Follow-up of a message that Skypers had recently won the Fort McMurray 40-over championship to go with the T20 success sealed on July 12, 2015 lead to a number of other items of Alberta cricketing news from beyond the major enclaves of Calgary and Edmonton.
Fort McMurray Oilanders beat Grande Prairie Warriors to capture the RBC Fort McMurray Cricket Champions Trophy on Labour Day Monday (Sep 7, 2015) at Syncrude Athletic Park. A win reported by “ Fort McMurray Today”. Fort McMurray won all three round-robin games then beat Grande Prairie Warriors by 2 wickets in the final. In round-robin play, Fort McMurray Oilanders beat Calgary Kanata Panthers by 7 wickets, Saskatchewan Riders by 1 wicket and concluded with a narrow 5 run win against Grande Prairie Warriors.
The Oilanders struck 119/6 from 20 overs to head off the Warriors. Haider Ali hit 44* and Shehzad Khan 37. Chirag Patel came through with the bat for the Oilanders in round-robin play against Grande Prairie Warriors with 44 runs then captured 4 wickets for 13 runs from 4 overs in the final against the Warriors.
In August 2015, Fort McMurray had won the Red Deer Cricket Cup, organized by the Central Alberta Cricket Association, according to a report in the “Red Deer Express” (August 19, 2015). Fort McMurray and Red Deer each beat a team from Calgary and one from Edmonton to reach the final. It was Fort McMurray Cricket Club’s first venture to Red Deer, according to a preview published by the “Red Deer Advocate” (August 6, 2015).
The facebook page of the Alberta Cricket Foundation reports that the Sri Lanka team won the Lethbridge and Area Cricket Association’s inaugural cricket tournament in June 2015. Four teams participated; the other three teams being two reflecting Indian heritage and a Rest of the World team.
The Lethbridge and Area CA has a T20 cricket championship and a Summer League played to a maximum of 12 overs per side. Lethbridge Lankans and Lethbridge Warriors top the standings with 2 wins each from 2 games according to CricHQ. Lethbridge Tigers have won 1 and lost two games leaving the Lethbridge World XI at the foot of the standings with 3 losses from 3 games.
Lethbridge Stars have won 4 and lost 3 in the Summer League. Lethbridge Challengers have an even record of 4 wins and 4 defeats. Lethbridge Riders are on 3 wins and 4 defeats according to the current CricHQ standings. The Summer League is scheduled to conclude on October 4, 2015.
Lethbridge is in southern Alberta. Calgary is to the northwest of Lethbridge, Red Deer is about midway between Calgary and Edmonton. Fort McMurray is well to the north-east of Edmonton, about 430 km, while Grande Prairie is quite a long way, about 450 km, to the north-west of Edmonton.
The Grande Prairie Cricket Association’s 2015 season wrapped up last Sunday (Sept 13) when Grande Prairie Warriors beat Grande Prairie Lions by 23 runs to win the Challenger Cup. Warriors made 120 all out from 19.1 overs then bowled out the Lions for 98 after 19 overs of this Twenty20 game. The Grande Prairie “Daily Herald Tribune” report about Sunday’s final also confirms that the Lions beat the Stars on July 5, 2015 to win the Grande Prairie Cricket Association’s version of the Champions Trophy.
GPCA President, Mr. Digvijay Singh Parmar is quoted as saying “the quality of cricket and the skills have improved quite a bit (since last year)” to the Daily Herald Tribune correspondent, Logan Clow.
Game scores for the Lethbridge and Area Cricket Association and the Grande Prairie Cricket Association’s regular season games can be found on CricHQ.
Overall it appears a few people are attempting to lead cricket’s development in a number of places throughout Alberta. (EN)