A game of haves and have not -- Posted Tuesday, July 31 2007
An amateur solution in a professional world
Amid all the World Cup headlines, one piece of news from Holland understandably slipped under the radar. Daan van Bunge, who is destined to be forever introduced as the man who Herschelle Gibbs smashed for six sixes in an over, announced that he was retiring from international cricket.
In itself, that's not earth-shattering news. He is just one of many players who will choose to bow out after the game's biggest tournament. The difference is that van Bunge is 24, talented, and represents the future for Netherlands cricket.
The reason he gave for his decision was that he could not commit the necessary time to play for his country as well as pursue a full-time job. That should set alarm bells ringing across all the Associates and within the offices of the ICC. There is a real danger that as the demands on part-time cricketers increase, more will decide that balancing those with other aspects of their lives is not practical.
Martin Williamson cricinfo
Celebrate 150th Birthday of Waterloo City with WSCC -- Posted Tuesday, July 31 2007
Waterloo Sunrise Cricket Club is celebrating the 150th birthday of Waterloo City as a Community Sports event at the Waterloo Park on August 5, 2007.
Come and enjoy the day with WSCC.
Sunrise Cricket Club (SCC) based in Kitchener - Waterloo is a member of Southern Ontario Cricket Association.
Sunrise Cricket Club came into existence with a philosophy and a six pronged initiative:
To participate in competitive cricket games in a fair and fun loving atmosphere
To build a club that will attract cricket lovers young and old as members who will promote the game in the tri-city area and Canada
To enhance fairness and build unity in the cricket loving communities
To strive for playing the games by upholding the best sportsman spirit and selection fairness
To develop healthy and physically active young cricket community who emulate passion for the game and instill discipline in their attitude
To promote spirit of Volunteerism and engage youth in constructive team environment
More details can be located at http://www.sunrisecricketclub.com/Sportsday.pdf
Ontario Cricket Association funding from the Ontario Government -- Posted Monday, July 30 2007
The current Board of Control for cricket in Ontario, wishes to address the findings of the Auditor General's Report presented on July 27,2007 pertaining to the Ontario Cricket Association.
Firstly, we wish to acknowledge that all the facts as presented in the report are correct. The main controversy seems to be that the OCA applied for $150,000 but instead received $1,000,000. None of the current members of OCA Board were privy to any information or communication between the then OCA Board and Minister Coll.
After talking to some people involved in the process,the following is what probably transpired:
1. A formal request was made for funding for the improvement of infrastructure and facilities at Maple Leaf Cricket Club in King City, Ontario.
2. At the same time verbal submissions were also made for funding to sustain the ongoing programs, and initiate new programs. With Mr Colle's knowledge of the state of the game in Ontario, he understood our needs and perhaps decided to approve the funding as such.
3. The OCA used to get $100,000 per year from the Ontario Government in the past. However for the past several years,virtually little or no support was received by the OCA from the Government of Ontario.
As per the other issues in the report, here is what has been done and is being done:
*The current OCA Board has adopted a policy of transparency from day one; any time anyone wishes to check our books, we will comply.
*No expense of more than $500 can be incurred without prior approval of the board
*All OCA cheques will be signed by at least 2 of the 3 signing officers
*An internal audit had been ordered even before the Auditor General got involved in this affair and a final report will be presented to the ministry and appropriate actions will be taken.
*The OCA Board has been very conscious of the fact that we have received public funds and we are conducting ourselves in a very professional and responsible manner and the report acknowledges that.
*Programs are being conducted on an on-going basis to meet the growth of cricket in Ontario, including involvement of the school boards to introduce cricket in the schools for the first time.
*University cricket and Womens' cricket has seen support from the OCA.
*Youth training camps,coaching clinics,inter-league play and participation from Ottawa to Windsor is at an all time high.
*Infrastructure and capital expenditure where needed,is being scrutinized.
*With income from the investment,all of the above and a few more initiatives are being undertaken and planned for the future of cricket in Ontario
Although $1,000,000 sounds like a lot of money,it barely addresses the minimum basic needs of cricket in Ontario,as it is the fastest growing sport in Canada. We are extremely thankful to the Government of Ontario for providing the absolutely needed critical funding. I am reasonably sure if someone had put the verbal submissions of the OCA on a piece of paper and presented it to the Government, much of this controversy would not have risen.
Thank you.
Mohan(Mike)Kendall
President
Ontario Cricket Association
Maple Leaf CC and the grant -- Posted Monday, July 30 2007
Cricket club distances itself from grant scandal
toronto.ctv.ca
The Ontario Cricket Association is concerned its connection to the provincial slush-fund scandal will cause a black mark on the sport and hinder future funding for the organization.
The OCA received $1 million in grant money from the provincial government when it requested only $150,000 for facilities upgrades.
The association still has $500,000 of the grant money in a GIC, which continues to earn interest.
The new executive of the OCA has instituted guidelines as to how that money will be spent and has vowed the funds will not be handled in the same manner as the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration.
Ontario's Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Mike Colle tendered his resignation Thursday after Auditor-General Jim McCarter revealed in his report that Colle's office awarded grants to multicultural groups without an accountable application process.
"The decision behind who got what were often based on conversations and not applications," McCarter said during a press conference on Thursday.
McCarter's report investigated nearly $32 million in year-end grants that were hastily handed out to 110 community groups as the past two fiscal years came to and end.
The Maple Leaf Cricket Club at Dufferin Street and Bloomington Road is the main facility for cricket training and playing in Canada.
Despite the increase in grant money received, the president and treasurer of the club says the facility is still heavily under funded and in desperate need of repair.
"I need $2 million minimum," Ranjit Saini told CTV News on Friday.
"Money is needed to house athletes, to create better facilities and washrooms for international players. Even with $250,000 only makeshift type of work has been done in certain areas."
Saini said his main concern is that the club's connection to the grant scandal will limit the amount of funding the OCA receives in the future.
Premier Dalton McGuinty apologized to Ontarians on Thursday for not respecting their tax dollars and vowed the province would do a better job.
With a report from CTV's MairiAnna Bachynsky
Report sourced from:-
http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20070726/auditor_report_070727/20070727?hub=TorontoHome
POLITICS: THE MIKE COLLE AFFAIR
Cricket group's leader rebuffs call to return Ontario grant
$1-million payment singled out in report by Auditor-General on suspicious funds
KAREN HOWLETT
With a report from Murray Campbell
July 28, 2007
TORONTO -- The head of the Ontario Cricket Association said it should not have to return any of the $1-million grant it received from the Ontario government and, in fact, he plans to ask for more funding.
The association is at the centre of the controversy that led to the sudden resignation of an Ontario cabinet minister this week. The association received $1-million in February of 2006 after asking for only $150,000.
"It was a nice surprise," said Mike Kendall, who became president of the association in January. "This was a much-needed boost."
The association has spent $360,000, including $250,000 bringing a cricket pitch in King City north of Toronto up to international standards. Of the $640,000 remaining, half is sitting in a GIC.
Premier Dalton McGuinty said yesterday that he has asked newly appointed Citizenship and Immigration Minister Gerry Phillips to look at whether groups such as the cricket association should return some of the unspent money.
Mr. Phillips said he was not prepared to say whether some of the grants could be recovered.
His predecessor, Mike Colle, resigned after provincial Auditor-General Jim McCarter released a scathing report on the $32.4-million doled out by his ministry over the past two years with little or no paperwork. The grant to the cricket association was one of three highlighted in the auditor's report.
"The report clearly shows that we came up short when it comes to openness, transparency and accountability," Mr. McGuinty told reporters yesterday.
But Mr. Kendall said in an interview that his association should not have to give back any money.
"I think that would be very unfair. We're conducting ourselves very responsibly."
But well before the provincial auditor showed up at his door, Mr. Kendall had concerns about how some of the money was spent. He said he hired an accountant in March or April to do an audit of how grant money was spent, including $28,000 in cheques made out simply to cash.
The cheques were signed by Errol Townsend, a Toronto lawyer and former president of the association. Mr. Townsend could not be reached for comment yesterday. But Mr. McCarter said Mr. Townsend explained to him that the cheques were to reimburse Mr. Townsend for payments he had made to various individuals involved with the King City project.
