We have permission to re-publish some interesting articles by Gautam Govitrikar, originally released on his site, https://tiedtest.blogspot.com/. The first is a conversation from 2014 with the then Cricket Canada president, Ravin Moothy. It is interesting to see what was hoped for in 2014, and where we are today!
January 2014: Gautam Govitrikar talks to Ravin Moothy
I had the opportunity to have a conversation with Ravin Moorthy, the President of Cricket Canada today. Fresh off a disappointing showing at the World T20 Qualifiers, he is still optimistic about the team’s future and chances at the up-coming ODI WC qualifier.
Gautam: Hello, this is Gautam Govitrikar. I am speaking today with Ravin Moorthy. Hello Ravin how are you today?
Ravin: I am good thank you. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me.
G: Oh the pleasure is all mine. So tell me about yourself. How did you get into cricket and cricket administration?
R: I am basically from Canada itself. I was born in England but moved to Canada at age 6. I played cricket at the junior level till age 18 in Calgary and Alberta.When I moved to University, I missed the game a lot. When I came back, there was an opportunity for a few like minded people to get into the Calgary league, which was in some difficulty at that time. I think we were able to do a good job because there were only 7 teams when we started and by the time I moved on, there were close to 50! We had the opportunity to bring a North American way to cricket administration which had never been done before.
G: That’s good to hear, given the perception that cricket in Canada starts and ends in Ontario! Cricket in North America is considered to be an immigrants game, played mainly by expats. But I see that the u-19 teams in Canada have been doing well. Tell me a little about the development at the grass roots level that your administration has been able to achieve.
R: Well for starters, we are all immigrants in this part of the world! I don’t think the problem with cricket following in N.America is the perception that it’s an immigrants game. The bigger issue is that it is not received as well as some of the mainstream North American games because of the feeling that it’s boring and takes 5 days for a game! So one of the main focus we have had is changing that perception. We are working hard to introduce cricket at the school level by offering a continuation from plastic and tennis ball cricket to hard ball cricket. The good news is that it’s continuously growing and even is out-growing some of the other sports!
G: I have been itching to ask you about the unexpected performance of the team at the recent T20Q tournament. As a cricket fan and as an administrator, share your feelings with us!
R: (laughs): Well we are all fans, administrators or not. As far as the performance at the tournament is concerned, all fans are the horribly disappointed. There is not easy way to put it. To finish 12th with the team we had, that’s terrible. As an organization, we are disappointed and embarrassed. I know a few people feel some of the players don’t care or are in it just for the trip but that’s not true! They have a lot of personal pride and pride for the country and they were disappointed too. After dominating the United States for years and years, to lose that game because of sloppy cricket in the last 2 overs, that was very disappointing! And then to come out and give Ireland their toughest fight in the tournament in which they went unbeaten, it shows that we have the ingredients but there needs to be some fine tuning to ensure on game day, we have the best team on the field!
G: That’s a good point you make about having the ingredients but not the results. The Canadian team reminds me of the Indian team of the late 90’s/early 2000’s where they had the best batting line up but somehow the results were just not there. It took some pretty bold moves on part of the selectors like not including Rahul Dravid in ODIs and then Ganguly too which kick started the results. Do you think that’s something the selectors need to do for Team Canada also?
R: Yes the only thing I would say, with due respect to our players, is that we are not talking about Dravid and Ganguly here. If I understand your point correctly, I agree that it is time to shake things up a little bit. When you talk about a country like India, you do have to sometimes move guys for other to come and do what they can, like dropping Dravid and Ganguly, or even Laxman, so people like Virat Kohli can make it to the XI and perform! Also when the big guns were in the team, it would make it difficult for Dhoni to stamp his authority on the team. It’s not always about on-field! There is a certain culture that prevails and it varies. We have had guys who have been legends for us and we have seen selectors do their job. So now Jon Davison is gone and Bilcliff is gone and Sunil Dhaniram is gone. So the selectors have taken those tough decisions and had they not, youngsters like Hiral Patel and Ruvindu Gunesekara and Nitesh Kumar and Usman Limbada would not have gotten a chance. It’s also a little different because in countries like India and Australia, the selectors have the opportunity to replace value for value based on performances in the Ranji or Sheffield shield games. Here because so many players are playing club cricket with and against the national players, there is always a debate about who is good enough to be selected!
G: I went through the scorecards for the 2012 WC and the recent Wt20Q and one of the striking features was the lack of a stable opening pair. In the WC there were 5 combinations used and it was 4 for the WT20Q. And the starts have just not been there which always affects the team more than you imagine! Is there a plan to address that issue to choose a stable opening pair and stick with them for the long haul?
R: Well this is one of the many decisions that the team management, which includes the coach and the captain, takes on the field. Sure as administrators,we can look back and ask for an explanation but tactically, on any given day, things are different and so i is difficult to put a finger on it. Sometimes if you lose an early wicket, they might want to push a certain batsman up the order over others, or the wicket might be behaving differently. So while I agree with you that it is certainly an issue, and most successful teams have a stable opening pair, we have to back the captain and the coach because this is what they get paid to do and are doing. It is a challenge and as a fan, it certainly looks odd. The new coach has identified this as an issue and he wants to keep it stable.
