North Albion
Toronto Boys High School champions North Albion Collegiate Institute (CI) and Brampton’s North Park Secondary School (SS) began Saturday’s CIBC Trophy GTA playoffs (May 31, 2014) with a close game and ended the day meeting again, this time in the 2014 GTA Final. Both games were won by North Albion, who won the 2014 CIMA GTA Boys High School CIBC Trophy as a result. North Albion apparently won the Toronto District School Board outdoor cricket championship last Friday (May 30). Details of that competition may emerge at a later date.
A single run from the last ball of the morning game carried North Albion to a win in the six over per side semi-final series. North Park scored 40 for five wickets from six overs then North Albion squeezed to victory with 41 for two wickets. Cricket’s historic approach of stating North Albion won by eight wickets (eight “outs” to spare in baseball equivalent) conveys a vast margin of victory, rather than the failure to “tag” the runner at the plate on the game’s last pitch that let in the last gasp run to home plate.
North Albion’s second win against North Park came in the afternoon’s GTA final, this time with six balls (one “over” in cricket terms). The GTA final was played with a maximum length innings of 20 overs per side. North Park was 98 all out from 19.5 overs in the final. North Albion replied with a championship winning 99 for five wickets from 19 overs.
In the morning’s qualification semi-final series North Albion beat Mississauga 2014 City champion Lincoln M. Alexander SS by eight runs for a record of 2 wins and no defeats. North Park played 2014 City Brampton champions Fletcher’s Meadow SS by 10 runs in the last game of the five match semi-final series to qualify for the second spot in the GTA final.
North Park qualified for the GTA final as the team with the best net run rate of three schools with one win and one loss in the semi-final series. Fletcher’s Meadow and Lincoln M. Alexander had also won once and lost once in the Saturday morning semi-final series. Markham champion Pierre Elliott Trudeau SS, the 2014 Markham champions, lost both matches in Saturday’s series.
Lincoln Alexander beat Pierre Elliott Trudeau in the opening round of the semi-final series, the winning run was scored with one ball to spare. P E Trudeau’s 43 for two wickets was not quite enough as Lincoln Alexander reached 44 for four with one ball to spare of the six over limit.
Fletcher’s Meadow scored 60 for four wickets and restricted Pierre Elliott Trudeau to 47 for six in the second round of semi-final matches.
Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s two games were played on the north ground at Dixie-Sandalwood Park (aka Brampton Soccer Centre) while North Albion’s games took place on the south ground. The important fifth game in Saturday’s semi-final series between Fletcher’s Meadow and North as played on the north pitch while the GTA Girls High School final was being contested on the south pitch.
Match commentary was provided during the day for games played on the south ground which helped awareness of the state of each game. A scorer completed entries in a scorebook, assisted by a helper from each school involved in a particular game so players could be properly identified. However, Saturday’s prevailing wind meant the commentary for the south ground matches best served those sitting around on the more northerly parts of that ground as well as all watching the games played on the north ground.
The inclusion of North Park in the GTA Playoff Series
A mistake in calculating or reviewing net run rates during the Brampton City Boys High School championships had, apparently, resulted in a decision that Louise Arbour Secondary School had the best record (wins and net run rate) of the seven schools that did not win one ot the three qualifying groups played at two different parks last Tuesday (May 27).
A review concluded North Park should have been awarded the fourth semi-final place for the Brampton playoffs. It was ruled that North Park be added to Saturday’s four city winning semi-finalists, hence the five team semi-finalist arrangement for the GTA Boys High Schools championship.
The Brampton Boys High School qualifiers included a storm in the middle of the day that forced the players to leave the field during the closing over of the Central Peel versus Louise Arbour game. The game resumed with only one or two balls of the Louise Arbour innings remaining and Central Peel won thanks to a last ball run out.
The rapid expansion of this CIMA/CIBC Mayor’s School Cricket tournament presents some challenges to the scorers and the limited number of tournament organizers available for each day’s play, particularly when many teams are playing on the same day, as with both the Mississauga and Brampton Boys High Schools competitions. There is little, if any, space for officials to retreat and check or calculate run rates, or match scorecards.