Mr. Kendall said the association now requires two signatures on every cheque. Once the auditor completes his report, he said, a copy will be submitted to the government.
Mr. McCarter said yesterday that the association's new management shared many of his concerns.
"We got some comfort that they were taking it pretty seriously," he said.
Mr. Kendall said the association plans to seek further government funding to help ensure it has adequate facilities to meet international cricket standards and attract teams from other countries.
"This amount of money is barely scratching the surface of what's needed," he said. "Cricket is growing exponentially in Canada. As the sport grows we need to have infrastructure facilities in place."
Article sourced from:-
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070728.ONTCOLLE28/TPStory/TPNational/Politics/
A reflection on the MCC -- Posted Sunday, July 29 2007
The Marylebone Cricket Club would have you believe that they are a family of cricketers who trace their collective genealogy back to before the days the game was played on grass by gentlemen, hence the name “Lords” for their ancestral home. Far from it. For those who bemoan the current plight of cricket with it’s betting, professionalism, marketing and match fixing, you will be comforted to know that the genus of the MCC and Lords was in gambling and the desire of the English nobility to do their scandalous business out of the eyes of the prying public. Go to the MCC website and click on to History and there it is for the likes of cricketing boards of inquiry, police forces, the News Of The World, Mesar’s Malik, Cronje, may he rest in peace, and the whole world to see; “Like shooting and fox hunting, cricket was considered a manly sport for the elite, with plenty of gambling opportunities to boot. Around 20,000 pounds was bet on a series of games between Old Etonians and England back in 1751. As the population of London grew, so did the nobility’s impatience with the crowds that gathered to watch them play. In pursuit of exclusivity, they therefore approached Thomas Lord, …and asked him to set up a private ground with their backing.” The MCC is older than an anachronism and some would say colour blind as evidenced by their choice of family colours, scrambled eggs and ketchup; I suspect gender blind as well, why they refused to recognize the existence of woman until 1998, when as the MCC information package trumpets: “The superb new Grand Stand was opened to great acclaim in 1998-when Members also took the decisive move to allow woman to apply for membership of the Club” My first recollection of the MCC is sitting by my grandfather’s side and listening to the BBC World Service. For 5 minutes here and 10 minutes there, I was transported to Lords or some other cricket venue to listen to the MCC versus Australia or the West Indies. Australia was always Australia, the West Indies the West Indies, but England was always the MCC. Those recollections have stayed with me to the present. When we went to build a radio link for the cricket club webpage there was only one choice, the BBC World Service. I do not know why, but I have comfort in those acronyms, the BBC and the MCC. Today I went searching for the MCC on the Internet. I tried lords.org and lords.com without success. I tried mcc.org and mcc.com upper and lower case without success, only to be disappointed to find what I was searching for at ecb.co.uk, which is “powered” by the Microsoft of cricket, cricinfo. I genuinely hope the name the Marylebone Cricket Club does not disappear from the cricket radar screen to become associated with a brand of sports apparel marketed over the net, but I fear it and your sponsors may drive you to it.
The above authored by C.V. Twist, published on Vancouver's "Home of the Brockton Point Cricket Club" at http://www.cricketclub.org/
Brighter future for cricketers -- Posted Saturday, July 28 2007
Sartorial elegance is often the most important criteria for fashionistas when it comes to the ideal pair of sunglasses.
And you could be forgiven for thinking the same parameters apply for a select group of cricketers judging by their eyewear of choice.
But the natty wraparound sunglasses serve a more serious purpose than just aesthetics. In fact, they could potentially revolutionize the way the game is played.
As well as blocking harmful ultraviolet light emitted from the sun, advances in optical technology now mean players have the option of using lenses which increase the amount of light in their field of vision.
Such technology could have come in very handy at Lord's last week when bad light prevented England from beating India in the first Test.
Fast forward five years and bad light stopped play could find itself confined alongside underarm bowling in the bin of cricket history.
One man who has worked extensively in this field is England and Wales Cricket Board optometrist Nick Dash, who configures the England players' individual sunglasses depending on their optical needs.
"Certain sunglasses can increase the contrast of different colours and are often perceived as increasing the visibility of specific tasks," he told BBC Sport.
"Players often have two or three different lens types, one which is used in bright light and one that is used at the end of the day.
"So you can have a lens that allows 28% of the light in and one that allows 50%.
"However, a great addition over the last month or so has been the photochromic/transition lenses that enhance the red ball but also change darkness depending on the amount of light."
Most England players use lenses which specifically filter light from the green end of the spectrum, enhancing the red end of light and therefore making the ball more visible in all conditions.
Great news for fielders, not so great for batsmen, who probably spend more time staring at the ball than any other players.
As batting helmets tend to get hot very quickly, sunglasses worn underneath are more than likely to mist up at inopportune moments.
As Kevin Pietersen succinctly told BBC Sport: "It wouldn't be fun facing a bowler charging in at 95mph with your glasses misted up."
According to Dash, vented lenses are available on the market, but no company has completely resolved the issue.
But one major advancement has been the introduction of tinted contact lens, an innovation which has been embraced by baseball players in the United States as well as England wicket-keeper Matt Prior.
"Unlike sunglasses these lenses sit directly on the wearer's eye, reducing visual distortion and giving clear vision from all angles," said Dash, who is based at Loughborough University.
"They suppress the blue end of the spectrum and relatively enhance the red end so you can see a red ball stand out much more against a confusing background, making it pop out.
"These lenses are based on a red/orange tint and research has shown that choosing the correct tint can improve depth perception.
"However, the issue is less critical when batting because the helmet shades the eyes and so limits the glare issues."
The optical industry isn't one that rests on its laurels, so expect to see a Test batsman wearing a pair of mist-free sunglasses under a helmet in the not too distant future.
By Pranav Soneji
Story from BBC SPORT:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/sport2/hi/cricket/6896095
Free Summer Youth Cricket Camp -- Posted Friday, July 27 2007
Hamilton & District Cricket League, in association with Ontario Cricket Association, is proud to announce a Free Summer Youth Cricket Camp for the youths of Hamilton & District between ages of 10 and 18 years to be held at Crescent Cricket Club Ground, Mohawk Sports Park, Hamilton starting from August 13th, 2007 to August 17th 2007
Free To All Participants between ages of 10 and 18 years
Coaching to be provided by renowned coach, Mr. Abdul Majid, one of the Elite Under-19 Coaches from Pakistan
Registration will be available on first come first serve basis.
Zaki Ullah (Event Coordinator)
Vice President
Hamilton & District Cricket League
(905)-560-5144 or (905)-387-9050
zaki.ullah@hdcl.ca
Mr. Rupert Albert
President
Hamilton Cricket Club
(905)979-3796
rupert@hdcl.ca
Ranjit Chaudhri
President, HDCL
416-737-1276 or president@hdcl.ca
Information sourced from http://hdcl.ca/archive/
OCA $1 million grant questioned by auditors -- Posted Friday, July 27 2007
The Toronto Star reports:-
"Mike Colle must have looked like Santa Claus to the folks at the Ontario Cricket Association.
The group was cleared for a $1 million grant just a day after a request for $150,000 was made to Colle's ministry of citizenship and immigration in February 2006 to bring a cricket pitch in suburban King City up to international standards.
They didn't even have to ask.
And before they knew it, Colle and Premier Dalton McGuinty appeared in person at a cricket dinner to announce the good news.
"We were shocked. It was a great surprise," Ontario Cricket Association president Mike Kendall told the Star yesterday from his office in Kitchener. "It was, `Oh, wow! Somebody's finally thinking cricket ... it's about time.'""
...
"Spending controls weren't loose just in Colle's ministry.
The auditor found a similar problem at the cricket association, where cheques totalling $28,000 were made out to "cash" to reimburse members of the executive for money paid to tradespeople for the pitch upgrade and for supplies they purchased themselves. There were no receipts.
Shortly after McCarter's staff visited this spring, procedures were tightened, Kendall said, requiring board approval for expenditures over $500 and at least two signatures on cheques.
"We have nothing to hide. Our books are open."...
