From Cricket Canada:-
“It is with deep regrets we announce the death of Jack Kyle, former President of Cricket Canada. Jack passed away yesterday Wednesday 21 June 2012 in Vancouver. No details are available on funeral arrangements at this time.”
Eddie Norfolk has supplied some notes on this great supporter of cricket in Canada.
A few notes from and about Mr. Jack Kyle
Mr. Jack Kyle became President of the Canadian Cricket Association at the November 1978 Annual General Meeting. This followed the resignation of the previous President, John Cole, after “eleven years of excellent service to our Association”.
Writing as the new President in the “Kyle’s Innings” column of the March 1979 edition of “The Canadian Cricketer”, Mr. Kyle mentioned his introduction to the game:
“My (Jack Kyle’s) involvement with cricket stems from one day in 1939 when our class in Vancouver’s Maple Grove Elementary School was visited by Basil Robinson who announced the formation of a neightbourhood junior cricket team. From that beginning it was not long before I began playing senior cricket as well, including several years with the Vancouver Juniors C.C. before moving on to 1st Division Cricket. British Columbia has a long record of junior development and their 1978 senior Interprovincial side included 7 former B.C. junior players.”
“It was only natural that 12 years ago I felt the need to put something back into the game which had been so good to me, by organizing a junior team in an area of Vancouver close to my original starting place. Encouraged by Peter Molyneux, the dean of Vancouver junior cricket, I moved along to Provincial and then National junior organizing and coaching.
“Many of you, I am sure, feel the same love for cricket and have the same wish to put something back into the game. There are many ways this can be done, from financial support to unpiring. I can assure you that there is no more satisfying way than junior development, whether it be recruiting, organizing, managing, or coaching juniors.”
He then made specific mention of Martin Stead, a member of Canada’s 1979 squad for the World Cup qualification event. A squad that then became Canada’s squad for the 1979 Cricket World Cup due to success on the field in the qualifiers.
“When I look at Martin Stead, selected for Canada’s World Cup team, and remember watching him at age 4 playing with a very small bat outside (and inside!) the boundary at Brockton Point I know that junior development is possible. See what you can do to develop juniors in your area.”
A quick look at Jack Kyle’s playing record, as known through scorecards on “Cricket Archive”, shows he represented British Columbia in the inter-provincial Hiram Walker Cup in 1950, 1952 and 1955. He scored 93 before being run out in a B.C. score of 221 for eight wickets (68 overs) against Manitoba on August 2nd, 1955. He also played for Western Canada against Eastern Canada in 1958. He may well have appeared in other representative matches for which some records may exist at other sources.