Another Saini interview

Ranjt Saini was interviewed on Sportstrends yet again, an hour long discussion on national teams. The inverview has yet again been summarised for us by Ray from the forum.

Interview with Ranjit Saini by Sportrends (January 12th, 2020)

Topic: Review of Canadian teams in 2019

Summary:
Senior Men’s Team:
Major events: World Cricket League Division 2, ICC Global WT20 Qualifier
Re: WCL D2, Canada being edged out by decimal points. Very close to standard of top Associates with ODI status.
Changes in ICC eligibility rules have allowed some teams (UAE, Oman specifically mentioned) to move ahead based on very recent newcomers (“transient” workforce).

Inconsistency is a core issue for national team
[*] volume of high level domestic cricket is the problem.
[*] Training under pressure situations is essential to performance.
[*] Inadequate infrastructure (facilities) to support development of top players (ex: penetrating bowling).
[*] Fault lies in Canadian system not providing opportunities for high-level cricket.
[*] Environment required to provide proper levels of fitness, accuracy and consistency.
[*] 2 to 4 years required to put things in place including a first-class league.

Strategic Plan to improve Canadian cricket already exists but resources to implement it are lacking.
Cricket Canada’s Annual budget is ~$1M

Canada needs to play T20s against stronger nations.

Womens cricket:
A new proposal for women’s cricket already sent to board. It will now be sent to provincial members for discussion.

Men’s U19 Team:
Two sponsors are supporting U19 team in preparation for World Cup. Monetary incentives are being provided for individuals based on surpassing certain milestones.

Other:
There will be “many more” sponsorships in 2020 due to exposure from GT20.

My comments in response to interview:
-Again no mention of $30K contracts for players mentioned in Toronto Sun article (https://torontosun.com/sports/other-spo … -world-cup). There has to be real doubt this has materialized.
-It is true that resources to implement Strategic Plan were lacking in the past, but is that still true today? CC’s 2018 financial statement showed a cash reserve of over $1M, most of which appears to have come from CC’s GT20 fee. Assuming similar income from the 2019 GT20 (and allowing for the expense of preparation tours for the WCL2), there should be a considerable sum available to implement programs to address the identified deficiencies in the Canadian men’s game and create a women’s cricket program.

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