Canada - Bermuda; help wanted!
1 August 2004
Canadacricket.com is looking for a volunteer to supply brief reports from the upcoming InterContinental Cup encounter between Canada and Bermuda. Canada will be looking a win, and qualification for the finals of this tournament for associate ICC members. This match is classified as first-class by the ICC; the last first-class match played in Canada was in 1951, when Canada played the MCC in Toronto.
This will be an interesting but challenging assignment for any keen cricket fan with aspirations to journalism. The greatest challenge however will be finding out where the match is being played. The match is scheduled to be played over three days, in the Toronto area, August 13-15. ICC regulations stipulate that the match must be played on a turf wicket, a restriction that theoretically should not pose a problem to the CCA. At the conclusion of the ICC Trophy in 2001, the Toronto area had inherited top-quality turf wickets prepared by the best in the business at Malton, Ross Lord, Ajax, King City, Sunnybrook, and in addition the Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club had been hosting international cricket since 1996 on good turf pitches. The obvious choice to an outsider for a major event such as this would be the TCSCC a good wicket in a lovely setting, accessible by public transport and centrally located. This would be an excellent opportunity to promote Canadian cricket. The second choice would be the King City complex where the turf wickets are well maintained, and facilities are good albeit somewhat inaccessible. It appears however that the CCA are unwilling to pay the user fees requested by those who run these two facilities and are scrambling to find an alternative. Malton by all accounts is not in the running, with the turf wicket gone beyond repair, and it would appear that Sunybrook and Ross Lord are not much better. All matches at these facilities have been played on matting or artificial wickets so far this year, and it would be a brave, and perhaps foolish decision to put such an important game on a hurriedly prepared and untested wicket.
The expertise to prepare and maintain turf wickets certainly exists Chris Chappell has done a fine job both before and after the ICC Trophy, but it would be a challenge indeed to prepare the sort of strip that will last three days a challenge that the US appeared to fail in Canadašs Florida match. It seems to be obvious that this match should be played at the TCSCC, and any costs offset by sensible promotion and a modest entry fee. The official site of the CCA offers no clue as to their plans (with the latest news being the Americas Cup win of last month) but we hope in the next two weeks at least the venue will become clear- and perhaps even a squad announced. So, if you are interested in demonstrating your skils as a cricket reporter- please contact us!
Update: August 2nd
We've learned that indeed the CCA will not play at the TCSCC or King City, and have been looking at the remaining options. A quick visit to the two possible venues- Ross Lord and Sunnybrook did not reveal a pretty picture. The grass strips at Ross Lord are in a sorry state, and it appears even with considerable work would not be ready in two weeks time. It appears that the CCA are banking on Sunnybrook, where there were no games this weekend, and considerable work appears to have been done on the possible wicket. The grass immediately adjacent to the new astroturf wicket has been cut and a hose pipe left on the grass that is to be the renovated wicket. This area however has an area of bare soil, where the turf has been torn away in two places. There are innumerable 'pock marks' within the area of the newly cut grass. It is hard to envisage that grass will grow in these pock marks before the Bermuda game. These pock marks are more than the lack of grass. They are indentations below the level of the surrounding grass, but not as deep as the two places where the turf is missing.
It is hard to believe that the CCA is willing to chance the future and safety of their national team to this venue. There are no covers, few facilities (during the ICC Trophy trents were erected as changing rooms, and for scorers), but more to the point is the state of the wicket. It is rumoured that the groundsman in charge of the renovation is Austin Ward, long time CCA executive meber and chairman of the selection committee. Although Mr Ward is not without expereince in ground maintainance, he certainly has never had to prepare a turf wicket for a game at this level and of this duration. If the CCA insists on pursuing this course, then expect a low-scoring game - a very low scoring game, but of more concern is the player's safety. Fortunately neither site possesses bowling of genuine pace but even a medium pacer can be unpleasant on a poor turf surface. One wonders if thse you rely on cricket as their career (Canada's captain for instance) will be wiling to risk themselves at all.
Update, August 3: a poster on the forum states "The game will be played at Sunnybrook Park from the 13th to the 15th August. Contrary to the information posted on this website the wicket will be ready for the match. The Parks Board has assisted the T&D and the CCA by providing some funds and resources to restore the wicket. A lot of work has been done and is ongoing. The game was moved here due to the fact that both the TCSCC and King City asked for a ground usage fee which was judged by the CCA to be to high. There will be a dinner for both teams at the Armour Heights Military School on Wilson Road, near the TCSCC. This dinner will be open to the public who wish to purchase tickets. Price, date and details will be published later this week." This information does not appear on the CCA web site as yet and should be considered unofficial. As is clear above, perhaps this poster's definition of ready differs somewhat from ours; even during the ICC Trophy the Sunnybrook turf wicket was by no means the best available. The highest total made on it was 166 by Uganada against France, and it was not used for 2nd round matches.
Ross Lord... |
pock marks in the wicket at Sunnybrook |
The grass surface at at Sunnybrook - ready for first-class cricket? |
(Canadacricket.com).