Last Tuesday’s brief heavy shower in Brampton gave way to hot sun, while early on various mornings it has been rather cool, tending to feel cold after a 27C sunny afternoon. The volunteer who has been overseeing the ground setup and liaising with teams about the day’s playing schedule has a long day. This tournament is making progress on various fronts, but some aspects of what has not generally moved forward in Canadian cricket’s history present some challenges that will not disappear overnight.
One might draw parallels with issues such as “missing” subway lines or light rapid transit lines in Toronto, or even the absence of dedicated bus lanes on wider main streets that could help transport passengers more efficiently and effectively in a city such as Toronto, or in the Greater Toronto Area.
Could the gathering of a broader community together in sport, such as through this cricket tournament, produce lessons for elected leaders, members of parliaments (provincial and federal) and councillors in life’s bigger domestic picture, or even internationally?
Does everyone agree with umpires TV-assisted reviews on whether a batsman should or should not have been given out in major international cricket, or tournaments such as the Indian Premier League (the IPL)? The answer is sometimes “no”, although for some spectators with tunnel vision the answer may often be “no”.
Tournament Finals Media Coverage
Someone from the Brampton and Mississauga Metro news family on Saturday said he did not have the proper camera lens for the long boundaries. Some photos might look good in small reproductions with “the wrong lens” but are not of the quality needed for large size reproductions. I had a similar problem with a long lens that did not work for one camera and had to make do with a maximum 300mm lens rather than a longer-distance covering abilities of a 500mm lens. There was not much of a problem using the available lens for the Middle Schools games that used shorter 30-yard boundaries.
Asian Television Network (ATN) was present during Saturday’s event in Brampton, and CBC’s (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s) visit to see the York Memorial girls team prepare for Saturday was mentioned by the CIMA President during
the welcoming phase on Saturday.
SUMMARY SCORES – GTA Boys High Schools Playoffs
Summary scores from the 2014 GTA Boys High Schools semi-final series and final conclude this portrait of Saturday’s action. Thanks to the scorers and the scorer input persons for their efforts.
CIMA/CIBC GTA Boys High Schools Semi-final series – May 31, 2013
North Park SS 40/5 (6 ov: Lakshan Geegna 13, Malhar Patel 2/10, Dhruv Patel 2/13) lost to North Albion CI 41/2 (6 ov; Karen Patel 28*, Shivang Kantawala 13*, Karan Patel 2/6) by eight wickets [Match played on the South ground]
Pierre Elliott Trudeau HS 43/2 (6 ov; Sheehan Sarap 12*, Muhib Azar 12) lost to Lincoln M. Alexander SS 44/4 (5.5 ov; Rohan Kundlass 13, Adeel Shahzad 3/9) by six wickets [Match played on the North ground]
North Albion SS 45/5 (6 ov; Karen Patel 21, Afnan Ayubi 2/15) beat Lincoln M. Alexander 37/6 (6 ov; Shivang Kantawala 3/7) by eight runs [Match played on the South ground]
Fletcher’s Meadow SS 60/4 (6 ov; Taha Ahmed 27, Shan Anantharaja 13*) beat Pierre Elliott Trudeau HS 47/6 (6 ov: Haseeb Ashfaq 31, Nuwan Abeysena 2/12) by 13 runs [Match played on the North ground]
North Park SS 44/4 (6 ov; Abdullah Khkhar 17, Karan Patel 14, Dipesh Bhatt 2/13) beat Fletcher’s Meadow SS 34/7 (6 ov; Karen Patel 2/6, Lakshan Geegna 2/10) by 10 runs [Match played on the North ground]
CIMA Boys High Schools Final for the 2014 GTA CIBC Trophy
North Park SS 99 all out (19.5 ov; Zargham Nasir 19, Malhar Patel 3/16) lost to
North Albion CI 99/5 (19 ov; Shivang Kantawala 40*) by five wickets.
[Match played on the South ground]
North Albion CI wins the 2014 GTA CIBC Trophy
(Eddie Norfolk with scores from CIMA Canada)