Full article
The Conscience of Cricket -- Posted Wednesday, July 25 2007
Since 1788 the MCC and Lords have been the home, heart, soul and conscience of cricket. I can’t remember quite when they were replaced but it may have been at about the time the Lords of Cricket stood four square against Kerry Packer and limited overs cricket.
The new monsters of the midway called the ICC moved into Lords to share digs with the England Cricket Board, the MCC and Middlesex. The marriage was short lived and the ICC currently resides in Dubai not only to reflect the shift of the axis of power in cricket to Asia and Africa but also to take advantage of the laws that allow them to hoard the money they mine from cricket.
It took about 200 years to undermine the power of the MCC over cricket. It has taken barely 25 to 30 years for the ICC to hand it back. The why is not too hard to discern.
The last world cup was a local community relations disaster. The previous world cup in South Africa will be remembered for the lip service paid by the English to the rule of law and New Zealand to their contractual agreements.
It is not to say that the world has not changed but the moral compass has not. Cricket is a game. Its beauty is in its simplicity. Three pegs, bails, a ball and a bat and the game is on. When concluded the green space is returned to park. No goal posts to mar the view.
As for the MCC Committee recommendations I would go further than the MCC and not only ban glue to cement wickets but artificial wickets of any kind.
As for the MCC reasserting its position as the conscience of cricket as a first step they should consider reasserting their independence from the oligopolies that control cricket by having a communications presence on the internet separate from cricinfo.
June 11, 2007 Cricinfo announced that they had been sold to Disney, one of the biggest corporate oligopolies on the block, trading on the NYSE at $34.15, volume on the day 6.9 million shares traded. Now there is a pleasant thought, the M.C.C. media and communications, being controlled by a Disney subsidiary. So much for the conscience of cricket reasserting itself through the M.C.C.
Christopher Van Twest
Article sourced from:-
http://www.cricketclub.org/article_the_conscience_of_cricket.html
Under 11 tour to California -- Posted Tuesday, July 24 2007
My name is Shehan Sarap and I was given the opportunity to captain the U-11 tour for the Toronto Cricket Academy in Cupertino, California.
Following is a record of my experience of the tour.
When I left my house I had the butterflies in my stomach and I was really excited for this trip. When we arrived at the airport, I saw most of my team mates talking to each other and the parents as well, Our coach then arrived and gave us a pep talk. We said our good-byes to all the parents and we departed. A few hours later we arrived at Minneapolis for transit, and then we took our connecting flight to San Jose, California. 3 hours later we arrived in San Jose and took a bus to Budget rent a car to rent 3 mini vans for all of us. Once we got the mini vans we drove to our hotel and rested there for the game the next day.
The next day we woke up and went down for breakfast. Once everyone was ready we took off for our first game. Our final round robin stats were won: 2 lost: 1 which enabled us to be in the playoffs which we lost to the California Jaguars. One of our players Asad Syiid was named man of the tournament with scores of 6, 75, 72 & 63.
Captaining the TCA team was a privilege and made me gain much experience in the strategy of the sport. I learned how to set fields and how to respect both my players and the opposition. We also did some sightseeing in San Francisco where we traveled on the Golden Gate Bridge.
I was really happy of what we’ve achieved and learned from this tour. I am thankful to President of TCA Mr. Hale, Coach Santosh, and Mr. Taploo for arranging this tour and not forgetting all our parents for their support, encouragement and love. I am also thankful to all my team mates for their support given to me during this tour. We returned to Canada the next day and we were happy to be back home with our families again. The biggest lesson that we learned was it doesn’t matter if you win or lose, but how you play the game.
Canadian National Universities Twenty20 tournament -- Posted Monday, July 23 2007
Ryerson victory overshowed by poor organisation
Eddie Norfolk
July 23, 2007
Ryerson University won the first Canadian National Universities Twenty20 tournament late on Friday night, beating McMaster University (Hamilton) in the final.
The scheduled final almost did not take place as the tournament supervising umpire from the Canadian Cricket Association (CCA) proved a highly immovable object to the sentiments of the participating teams. McMaster beat Seneca College in one semi-final and Ryerson edged out the fancied University of Toronto Scarborough (UTS) campus in the other.
It was noticed that one of the Ryerson batsman had not been declared in the original team list of 11 players. At one point, Ryerson were deemed to have lost, and UTS were told the final would be forfeited if they did not take the field. There was a lot of sympathy from the attending students as both last and this year's event owed a massive debt to the key organiser from Ryerson.
Figures showing how McMaster had qualified ahead of Ryerson on run-rate for last year's final have not been publicly disclosed, to the best of my knowledge. I arrived on Friday morning uncertain as to the four semi-finalists. It seems the calculations and discussions went on until late. The ability to advise local media of the line-up for the big-day and a desire to draw a decent crowd evaporated during Thursday night's deliberations and confusion.
The designated CCA vice-president responsible for schools, colleges and universities cricket, as well as umpiring and scoring, was not present. He attended the opening ceremony on Monday. Eventually the CCA president arrived and about 50 minutes later a replay of five-overs-a-side between Ryerson and U of T Scarborough began.
U of T Scarborough, including Trevin Bastiampillai, one of Canada's batting hero's from the recent ICC Intercontinental Cup win over UAE, made 45 for 4. Ryerson overhauled this total in the fourth over for the loss of two wickets.
Closing speeches followed before McMaster U went out and scored 104 for 5 wickets in a match shortened to 12 overs because of problems caused by the setting sun, Hassan Mir leading from the front with an unbeaten 49. Those with long memories recalled he hit 45 earlier in the day against Seneca College. A couple of Toronto and District players formed the bedrock of Ryerson's chase, Harvir Baidwan making 29 off16 balls, and Rahath Mirza 37 off 25, to guide them home with an over to spare. In fairness, the fielding side struggled in far from ideal conditions as the sun set and dusk arrived.
Report sourced from:
http://content-www.cricinfo.com/canada/content/story/303290.html
The Moon presides over Universities Cricket Final -- Posted Sunday, July 22 2007
Ryerson U won the originally advertised first Canadian national universities 20/20 cricket tournament late on Friday night (July 20). They beat McMaster University (Hamilton) in the final.
The scheduled final almost did not take place as the tournament supervising umpire from the Canadian Cricket Association (CCA) proved a highly immovable object to the sentiments of the participating teams. McMaster beat Seneca College in one semi-final and Ryerson edged out the fancied University of Toronto Scarborough campus in the other.
It was noticed that one of the Ryerson batsman had not been declared in the original team list of 11 players. At one point, Ryerson were deemed to have lost, and U of T Scarborough was being told the final would be forfeit if Scarborough did not take the field. There was a lot of sympathy from the attending students as both last year’s tournament (4 teams) and this year’s with ten teams owed a massive debt to the key organizer from Ryerson.
Figures showing how McMaster had qualified ahead of Ryerson on run rate for last year’s final have not been publicly disclosed, to the best of my knowledge. I arrived on Friday morning uncertain as to the four semi-finalists. It seems the calculations and discussions went on until late at the Maple Leaf CC ground. The ability to advise local media of the line-up, for the big-day, evaporated and an attempt to draw a crowd evaporated during the Thursday night deliberations and confusion.
The designated CCA Vice-President responsible for Schools, Colleges and Universities cricket, as well as umpiring and scoring was not present. He attended the opening ceremony on Monday. Eventually the CCA President arrived and about 50 minutes later to see a re-play of just 5-overs-a-side between Ryerson and U of T Scarborough began.
U of T @ Scarborough, including one of Canada’s batting hero’s from the recent ICC Intercontinental Cup win over the United Arab Emirates - Trevin Bastiampillai, made 45 for 4 wickets. Ryerson overhauled this total in the 4th over for the loss of 2 wickets.
Closing speeches followed before McMaster went out and scored 104 run for 5 wickets in 12 overs. Hassan Mir was 49 not out. Those with long memories recalled he hit 45 runs much earlier in the day against Seneca College. A couple of Toronto and District players fired the Ryerson response, with Harvir Baidwan making a quick 29 runs (16 balls) and Rahath Mirza toasting victory with 37 runs (25 balls).
