Bur Oak beat last year’s champions Pierre Elliott Trudeau by 24 runs on Thursday (October 16, 2014) to win the 2014-2015 York Regional Athletic Association (YRAA) Varsity Cricket Championship at Fairtree Community Park, Markham. Bur Oak scored 93/3 from 15 overs lead by opening bats: Zora Zakir with 53 not out and 37 from Meet Patel. Pierre Elliott Trudeau replied with 69/5 from 15 overs. Manib made an aggressive 30. in the closing overs that included two sixes in an over from Zora Zakir. But the Bur Oak bowlers had put pressure on Trudeau during the earlier overs. It did not seem easy to score boundaries from good looking ground strokes. . .

Meet Patel followed his 37 runs with 4/11 from 4 overs. Patel’s early aggression with the bat benefited from a couple of missed catches in the deep. Zakir then blossomed after Patel was out.

The playoff for third place was won by Middlefield who scored 63/4 from 14.2 overs in response to Richmond Hill’s 62/6 from 15 overs.

The weather forecast had not been too promising with showers indicated as likely to dominate the day but the sun made a brief appearance during the third place match and returned to shine during the final. There was a slight drizzle when I set out for the ground early on Thursday morning. Some spots of rain began to fall as I reached home and have given way to the sounds of raindrops on windows, and a roll of thunder to suggest the outdoor cricket season is probably over in Canada. But today’s games were played, several players showed promise for the future, and the finalists shook hands after the game ended.

“The spirit of cricket must be maintained at all times” was the message delivered during the closing ceremonies of the 2014 Atlantic T20 Championships on Prince Edward Island. There were some lapses in one or two games I saw in the later part of this season, but the spirit of the game shone in the sun today. (EN).