1. Introductory comment

The following excerpt and related comments are based on the published minutes of the Cricket Council of Ontario (Cricket Ontario) 2016 AGM (Annual General Meeting) that took place on October 24, 2016. These 2016 AGM minutes are the only AGM minutes posted (at present) under the heading “Minutes of Meeting” which is reached via the “Resources” section heading on the official website of the Cricket Council of Ontario.

2. The Excerpt:
“Coach Farouk Kirmani Report:”

“Coach K gave his report on the CCO’s HP Youth Camps, the Provincial Canada Cup and the various Tours that he has had the honor of being a part of.”

“He addressed the very high skill levels of the players that are produced from the CCO HP camp, the various training & fitness regimes that are designed to target and improve the players’ skill set and overall fitness.”

“He was proud of the youths’ performances in the Canada Cup and the California tours.”

“He addressed the cost for these and the parents always shouldering the financial responsibilities. This was debated in terms of other sports and the cost associated with each for similar activities.” [Emphasis added – The Coach’s Report seems to end here].

“A motion was moved to call the meeting to an end for the evening as it was 9:45 PM and to table the agenda items not addressed for the next CCO Membership Meeting.”
End of Excerpt (EN)

3. Some Comments: The Application Process to be Cricket’s PSO in Ontario

The Minutes of the Cricket Council of Ontario’s 2016 AGM lists various documents that form part of the application process under which the Cricket Council of Ontario sought to become recognized by the Government of Ontario as the “Provincial Sports Organization” for cricket.

Recognition as the “Provincial Sports Organization” (“the PSO”) for cricket in Ontario was to be achieved using the legal entity name of “Cricket Ontario”, based on my understanding of the 2016 AGM Minutes and some other discussions and posts on the official CCO (CO) website.

These documents associated with the PSO application include “The Policies & Procedures Manual” which includes the following sections:

Privacy Policy
Disciplinary Policy
Conflict of Interest Policy
Volunteer Screening
Equity Policy
Harassment Policy
Concussion Prevention and Management Policy Cricket Tournament / Event Sanctioning Policy Selection Policy
Selection Guide line & Criteria
Coaching Staff Selection Guideline
Code of Conduct – Coach & Manager

Player Code of Conduct
[End of listing of the sections of “The Policies & Procedures Manual”.]

4. Closing Comments

My understanding, which might be termed “my expectation”, is that the Under-17 and Under-19 Regional Tournaments that have taken place this summer under the Cricket Council of Ontario/Cricket Ontario banner should have been operating according to the relevant sections of “The Policies & Procedures Manual” as approved by the CCO/CO board and, where necessary, approved by the Government of Ontario as part of the Provincial Sports Organization.

So my expectation is that the teams were selected based on the standards and requirements of the “Selection Policy” and “Selection Guideline & Criteria”.

Now it seemed to me when reading some of these policy and procedures documents after the Ontario Regional Under-17 championship that each team competing in the championship should have been assigned a coach. But that was also slightly murky or not as well described as it could have been.

Somewhere along the way there seems to be a need to separate the Tournament oversight management between a Tournament Referee and someone designated for operational and setup purposes as the Tournament Operations Manager.

It remains an ongoing deficiency of the national and provincial junior (U19 and U17) tournaments and games played at Centennial Park, Etobicoke that no numbers are displayed on the scoreboards so that players and spectators can readily see the current state of the game.

There is also the important issue that such representative games are played on natural turf wickets with flat outfields and that these games are played in accordance with the regulations of the International Cricket Council. It would provide experience of the prevailing ICC match regulations for Ontario players who play internationally for a Canadian national junior and/or senior team, be it a men’s or women’s national team.

Itt should be recognized that these are just some initial comments and observations. I do not know, for example, the original approval date or dates for each section of the “The Policies & Procedures Manual”, or the date or dates when any section was amended.

I did tell coach Farouk Kirmani that I was aware of his comments at the 2016 AGM during the course of the playoffs for the 2019 Ontario Regional Under-19 Championship on Friday (August 23, 2019).

There used to be a section about making events such as a National Junior Championship known to the media in, what if memory serves correctly, was called the “Bylaws and Guidelines of the Canadian Cricket Association”. It included the need to send out advance notice about such events and send out copies of summary scores and/or reports after each day’s play.

Those who wrote and updated that section did not seem to be thinking in terms of indicating on a Sunday or a Monday that teams have been selected for a tournament and the tournament starts next day on the Monday or the Tuesday.

Someone ought to restore and update such guidance about gaining publicity as publicity is useful in attracting and sustaining the involvement of sponsors. An analysis of the sources and uses of funds of the likes of Cricket Canada, the Cricket Council of Ontario (Cricket Ontario) and certain leading leagues, such as the Toronto and District Cricket Association might be useful and interesting to various players, including some of their parents and friends.

I was unable, unfortunately, to attend the funeral of Kevin Boller who did so much work to make the existence of the game of cricket in Canada better known and used to push out reports to media contacts about Canadian international matches. Kevin made a significant contribution to making records about Canadian cricket known and available. Indeed some of the records were contained in those Bylaws and Guidelines.

I read Kevin’s written guidance before flying down to Trinidad and Tobago in May 2006 to see the ODI Tri-Series involving Canada, Bermuda and Zimbabwe. I managed to send some reports about the tri-series to media contacts in Canada, following those guidelines and a test email exchange with the Canadian Press on the Saturday before I flew south. Clive Lloyd was the match referee for the Tri-Series. I also stayed on for a day or two and saw the West Indies play India in an ODI.

I had some luck finding an internet café where I could write reports and send them on a timely basis. Think the first one closed at 6pm. Found a different place that was open until 8pm or 9pm which was useful for making broader contact, but the 6pm closure café aided the skills and need to write a solid two or three paragraph game summary.

Eddie Norfolk Toronto,
25 August, 2019