Reigate Priory XI 183/3 (20 ov) beat RBC CIMA Mayors’ XI 134/6 (20 ov) by 49 runs
The RBC CIMA Mayors’ XI had an interesting test on Monday afternoon (July 21, 2014) against a Reigate Priory XI. The host club’s first XI plays in the Premier Division of the Surrey league while the club’s Under-19 is involved in the Surrey section of the England and Wales Cricket Board’s Under-19 championship. On Friday the club is due to play the Lashings XI that will include a mixture of international cricketers, most retired from top-flight cricket but with well known names. On Monday evening the Reigate Reapers were involved in the Surrey section of the ECB Under-19 championship, a tournament sponsored by NatWest Bank.

Monday afternoon saw, with hindsight, a number of Reigate Priory’s Monday evening Under-19 team playing against the RBC CIMA Mayor’s XI. Sharyar Iqbal took an early wicket, but the new batsman, Will Fry, quickly turned 1/1 into 20/1 by the end of the second over. Fry went on to make 63 before being caught by Armaan Kapoor off the bowling of Shivang Kantawala. The number two batsman, known for now as Evern (possibly Luke Beaven?), top-scored with 64 before he was caught by Rohit Malhotra off Kantawala’s bowling. Tom Massey scored 21 not out and one Haughton (either Luke or Rory) was 22 not out when the Priory XI’s innings closed on 183/3 after 20 overs.

Shivang Kantawala took two for 36 from three overs, Sharyar Iqbal took one for 19 from his one over, after taking a wicket with his first ball. Will Fry’s 63 included nine boundaries and one hit for six. Evern’s 64 included two sixes and three boundaries, both batsmen picked up several singles.

Captain Armaan Kapoor, who played for Canada in this year’s ICC Under-19 World Cup, and Shan Anantharajah, who top-scored in the recent Cricket Canada Under-17 Canada Cup, opened the innings for the Mayor’s XI. This pair added around 45 for the first wicket before Shan Anantharajah was bowled by Luke Haughton for 19. Armaan Kapoor top-scored with 43 (including 2×6’s, 4×4’s) before being caught off Jai Patel. Zaeem Sagri was caught for 4, Dhruv Patel was bowled for 19, Pushinder Sandhu was run out for 6 and Rohit Malhotra was caught for 3. Sabes Rasanayagem (18 not out) and Malhar Patel (14 not out) added some 36 runs for the seventh wicket during the last seven overs of the innings. The RBC CIMA Mayor’s XI’s innings ended on 134/6 after 20 overs, leaving the Reigate Priory XI with a win by 49 runs.

Luke Haughtin took 2/19 from three overs and Jai Patel took 3/21 from three overs for Reigate Priory.

The “what happened next” part of the day’s cricket provides an interesting comparison, possibly more interesting if one considered the available facilities at the host ground. The Reigate Reapers, possibly after being able to shower and change clothing, went out and scored 147/5 from 20 overs against the Horley Thunder in the Under-19 game. Luke Haughton scored 50, at which point it seems the competition rules dictate he had to “retire not out”, the first wicket fell in the 90’s and his opening partner, Harry Keay, scored some 43 or 44 runs. Horley Thunder was restricted to 93/9, losing to the Reigate Reapers by 54 runs.

One of the CIMA XI’s practice sessions/warm-up games in the Toronto area was washed out before the trip across the Atlantic was made last Friday into Saturday. We will never know if the CIMA side might have come closer to par with the Reigate Priory side if there had been an extra day or two for the tourists to acclimatize. It is a situation the Canadian senior national side has faced in the past, and even the Canadian juniors had limited local preparation time before this year’s ICC Under-19 World Cup.

Who knows what could be achieved with sustained funding in Canadian cricket? Funding that could support the enhancement and ongoing maintenance of playing facilities and pavilions at several grounds across the country. Private efforts have created a number of academies, particularly in the Greater Toronto Area, while some clubs, leagues and provinces do their best to develop young players. The opportunity to play cricket indoors exists, doubtless in widely varying facilities in different places within Canada.

Meanwhile some useful Canadian cricketers, such as Karun Jethi, show up on our cricketing radar playing for the Old Wimbledonians against the RBC CIMA Mayor’s XI, and scoring 60 runs. This seems to be his first season for Old Wimbledonians. He has scored 242 runs from 11 innings with a top score of 59 in a league game, according to available club statistics. Karun Jethi picked up 4/18 against Old Rutlishians and took 3/16 in another game.

C.P. Singh, who scored 27, against the CIMA tourists on Sunday is in his second season for Old Wimbledonians. Last year he scored four centuries for the Old Wimbledonians, with a particular liking for the bowling of the Bank of England against whom he scored 126 and 124. He also scored centuries against Staines and Laleham C.C. (114), and Epsom C.C. (106) last year.

Some of the scoring information, including names of opposing players, from matches already played is likely to be updated over the course of this tour, and after the tourists return to the Greater Toronto Area. Reliance is placed on photos of game scorecards, plus some research into club websites which can assist, and can raise questions such as finding out if the Karun Jethi playing for Old Wimbledonians was the former Canadian international player. He won the man-of-the-match award for scoring some runs and taking a couple of wickets on his ODI debut for Canada against Bermuda in 2008. It was the opening game in the 2008 Scotiabank international tri-series that included the West Indies.
　
The West Indies Regional Under-19 3-day championship began in Guyana on Tuesday and the WICB Regional Under-15 one-day championship also began in Jamaica.

Earlier RBC CIMA Mayor’s XI Tour Results

July 20, 2014 Old Wimbledonians 168/9 (20 ov; Karun Jethi 60, C.P. Singh 27, Shan Anantharajah 3 wkts, Malhar Patel 2 wkts) beat RBC CIMA Mayors’ XI 136/8 (20 ov; Zaeem Sagri 31, Muhammad Shahzad 30) by 32 runs

Eddie Norfolk, based on scoring information provided by the RBC CIMA Mayor’s touring party.