It’s a long time since I have tried to see a red ball in the gathering dusk. The need for a tournament referee/manager had been more than apparent by the second morning when I assisted in getting some of the matches going. I claimed I could not report, take pictures and umpire as the fourth scheduled match began. There is now some evidence I might be able to act as a boundary fielder, take pictures or pass on the latest tournament news by cell phone from my participation with the Ryerson Women’s team in an exhibition match as the final should have been going ahead.
Based on what I have heard, the value of my camera equipment exceeds the CCA’s financial contribution to this event, but it was given seems the customary hype, including the CCA's commitment to cricket at this level. The leadership needs some people with their feet on the ground. Pragmatism. Instead we were told how exciting 5-overs a-side cricket looked. Bah, humbug, to quote Scrooge.
On the positive side, the Heart and Stroke Foundation Ontario representative was able to see some women’s cricket. Hope springs eternal. And there were signs and posters for various AIDS groups, UNICEF and Heart and Stroke at the ground.
Eddie Norfolk
Cricket World Cup !979 and all that - a retrospective -- Posted Saturday, July 21 2007
The 1970s: Glam rock and T-Rex, the Conservatives and Margaret Thatcher, Tudor Crisps and Quosh cordial, cricket and Canada.
Most remembered with fondness, some with fear and the latter pairing, well, probably not at all.
The decade that fashion forgot was also a time when Canadian cricket enjoyed unprecedented success, although it was something, both now and then, that would have slipped the mind of many.
It all began in 1975, when a provincial side beat a strong Australia touring party.
Four years later, Canada took another giant leap forward by qualifying for the World Cup at the first time of asking.
For a country more renowned for its ice hockey excellence, making the World Cup could have been compared to Cheryl Ladd joining 70s TV heroines Charlie's Angels - a surprise, but welcomed in many circles.
But unlike Ms Ladd, Canada's entry into the big-time began with more of a whimper than a bang.
Canada, mostly made up of players who had emigrated from the West Indies, were drawn against England, Pakistan and Australia in the group stages.
First up were Pakistan, a team they played their best cricket against. Canada donned the pads against the third favourites, who had the likes of Imran Khan, Safraz Nawaz and Majid Khan in attack.
The Canadians were intent on making themselves hard to beat.
Openers Chris Chappell and Glenroy Sealy made a 54 partnership, before Chappell (no relation to the famous Australian brothers) fell for 14.
It was a dream start for the minnows.
Up stepped Franklyn Dennis to the crease, a man with a perm only rivalled by captain Brian Mauricette and England's speed merchant Bob Willis.
Sealy managed to make 45 before he was caught and bowled by Asif Iqbal with the scores at 85-2.
Dennis went on to make 25, falling just as Canada reached their ton.
Unfortunately, things turned pear-shaped soon after with the North Americans losing the next six wickets for 36 runs before the end of the innings.
It did not take long for the West Indies to reach 140, and they did so with the loss of just two wickets.
Next up were home side England. With Ian Botham, Chris Old and Willis spearheading the attack, the visitors knew they were in for a rough time.
But they probably never envisaged being dismissed for just 45.
Dennis managed to score 21 runs of that meagre total - the only player to make double figures.
In total, Canada scored 284 runs from their three matches, at an average of just over 90 runs. To say they were outclassed, was an understatement.
Finally, came the might of Australia.
With the Canadians effectively out of the World Cup, pride was the only thing left to salvage.
They did that to some extent by making more than a century against the tough opposition.
However, the Australians lost just three wickets before Kim Hughes and Graham Yallop guided the side past the 105-run mark set for victory.
So by the end of Canada's campaign, the statistics read: Played 3, Won 0, Lost 3.
They might not have won a game, but at least the world found out that North Americans did know something about cricket.
Above sourced from:-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport3/cwc2003/hi/newsid_2330000/newsid_2339900/2339977.stm
Harris happy with progress
Canada bade a fond farewell to the 2003 World Cup following their final group match against New Zealand.
The minnows, who qualified for the tournament by coming second in the ICC Trophy, finished their campaign with a five-wicket defeat.
But despite the loss, Canada captain Joe Harris was delighted with his side's efforts in a World Cup which saw them pick up their first-ever win in the tournament.
"I think the World Cup has given us tremendous exposure. The first win over Bangladesh was major news in Canada," he said.
"We came to South Africa from our winter and having not played cricket for six months, so I think the boys should feel proud.
"I must take the opportunity to thank the South African crowd and the country."
Looking back at the match against New Zealand, Harris said his side had failed to capitalise after reducing their opponents to 32-3 at one stage.
We got a few early wickets and thought we could make a game of it. But it was a great batting track and we had top rest a couple of our quicks, who were not feeling well.
"We then bowled a few bad balls and they soon accelerated the run rate," said Harris.
"They came out with a plan to chase the net run rate - they even advertised it on television and we had the limitations of the first 15 overs.
"We could do only so much in the field and we put a lot of pressure on them. In all it wasn't really a bad day of cricket for us."
Above sourced from:-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport3/cwc2003/hi/newsid_2810000/newsid_2815900/2815955.stm
Davison keen on county deal
Canadian John Davison is (was) hoping his eye-catching efforts during the World Cup might attract the interest of an English county side.
Davison, an aggressive, fast-scoring batsman and a canny off-spinner, boasts a game ideally suited to one-day cricket.
He picked up two Man of the Match awards in Canada's six games and also has experience of playing state cricket for South Australia.
English counties are permitted to include two overseas players for the 2003 season and there are still one or two vacancies.
Davison scored 75 off just 62 balls in his side's final match against New Zealand, with four sixes in his innings, and also also took three wickets.
Earlier in the tournament, he hit the fastest century in World Cup history against a stunned West Indies team and ended up averaging 37.7 with the bat and 18.7 with the ball.
Davison said: "A lot of good friendships were made here and a lot of good contacts were made.
"We also received a lot of admiration from the South African public.
"I would definitely be available to play county cricket in England if the opportunity arose. I am available."
Davison expressed a hint of frustration that Canada's campaign did not go even better.
Although they beat Bangladesh, they were unable really to hurt any other sides and it was their batting which tended to be their weak suit.
"A couple of guys found it difficult to get off strike," he said, referring to the middle overs of the Canadian innings in Benoni.
Davison was asked if he would be tempted to stay in South Africa in case Australia, for whom he is also qualified, had an injury crisis.
"I'd love to hang around and keep playing but I don't think that's going to happen," he laughed.
Above sourced from::-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport3/cwc2003/hi/newsid_2810000/newsid_2816500/2816543.stm
CRICKET WORLD CUP 2003
Minnows 'need pro status'
By Martin Gough
BBC Sport in Potchefstroom
Last Updated Thursday, 27 February, 2003, 11:53 GMT
Kenya struck a blow for the minnows of international cricket this week with their upset victory over Sri Lanka, but the win was no surprise for Dougie Brown, coach of fellow tiddlers Namibia.
But Brown believes a single victory does little to narrow the gulf between teams at the top of the international game and the chasing pack of associate members.
"To see a team we know we can compete with beating a Test nation is great - the team have taken heart from it," said Brown, whose side lost 3-1 to Kenya in a hard-fought one-day series in Namibia last year.
"One of the minnows was always going to over-turn someone.
"We had a chance against England but we couldn't quite take it."
Namibia, the fourth African nation in the tournament, have put up an impressive display so far, having England in trouble for much of a rain-threatened 55-run defeat in Port Elizabeth.
Pakistan also found the going anything but easy against Namibia's bowlers in Kimberley, although they subsequently reduced the batting line-up to 84 all out.
But, while the World Cup is littered with Davids who have taken on Goliaths with nothing more than leather and willow, it is no reliable indicator of a solid improvement in standards.
Brown admits there is only one way to gain a professional standard, and become capable of finishing matches off after laying down the gauntlet, and that is to become professional.
"To have professional standards you have to be paid all the time," he said.
"We're a group of doctors, nurses and electricians."
Home series in the last year against Kenya and Bangladesh have helped improve the level of experience.
But perhaps the deciding factor was Namibia's inclusion in the Standard Bank Cup - South Africa's domestic one-day competition - in the run-up to the World Cup.
Brown, who appeared for Scotland before playing nine one-day internationals in English colours, believes that his own country will benefit from a similar plan in the National League.
"We learned a lot from the Standard Bank experience," he said.