G: So it has been announced that Andy Pick will be joining the team as the coach for the WC qualifiers. He is no stranger to Canada and USA. Is this a long term move or is it restricted to the New Zealand tour.
R: I don’t want to say that Andy may not be associated with the program in the long run. But for now, he is joining the team for a couple of months and we will reevaluate the situation after the qualifiers, depending on which rung we are at.
G: Given that the 2015 WC is the last one in which Associate members will be included, how does qualifying or not qualifying for the World Cup affect the future and the growth of the game in a country like Canada?
R: That’s a tough one to answer. First of all, this is a business and in sports, the aim is to win. We cannot go into a tournament like this with the sole aim of qualifying for the WC, that’s not the right attitude to have as an organization. Making it to the 2015 World Cup means we played this tournament well with the goal to win. We have been in the last 3 World Cups. The exposure and the ability to allow athletes to aspire to be something better, to play on the world stage, to play in full stadiums, and most importantly to represent the country- that’s important. For the players, the organization and for our country. For Canada to be visible on the world sports scene, not just cricket but football and rugby world cups also, those are important events for our country.
That being said, it gives us the opportunity to go back to the drawing board for the next 4 years and allow us to build up a proper program. Canada and the Netherlands are the only two countries to have played the last 3 World Cups and both worked hard as a nation to reach to that stage. Look at Ireland, they were out of the world scene for so long and they put together a strategic plan to qualify for the 2007 World Cup. Once they did, they had a plan and made a difference, like beating Pakistan. They have not looked back since then and have had success after success.
So the World Cup is a great platform for players and organizations to showcase their talents and programs. But the real failing is the Future Tours Program and the way Associates are structured into that. The issue is that Associates qualify for the World Cup but barely play any Full Member ODIs and that affects our preparation. We sincerely believe that if we had 10-15 ODIs under our belt against FM nations between 2009-2011, we would have put up a much better performance in the WC!
G: For those who don’t know what the ICC High Performance exactly is, please share with us what that is all about!
R: Sure. So Canada has been in the ICC HP program since 2005 and what they do is pick the top ten Associate and Affiliate countries and they get additional funding, I think it is $250-300K. The ICC also arranges competitions for us, the Intercontinental Cup, the ODI tournament, the top 4 played in the 2011 World Cup and the top 6 had ODI status. The ICC has not exactly decided what they want to do at the end of this cycle but we should have a decision around Feb-March. So basically there is more funding, more games, teams get to play multi day cricket. There are camps that are held which help. While the funding and the assistance surely helps, I am not sure it does much when we are competing with countries that have hundreds of millions of dollars being pumped into the system.
G: We spoke about the coach but what about your captain? Is Ashish Bagai available for the WC qualifiers? And there after? I know he has a job commitment to take up following his MBA from Wharton.
R: My understanding and hope is that Ashish will be available till the end of January which means he will participate in the WC Qualifiers and I know he feels the same way. You know he has been a great servant of Canadian cricket. He has got a lot from Canadian cricket and has given back a lot too. It has been a really good relationship but at his age and where he is in his life, I understand that you don’t go and get a Wharton MBA not to use it. I am really proud of him and I am really happy for him. Regardless of whether has to go into industry now or at the end of January, there will always be a spot for Ashish Bagai in Canadian cricket at whatever level he wants to be involved in. He is easily the greatest cricketer we have ever produced and he is a great human being on top of it! So we will always want to find him a place to be part of Canadian Cricket.
This interview was conducted before Ashish Bagai announced his retirement from the sport!
G: Where do you see Team and Cricket Canada in 10 years? Rather, where you WANT to see Cricket Canada in 10 years?
R: Well last year we put a lot of effort into our strategic planning initiatives and we looked 3-4 years out. If we can just build on the hard work we have put in to bridge the gap between school and club cricket, we have kids who are now in grade 2-3 who will be part of our league of provincial league or playing in our national league and end up in our national team. That will be a big boost! We have put in a lot of hard work in getting cricket exposure in mainstream media so in 10 years those things will also be paying dividends. I would love to cricket become more of a Canadian game, not just in terms of being played by Canadians but become part of the fabric of our nation. It’s something we surely need to work on but when it does happen, the growth and stability that it will provide will be great for the organization. In 10 years, I hope to watch the 2023 World Cup and we are there, not just because the ICC decides to let us qualify but because we are good enough to be in the top 10. It’s going to take a lot of effort from a lot of people to make that happen and we are full aware of that!
G: I certainly hope that happens and I would love to be there to see that happen. On a personal level, I would love to know who is your favorite cricketer and why?
R: When I was young, I was very partial to England and so Ian Botham spoke to me in every possible way an athlete can. He was rough and tough, the kind of guy who always came up with an insertional performance when they were not doing well. But now that I am officially involved with the game and have a different appreciation for the game, I really really have a lot of respect for Mahela Jayawardene. Both on and off the field, he has done so much for Sri Lankan and world cricket. I have enjoyed the time I have spent with him every time I have met him. Along with Kumar Sangakara, he has just done so much. As the game has changed, they have changed. A lot of people had their doubts if he was cut out for the T20 game, but much like Dravid, he has found a place for himself in that format. But as I said, all round, he is just a very good person and that makes me respect him even more.
That was Ravin Moorthy, President of Cricket Canada, in conversation with me about all things cricket!