|
|
The ICC has announced the schedule for the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier which will take place in the United Arab Emirates from 13 to 24 March.
Sixteen countries will feature in the 12-day tournament which will be played at five venues – Dubai International Cricket Stadium and ICC Global Cricket Academy grounds No.1 and No.2 in Dubai, Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Stadium and Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
The 16 teams have been divided into two groups:
Group A: Afghanistan, Netherlands, Canada, Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong, Bermuda, Denmark, Nepal.
Group B: Ireland, Kenya, Scotland, Namibia, Uganda, Oman, Italy, USA.
The tournament winner will join Australia and the West Indies in group B of the ICC World Twenty20 2012 in September 2012 while the losing finalist will complete Group A which also includes defending champion England and 2007 winner India.
Continue reading World Twenty20 Qualifier schedule announced (ICC via Cricket Europe)
TORONTO, Canada, CMC – Former Guyana fast bowler Jeremy Gordon said he was excited about the prospect of making his debut for Canada in the forthcoming Caribbean Twenty20 Championship next month.
The 24-year-old player, who took up residence in North America several years ago, was included in the Canadian national team that will take part in the competition and felt he could make a big impression for his adopted country, once selected in the final 11.
“I am excited to be in the team, and I will try to contribute significantly,” he said. “It is a dream come true and now it is a matter of going out there and performing to the best of my ability next month.”
Continue reading Gordon excited to play for Canada (Starbroek News)
CRICKET CANADA is pleased to announce the following squad that will take part in the 2012 Caribbean T20 tournament in Antigua and Barbados January 9-23rd, 2012. Jimmy Hansra will skipper a side that turned many heads at the 2011 event with a stunning upset of ECB T20 champions Hampshire in the opener and losing a nail-biter to eventual champions Trinidad and Tobago on the last ball. The team has just returned from a tough tour of Barbados where they were slow to gain steam but posed stiff competition for the hosts knocking them off in the penultimate match of the tour.
Continue reading Cricket Canada announces squad for Caribbean 20-20
Chris Radford
Twenty-two former and current Members of Parliament have written letters of endorsement for cricket legend, Frederick Heather’s 2012 Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame nomination. Additionally, seven Senators have also put pen to paper to support Heather. The support and praise for Heather’s contributions as a builder of Canadian cricket have been overwhelming [...]
Liam Herringshaw
The groundsman’s report for the 1628-1629 Newfoundland cricket season wasn’t promising:
“From the middest of October, to the middest of May there is a sadd face of wynter upon all this land, both sea and land so frozen for the greatest part of the tyme as they are not penetrable, no plant or vegetable thing appearing out of the earth untill it be about the beginning of May.”
With that news, Sir George Calvert petitioned King Charles I to be allowed to abandon his Colony of Avalon and relocate to the warmer climes of Maryland. Religious disagreements and economic woes were cited as contributory factors, but as a Yorkshireman it was surely the lack of decent cricketing weather that bothered Calvert the most.
Nearly four centuries on, and things haven’t improved much. It’s still pretty much hopeless attempting outdoor matches in St John’s before June.
Continue reading An ice way to keep cricketing (CricInfo)
Steve Ferley (ex-pat; non-expert)
Around the world, cricket is learned in the street, on the savannah, in schools, at clubs, on the beach. But regardless of the backdrop, the common denominator is youth. The first exposure to cricket is usually the province of the young, the pre-teens and teens.
As ever, things can be a little different in the New World.
Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club has a long history of cricket stretching back well over a century. But a different angle now emerges. As the name implies, TCSCC is more than just cricket (some would say far more), and the multi-sport backdrop has led to the “late-learning”.
For years, squash players, curlers, tennis players and rugby players have watched – often with varying degrees of bemusement – as cricket was played. There was always a passing interest. Little by little, the dormant interest was awakened. And, driven by a small group of committed organizers, an “Associates League” (read: non-cricketers) formed itself.
30-year-old nationally ranked squash players, 40 (50?) year old curlers, golfers and rugby players, ex-baseballers who know a thing or two about hitting ball with bat, all were welcomed. All welcomed the challenge, and all took to it, helped by one or two with accent strange enough to self-qualify as experts as well as ex-pats.
Continue reading Learning the Game- Just a Little Later in Life
By Andrew Alderson
Questions have surfaced about the standard of pitches, under-developed infrastructure and the basis for market research suggesting the North American cricket market is worth pursuing as a commercial venture for a Twenty20 league, starting midway through next year.
Last week, the Herald on Sunday revealed a tournament similar in structure to the Indian Premier League is targeted to launch in June or July with players being asked to register their interest next month.
Organised by Cricket Holdings America (a company with the United States governing body and New Zealand Cricket as shareholders), the league is targeting six teams based in cities such as Fort Lauderdale, Toronto, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia. In an ambitious plan scoped out over 8-10 years, CHA are hopeful of selling the six franchises to investors for a total of up to US$240 million.
However, there are concerns players would not be interested in joining a league where the quality of cricket is compromised. Neil Maxwell, the NZC appointed director on the CHA board, suggested they could play on artificial wickets because at T20 level pitches did not have the same impact on the game and it would offer greater flexibility to stage matches.
Continue reading US cricket more than just American dream (NZ Herald)
|
|