"In four of the five games we were 20 or 30 runs ahead of the game at halfway but the lack of professional discipline enabled the other sides to get back in each one.
"If we had come into the World Cup blind we would have been annihilated."
Other plans are in place as part of the International Cricket Council's development programme, which saw Brown appointed by programme head, Bob Woolmer.
Brown's former Warwickshire coach hopes to introduce two and three-day domestic cricket to associate member countries, with the aim of improving the standard of batting - currently lagging behind bowling ability.
There are plans for an intercontinental cup, featuring composite sides playing an extended version of the game.
Expect to see a super-minnow team at the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy. Woolmer has even lobbied for 16 teams to be admitted to World Cup 2007.
Just do not use a win for one of those minnows in the Caribbean as solid proof that standards are improving across the board.
Above sourced from:-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport3/cwc2003/hi/newsid_2800000/newsid_2803900/2803917.stm
Editors comment:-
"So by the end of Canada's (2003) campaign, the statistics read: Played 3, Won 0, Lost 3."
WC2007 the statistics read: Played 3, Won 0, Lost 3
Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose. (JH).
P.S.
Canada's rich cricket history
Ice hockey, baseball, skiing and skating are widely regarded as the most popular sports in Canada.
And cricket - that's right cricket - is aiming to join that elite group.
It is estimated that there are 12,000 players within the Canadian Cricket Association, playing in 400 teams around 145 grounds.
Not bad for a country with a population of 30 million - just over half of England.
So how did cricket reach the northern-most areas of North America?
Many enthusiasts in Canada believe that the sport reached their shores during the mid 1700s with British soldiers following the battle at the Plains of Abraham near Quebec City.
But it was schoolmaster George A Barber, considered to be the father of Canadian cricket, who spread the word throughout Toronto during the early 19th century.
Popularity for the game grew rapidly in the country and, in 1844, Canada played the United States in New York.
The match happened 30 years before England and Australia contested a series, and historians believe the contest is the oldest international sporting fixture in the world.
A Canadian record
In 1892, the Canadian Cricket Association was formed. However popularity for the sport was on the wane as baseball's grew.
Between that time and the Second World War there were a number of cricketing highlights, including a 1932 tour by an Australia squad including Don Bradman.
In a match against Western Ontario, Bradman scored 260 runs - a Canadian record which stood for 58 years.
After the war Pakistan and the MCC visited Canada on tours, beginning a cricketing revival in the country.
But it was in 1975 and 1979 that Canada came under the sport's spotlight.
First, Eastern Canada beat the touring Australian World Cup side by five wickets.
Four years later, Canada reached the final of the first International Cricket Conference Trophy, only to be beaten by Sri Lanka.
That effort earned them a place in the 1979 World Cup, where they performed valiantly against the likes of England, Pakistan and Australia, but still failed to win a single match
And in 2001, Canada played host to the International Cricket Council Trophy tournament.
The nation finished third out of 22, to qualify for the 2003 World Cup.
Above article sourced from:-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport3/cwc2003/hi/newsid_2300000/newsid_2307600/2307651.stm
PPS: Without a focus on cricket at the grass roots level in Canada we can anticipate "Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose" - again. (JH)
Shaughnessy Cricket Club -- Posted Friday, July 20 2007
The Shaughnessy Cricket Club, formerly The University of British Columbia Cricket Club, brings a talented combination of local Canadian players and cricketers from around the world who have come to Vancouver, BC to continue their studies at UBC. Students Dave Carey, Dr. Harry Warren, and Basil Robinson organized the first UBC cricket team, entering the British Columbia Mainland Cricket League (BCMCL) in 1938.
This team was captained by Carey, who the previous year was selected to play for the Canadian cricket team that toured England. Carey led the UBC team in batting in '38 taking it to a third place finish in league standings. In 1939 the team was captained by Robinson, and he led it to both the BCMCL championship and the Fyfe-Smith Shield.
The club went on to enjoy a rich history with UBC through 1995, and while our association remained close through 2006, we now embark on a new era - as The Shaughnessy Cricket Club (SCC), representing the grand old neighborhood of Shaughnessy, Vancouver's poshest subdivision. The area is an important Vancouver heritage landscape, with curving streets, generous lots, lush gardens, and manicured properties that harken to a lost-era of stylish wealth.
(Courtesy to http://www.tourismvancouver.com)
We certainly look forward to both honouring and building upon our proud UBC history with a successful debut season as SCC in 2007.
As the exciting season approaches, players of all nationalities will join UBC students and graduates who constitute the core of the club. The cultural diversity of Canada contributes to the high level of cricket played here, especially evident in the premier division of the BCMCL. This year alone, our club includes players from Australia, England, India, Jamaica, Trinidad, Ireland, New Zealand, and Pakistan.
The BCMCL has slowly grown from a handful of teams in 1914 to over 60 teams playing today in 7 divisions. The Shaughnessy Cricket Club is in the highly competitive second division this year. Our cricket season is from late April through August. One-day, limited-over, weekend matches culminate with the top four premier division teams playing off in September. Finalists then play a one-day match to determine league champions. We play cricket in picturesque parks around the city on permanent, concrete, hard-wickets topped with a thin surface layer of artificial turf. Sir Donald Bradman stated in 1950 that one such venue, Brockton Point, situated on the water at Stanley Park in Vancouver, is "the most beautiful ground in the world".
In addition to the regular season cricket matches, the league also holds two six-a-side tournaments during the summer; one is a "club" six-a-side where all teams within the league are represented. The other is an "international" six-a-side tournament with many different countries represented through the division of league players. The international six-a-side tournament, in particular, draws much interest and curiosity from the local community. The day is filled with flag-waving and cheering from crowds gathering along the boundary markers at the Brockton Oval.
http://www.shaughnessycricket.com/html/AboutUs.html
Canada to host 2012 ICC Under 19 tournament -- Posted Friday, July 20 2007
Papua New Guinea favourites to qualify for next year’s ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup in Malaysia from EAP Region
Papua New Guinea (PNG) will start as favourites to qualify for next year’s ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup in Malaysia when the ICC East Asia-Pacific U/19 Qualifier begins in the Pacific island of Vanuatu on Wednesday.
It will be the first of five regional qualifying tournaments to be played up to the end of August.
The European U/19 Qualifier will be held in Belfast from 23-26 July, the Americas U/19 Qualifier takes place in Toronto from 13-18 August, the Asian U/19 Qualifier is staged in Malaysia from 20-29 August and the Africa U/19 Qualifier will be in Benoni from 25-30 August.
A total of 31 teams will take part in the qualifying tournaments with five teams joining the 10 Full Members and Malaysia for the main event to be played from 17 February to 2 March, 2008.
Pakistan will aim to complete a hat-trick of titles in Kuala Lumpur. It won the 2004 event in Bangladesh by defeating the West Indies by 25 runs and then successfully defended the title two years later in Sri Lanka by beating traditional rivals India in the final by 38 runs.
PNG missed out on the 2000 and 2006 ICC U/19 Cricket World Cups, both in Sri Lanka, but participated in three events that were held in South Africa in 1998, New Zealand in 2002 and Bangladesh in 2004.
The other three teams taking part in the EAP U/19 Qualifier are Japan, Vanuatu and Fiji. Vanuatu is one of the six Affiliates taking part in the tournaments with the others being Qatar, Afghanistan, Oman, the Bahamas and Ghana.
It will be Japan’s debut appearance at this level after it became an Associate in 2005, while Fiji was the host of the previous EAP Qualifier when it was staged in 2001.
Vanuatu hosted the 2005 EAP Cricket Cup, and ICC EAP Regional Development Manager Matt Weisheit believes the country is progressing in the right direction. He said: “We are delighted that Vanuatu will be hosting this significant EAP U/19 Qualifier.
“It follows the successful staging of the 2005 EAP Cricket Cup tournament and we see this tournament as building on the progress Vanuatu is making in terms of cricket development both on and off the field,” he added.
Weisheit hopes the EAP U/19 Qualifier will produce good cricket and sees it as an important tournament in the calendar. “Given the winner of this qualifier will progress directly to the ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup, it is sure to be a hotly contested event.
