-mark against England and New Zealand. Davison chipped in with 22 against England and 52 against the Kiwis. Canada lost by 51 runs to England, but tallied 228 for 7 wickets. Asif Mulla top-socring with 58. The Kiwis surged to 363 for 5 wickets and Canada responded with 249. The top order batting was lead by Davison’s 52, 40 from Geoff Barnett, 37 from Ashish Bagai and 50 from Ian Billcliff.
Davison learned life and people through Canadian experiences
Continue reading John Davison to bow out for Canada against Australia (by Eddie Norfolk)
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