“The lure of participating in a World Cup will provide significant motivation for the countries involved and as such this is one of the major tournaments on the 2007 EAP cricket calendar.”
The President of Vanuatu Cricket Association (VCA) Mark Stafford said the tournament will provide a valuable boost for the growth of the sport in Vanuatu. He said: “We have focused on developing our junior cricket programs and structures, and hosting the ICC EAP U/19 Qualifier complements our ambitions to cultivate a strong junior base.”
The tournament also has the backing of the Vanuatu Government, with the Minister for Youth Development and Training, the Honourable Dunstan Hilton offering his support. “We have been a long time supporter of cricket in Vanuatu. We realise how important this tournament is to continuing the development of the sport.
“We fully endorse the VCA in the hosting of the U/19 Tournament and look forward to fostering our relationship with the Association in the future.”
On the opening day, Japan will take on PNG at the Kazaa Field while the Independence Park will host Fiji and Vanuatu. The top two teams will play for the title with the winner earning a ticket to Malaysia.
Schedule:
18 July – Japan v PNG at Kazaa Field, Fiji v Vanuatu at Independence Park
19 July – Vanuatu v Japan at Kazaa Field, Fiji v PNG at Club Hippique
20 July – Rest day
21 July – Vanuatu v PNG at Kazaa Field, Fiji v Japan at Independence Park
22 July – final at Kazaa Field, 3/4th place play-off at Club Hippique
The ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup is a vital part of the ICC Development Program and provides a vehicle for the best young cricketers in the world to parade their skills.
Many of the future stars of the game experience their first true international exposure at this tournament and players such as Brian Lara, Michael Atherton, Yuvraj Singh, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Chris Cairns, Michael Clarke, Graeme Smith and Sanath Jayasuriya have used the event as a stepping stone to full international honours.
First staged in Australia in 1988, the tournament was initially organised on an occasional basis, but since the commencement of the ICC Development Program in 1997 it has become a biennial fixture.
The 2010 ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup will be held in Kenya while the 2012 tournament will be staged in Canada and UAE will host the 2014 edition.
Information sourced from ICC media release
Canadian University Cricket Federation -- Posted Friday, July 20 2007
As the federal body governing cricket activity in Canadian Universities and Colleges, our purpose is to strengthen and maintain Canada’s cricket initiative at the post-secondary level.
While operating in all Canadian provinces (under our provincial bodies), we target the grass-root level to strengthen the base of cricket in our country. When the base is firm and the right values are in place, cricket will flourish as never before. Proper structure, planned approach, and rock solid determination – this is how we plant the seeds to bring Canadian post-secondary cricket to be recognized and appreciated internationally.
It is in every aspect of life…it is not just a sport…it is a code of conduct – Cricket.
The mission of CUCF is to develop cricket at the post-secondary level in Canada. This is the link between grass-root level and national level cricket. It is to foster and develop another stream of talent. And it is to boost the fastest growing sport in our nation.
CUCF should be synonymous with dedication, passion and excellence. Our work requires us to perceive Cricket as more than just a sport. Such a beautiful blend of discipline & skill; attitude & technique; speed & accuracy; form & timing; strategy & tactics; mind, body & soul - that is Cricket - and that is what the CUCCF believes in.
Item sourced from:-
http://www.cuccf.com/
Maple Leaf Cricket Club -- Posted Thursday, July 19 2007
The final decision to accept, modify, or reject recommendations will always rest with the board. I feel Maple Leaf Cricket Club is ideally situated to become the “Centre of Cricket Excellence”. In the next board meeting, we need to discuss this matter and if accepted; start to work on a plan to achieve our objectives.
Financially speaking, the hosting of these games doesn’t make business sense. As you are aware that for each day that is lost by TDCA to host its games, TDCA has to go and rent grounds elsewhere. We at Maple Leaf have to cover that expense by refunding certain fixed amounts.
International games take up 2 grounds to play one match. Thus there is no gain made by MLCC. In addition we are also required to pick up several other expenses and provide staff, as well as volunteers. Weekend games at MLCC are a net loss and since TDCA in the end has to ensure that MLCC stays in the black, the TDCA in fact becomes the host. We have responsibilities towards OCA, CCA, and ICC to do our best to host games in Canada at a reasonable cost. I will be initiating discussion with the CCA to find other ways of meeting our costs so that TDCA does not continue to become the most expensive league to play cricket in Canada.
Maple Leaf Cricket Club has the following objectives:
1. Provide Best Quality Cricket Grounds and enjoyable playing environment for its Members.
2. Become the most advanced and best equipped facility to train players in North America. (Centre of Cricket Excellence)
3. Be financially self reliant and reduce/eliminate financial burden on TDCA
4. Be a host to higher level games for OCA, CCA, ICC, and other cricket organisation. I want to thank all those who came to MLCC during and before these matches and provided us with their support.
Best Regards,
Ranjit Saini.
President, MLCC
2007-07-09
Canada's national cricket team now stands at a crossroads -- Posted Thursday, July 19 2007
Having wrapped up what amounts to a home season with matches against fellow associate members of the International Cricket Council, the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates, Canada's national cricket team now stands at a crossroads.
Depending on the direction taken, the good work of the past five years could be built upon, or it could all come to nothing. Ben Sennik, the president of the Canadian Cricket Association is nothing but optimistic.
Sennik aims high – maybe too high. The CCA president has invited scepticism by among other things, his oft-repeated objective of Canada acquiring Test status in 10 years.
Leaving aside matters of inadequate infrastructure, this is quite rich coming from a governing body that is dirt poor and struggles to pay its players or secure sponsorship.
Read full article at
http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Cricket/article/236633
Powerful Scoring in Universities Tournament -- Posted Wednesday, July 18 2007
There was some heavy scoring in some of Tuesday’s games in the Canadian University and Colleges 20/20 Championships at the Maple Leaf Cricket Club in King City.
The University of Toronto @ Mississauga piled up 217 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in 20 overs in the morning. Centennial College did well to come within 31 runs of this total.
In the afternoon, McMaster University powered to 224 runs for 5 wickets in a win against Centennial College. In a match between two University of Toronto campuses, the Mississagua campus made 166 for 5 wickets in 10 overs. The downtown Toronto St George campus powered to victory in just 14 overs, closing the match with consecutive sixes.
Wednesday is a rest day. The final group matches are set for Thursday with semi-finals and the final on Friday. Morning matches are scheduled for 10 am with a 3 pm start for afternoon games.
Tough going for the valiant few!
Coming so soon after home international match series with the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates, this event is placing a heavy demand on a select few officials and administrators. There have been several impressive performances that go largely unseen and barely reported as the select few try their best to ensure the matches go ahead as best as possible.
The event is held under the auspices of the Canadian Cricket Association, which left a heavy footprint on the pre-match media release. However, some of the grand expectations, headed by the claim of participation from all provinces, have not materialized. The event has moved ahead from four Ontario-based teams to ten teams, again all from Ontario. Responsibility for the hard work to achieve this was correctly attributed to the prime organizer, Abhimanyu Sharma, a student of Ryerson University. Operationally, this places a mound of daily responsibilities on his plate. At least one or two people have chipped in by helping to get scoring going at some games, by assisting as square leg umpires or turning out as the main umpire.
The groundstaff at Maple Leaf CC is working hard to provide playing surfaces for this event as well as preparing grass wickets for the upcoming ICC Americas Under-19 World Cup qualifying tournament and an Americas Regional womens’ event set for August.
The bulk of the group matches have now been completed and there will be less matches for the faithful few to administer on the last two days. Hopefully, the event will attract some supporters on the last couple of days.
The supporting publicity has patently not matched the CCA’s expectations, highlighted by the absence of TV coverage, even for highlights purposes, and a hinted climbdown to re-designate the event as provincial rather than national.
There had been no TV coverage for the two recent home Intercontinental Cup matches or the ODI with the Dutch. The CCA did not appoint a tournament referee or name any match referees.
Monday Results:
University of Toronto St George campus 91-2 beat Centennial College 90 by 8 wickets;
York U 161-2 beat Brock U 157-7 by 8 wickets
Ryerson U 181-7 beat Centennial U 80 by 101 runs
McMaster U 192-8 beat U of Toronto @ Mississauga 179 by 13 runs
U of Western Onario 150-7 beat Brock U 149-7 by 3 wickets
York U 117 beat Seneca College 48 by 69 runs; (note: corrected score for Seneca, previously shown as 40)
Tuesday Results:
Ryerson U 126-? beat McMaster U 123 *
University of Toronto @ Mississauga 217-7 beat Centennial College 186-9 by 31 runs
University of Toronto @ St George 170-5 beat University of Toronto @ Mississauga 166-6 by 5 wickets
McMaster U 224-5 beat Centennial College *
University of Toronto @ Scarborough 72-4 beat Brock U 71 by 6 wickets (U of T had 2 Canadian internationals - Trevis Bastianpillai & Siad Bin Zafar).
York U 199 beat University of Western Ontario by 70 runs
* margin of victory to be confirmed.
Eddie Norfolk
Ontario Colleges and Universities 20/20 cricket event -- Posted Tuesday, July 17 2007
A 20/20 cricket tournament began yesterday at the Maple Leaf CC with ten teams from the southern Ontario colleges and universities.
York University raced to a 2-0 winning start, after winning a longer-format tournament in 2006. McMaster University, beaten in last year’s final by York, won its only match during the opening day.
Ryerson University closed its innings with Centennial College by scoring 32 runs off the last over, and went on to win by 101 runs. The opening round-robin play continues in two groups on Tuesday and Thursday of this week. Semi-finals, and the final, are set for Friday. There were some fine performances to kick off this tournament. Admission is free.
Opening day results included: York U scored 161 for 2 wickets (Khushro 90) to beat Brock U's score of 157-7 by 8 wickets; University of Toronto's St George campus scored 91-2 to beat the Centennial College score of 90 by 8 wickets; York U scored 117 to beat Seneca College by 77 runs, having scored only 40 runs; McMaster U scored 192 for 8 wickets to beat the 179 runs scored by the U of Toronto Mississauga Campus by 13 runs. Ryerson U scored 181-7 to beat Centennial College's score of 80 by 101 runs.
All ten scheduled teams have played at least one game. It is hoped that some additional resources, to help administer the event, will be available for the rest of this week.
Morning matches start at 10 a.m. and afternoon games at 3 p.m.
There was an opening ceremony with the Consul General of India gracious enough to do the honours. It is regratable that the CCA President was not present.
Eddie Norfolk
A tribute to John M. Laing -- Posted Tuesday, July 17 2007
Although Canada cannot boast of cricketing giants of the calibre produced by some of the Test countries, we have produced some great cricketers, who, had they had an equal opportunity, could have reached that stature.
Perhaps the greatest all-rounder of them all was John M. Laing. High profile cricketers are usually either expert bowlers or expert batsmen. Only once in a while do we come across a cricketer who excels at both bowling and batting.
John M. Laing was born in London, Ontario, on March 13, 1874. His talent at cricket became obvious while he was still at school. In 1981 at the age of 17 he was selected to represent Western Ontario against a formidable touring English team captained by the famous Lord Hawke.
The next year, Laing was chosen to represent Canada against a touring Irish team at Toronto. He took 4 wickets for 35 runs. A few day after this match, he was chosen to represent Canada against the U.S.A. at Germantown. It was at this match that he came against the famous American all-rounder Bart King, who was also making this debut in international cricket. For the next ten years, these tow great cricketers dominated the cricket scene in North America.
In 1893, the 19 year old Laing representing Canada against the U.S.A. at Toronto, clean bowled the first three batcsmen, to complete the innings with 7 wicckets for 54 runs. In the second innings of this match he captured 4 for 69 runs.
In 1894 England again toured Canada again led by Lord Hawke. In the match at Toronto on October 3rd, thanks to Laing's bowling, England was able to accumulate only 147 runs. The match resulted in a draw. In 1895, in the Canada-U.S.A. match at Toronto, the U.S.A. collected only 65 runs in the first innings, with Laing capruring 7 wickets for 21 runs in 15 overs. It was at this match that he created Canadian Cricket history, by recording the first Canadain hat-tricket in international cricket. He clean bowled J.W. Sharp, S. Goodman and L.K. Mallinkrodt with three succesive balls.
He continued to play for various clubs, and during an illustrious career, scored 11 centuries, including 249 at Chicago in 1903, a Canadian record that was equaled by R.J. Buchan in 1913, but has not yet been beaten. Laingh died on October 1947 at age 74.
Article transcribed from "CRICKET POCKET DIGEST' produced by the Ontario Cricket Association, circa 1987. (JH)
Universities & Colleges Cricket -- Posted Monday, July 16 2007
Century Cricket 20-20 Cup 2007
The Century Cricket 20-20 Cup 2007 is being played at Maple Leaf Cricket Club this week. Ten university and college teams from within Ontario are divided into two groups. The top two from each group progress to the semi-finals (Friday 10 am), and those game winners playing in the Final {Friday 3pm).
Currently there are no matches set for Wednesday. On other days there are rounds of matches at 10am and 3pm.
Of the participating teams from Ontario, three are from different campuses of the University of Toronto, with others from York U, McMaster U, Centennial College, Ryerson U, Brock U, Seneca College, and the University of Western Ontario. An opening ceremony is set for Monday at 9am.
Admission is free. Maple Leaf CC is located at the corner of Dufferin Street and 15th Sideroad in King City.
York University won an inaugural colleges and universities tournament in 2006. An event that won the ICC Americas Regional award for Spirit of Cricket/UNAIDS awareness.
Background:
There is a website : www.cuccf.com for the Canadian Universities and Colleges Cricket Federation. Abhimanyu Sharma is the designated media contact at 416-795 6487 or abhimanyu.sharma@cuccf.com.
The event is being staged in conjunction with the Canadian Cricket Association.
Century Cricket are sponsoring this event, as they did last year's event.
A closing ceremony is scheduled for 5 pm on Friday July 20.
Eddie Norfolk
Early cricket tour to Canada and U.S.A -- Posted Sunday, July 15 2007
John Lillywhite (born 10 November 1826 in Hove, Sussex; died 27 October 1874 in St Pancras, London) was a famous English cricketer during the game's roundarm era.
John Lillywhite was part of a famous cricketing family, his father being William Lillywhite, a brother being Fred Lillywhite and his cousin being James Lillywhite.
Lillywhite was an all-rounder who batted right-handed and bowled right-arm roundarm, both slow and fast.
His known first-class career spanned the 1848 to 1873 seasons. He took 223 wickets in 185 matches @ 11.56 with a best analysis of 8/54. He had 12 5wI and 2 10wM. He scored 5127 runs @ 17.43 with a highest score of 138, making 2 centuries. He took 94 catches.
At the end of the 1859 English cricket season, Lillywhite was one of the 12 players who took part in cricket's first-ever overseas tour when an England cricket team led by George Parr visited North America.
Item sourced from:-
http://www.answers.com/topic/john-lillywhite
The following is a notation in the Eldon House Diaries of London, Ontario. (JH)
October 17 1859 George Left London for Hamilton by the six o'clock train to play the great cricket match with All England's Eleven
October 20 1859 George came home by the night train, not at all cured of cricket. He made a very good catch and his play has been praised in the papers (London Free Press). One of the English cricketers said that anyone who could make that catch was worthy of playing with the All England's Eleven. We cannot help feeling pleased that he was praised even for his play at cricket, and yet we think it would have been better for him had his play been a total failure better .....
Common Sense & Evidence – Forgotten cricket history -- Posted Sunday, July 15 2007
Common Sense & Evidence – Forgotten cricket history
by Henry Fraser
With gay men and great
It is pleasant to meet
When the Club of St George's may call:
For true game is there
All honest and fair;
'Tis the game of the Bat and the Ball.
The Toast of the St George's Cricket Club of Philadelphia, 1886, when gay meant cheerful!
PROFESSOR HILARY BECKLES has done it again. The superb "A Nation Imagined – First West Indies Test Team: The 1928 Tour" by Hilary Beckles brought to our attention in vivid detail and colourful media the little-remembered first West Indies Test tour of England. His latest cricket history The First West Indies Cricket Tour: Canada and the United States in 1886 is a splendid little book, bringing to light a completely forgotten epic in West Indian (and North American) cricket history.
In A Nation Imagined, published in 2003 by Ian Randle Publishers and the Centre for Cricket Research of the University of the West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill Campus, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of our accession to test cricket, Professor Beckles intersperses his incisive commentary with the newspaper reports of the day, Press photos, cartoons, scorecards and facsimile reprints of newspaper clippings.
The result is a richly textured book, making this fascinating event in our cricketing history live for us in an even more fascinating and extraordinary way.
A delightful diary
The First West Indies Cricket Tour is an entirely different kind of affair. Professor Beckles, with the extraordinary good fortune that can only come to what might be described as an "archaeological bibliophile", managed to unearth the diary or "memory" of L.R. Fyfe, captain of the West Indies team that toured Canada and the United States of America in 1886.
He has written a scholarly introduction to the diary, setting the bold ambition of these pioneers in the historical context of a decayingand economically desperate sugar plantation economy of the second half of the nineteenth century.
In the first part of the book, Professor Beckles describes the socio-economic developments (or lack of development) in the Caribbean, resulting from the post emancipation changes in the sugar industry, complicated by the British Government's removal of preferential treatment for sugar from the colonies.
Not unlike the challenges of "Free Trade" and "Globalisation" we face today, which is making the rich nations, especially the United States, rapidly richer, and the poor nations progressively poorer (politically acceptable neo-colonisation), the Caribbean colonies, then, were increasingly desperate for economic solutions.
The tour, therefore, had many objectives: cricket and commerce, as Professor Beckles points out "went bat and glove; this much was understood and appreciated. The outcome of matches, important in themselves, were not the key determinants in relations between teams. The entire exercise had to be conducted with grace, shaped by hospitality and expressive of gentlemanly conduct. These values were considered endemic to both the culture of thegame and commercial ethics".
The tour was the brainchild of Guy Wyatt, captain of the Georgetown Cricket Club of Guyana, and the team was selected from the "Big Four", Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad, and Barbados, although eventually Trinidad sent no one, and the party consisted of seven Jamaicans, three Bajans and three Guyanese, captained by L.R. Fyfe of Jamaica.
The West Indians played six games in Canada, won four and lost only one; the other was a draw.
They clearly did magnificently. They did less well in the United States, playing in and around Philadelphia, the strong cricket centre of the country. They won two matches, lost four and drew one – not a terrible performance, but there was certainly some "crumbling"!
Reasons why we lost
The media varied in their sympathy and reporting. One journalist noted: "The islanders are not accustomed to American wickets, their own being harder, rougher and faster. Again, they are under too great a strain. They play cricket day after day, and generally spend their evening in enjoying the hospitality of their hosts. These are the principal reasons why they have failed to do themselves justice."
(Anything in those comments sound familiar?)
On the lighter side, the style of the diary is delightful. Some amusing and archaic expressions are used, and some "creative" descriptions that might inspire even our own most inventive and startling local sports commentators – from the prosaic ("he gave a hard catch to mid-on which was not accepted") to the risqué ("one of his terrific smites came near removing the garters of a lady tennis player in a distant court")
An interesting passage (on Page 70) is: "The century was passed and 118 was posted when Wilson caught Kerr at 'silly point', as the Philadelphians call forward point close in." So even though we no longer take on the Americans on a regular basis, think of them every time you hear of a fielder placed at "silly point" –
it's an Americanism!
I strongly recommend both of these splendid books for any cricket fan whose interest extends beyond
the mere satisfaction of winning.
Professor Fraser is Dean of the School of Clinical Medicine and Research, UWI
http://www.nationnews.com/editorial/319156417054981.php
The game of cricket has had a long and complicated history in the West Indies. Originally imported to the West Indies as an agent of control and reaffirmation, the game steadily evolved into a cultural institution radically opposed to the original intentions of those who conspired for its import. The exact role cricket has played in terms of resistance to the postcolonial hegemonic order in the West Indies is widely debated. Much of this debate has to do with the variety of ways in which cricket culture has been allowed to progress according to specific histories of individual locales. Because of the diverse national histories in the region, styles of cricket vary a great deal from one island to the next, as does the cultural work each style performs One must therefore question the usefulness in talking in-depth about West Indian cricket in ways that suggest the game developed throughout the region in a singular fashion. Having set forth this advisory, here I will attempt to point up some of the larger issues belonging to cricket culture in the West Indies which may or may not be specific to any single locale. Discussion of these larger issues is merely meant to stimulate conversation on the topic of cricket and its relatedness to postcolonial discourse. The game of cricket was exported from England to all of its colonies, including those in Asia and Africa, during the nineteenth century as a way to reinforce a hegemonic cultural order in the face of the emancipation of England's slave population. A brief history of the state of affairs in the West Indies upon cricketÕs arrival will help explain why a re-commitment to England's Victorian ideals became necessary.
Colonial History of Cricket
English slaves in the West Indies were emancipated in the year 1838. Emancipation brought to an end an institution that had helped England bring one quarter of the world's land mass under British rule. In the West Indies during this time, the two largest groups were the newly-freed Africans, who made up the laboring class, and the white plantation owners who formed the islands' aristocracies. The African population prior to slavery not only performed the role of wealth-makers for the white, land-owning plantocracy, but also provided a metaphorical blackness onto which the plantocracy could project their whiteness. The resulting juxtaposition went a long way in alleviating the anxiety of the white land-owners who were constantly reminded of their location at the farthest reaches of the English empire, of civilization. For the planter class, wealth was not enough. There was the constant need to be reminded that they were a distinct race separate from the Africans in their midsts. Through the use of stereotypes and other forms of hegemonic control, the plantocracy learned to survive life at the edge of civilization. White was much whiter when juxtaposed against the black population.
Once the slaves were emancipated, cricket became the new cultural institution by which England sought to socialize the populations and reinforce hierarchies in its colonies. Cricket was imported to all of England's colonies, not only the West Indies. In The Tao of Cricket, Ashis Nandy explains the cultural evolution of cricket in India:
The age was more an affirmation of the superiority of controlled self-indulgence and controlled flair or style, combined with reaffirmation of a moral universe. The nineteenth century was also the period when the various post-Utilitarian theories of progress began to be applied to the new colonies of Britain. The emerging culture of cricket came in handy to those using these theories to hierarchize the cultures, faiths and societies which were, one by one, coming under colonial domination.
Cricket operated according to a Victorian model in which cultivated style and carefully defined notions of grace under pressure worked to keep most people out of the sport. Terms such as sportsmanship, dash, courage and temperament were important to cricket's Victorian ethos. Cricket was through and through a "gentleman's" game, and all others were excluded by their inability to demonstrate an understanding of cricket's image of the ideal Englishman.
England used its military forces to export the game to the West Indies (Beckles 37). Newspaper accounts written during the early nineteenth-century reveal how matches were staged between English military personnel. Needless to say, West Indian planters, fearful of changing social structures in the islands, welcomed cricket in the West Indies and by 1840 many were staging cricket matches on their plantations (38). Cricket allowed the plantocracy to pledge its support for British cultural values, concepts of social progress, moral codes, behavioral standards and attitudes towards social rankings (Stoddart 66). Blacks who were exposed to cricket on plantations where they made up the indentured labor pool also began to--either in whole or in part--espouse these views.
Despite the actions of the plantocracy , by the end of the nineteenth-century, a mercantile class had begun to dominate West Indian economic and cultural institutions. This new middle-class began forming cricket clubs which were aimed at countering the new image of social unity that cricket was beginning to suggest through its widespread popularity. Cricket clubs were formed throughout the West Indies. Each club drew its membership based on specific racial characteristics, and potential members knew to which club they would be invited to join without being told. There were separate clubs for aristocratic whites, merchant-class whites, coloreds (mulattos), and blacks. Racial integration for the most part during this time was not allowed.
Re-Colonisation or Revolution?
Much of the recent scholarship surrounding West Indian cricket, writes Beckles, addresses the question of cricket's "cultural imperatives" (Intro. 2). The question Beckles and others attempt to answer is whether or not cricket served the needs of the colonial empire England by re-inscribing its Victorian ethos on the newly-freed black West Indians, and if so, to what extent. Those who view cricket as revolutionary prefer the idea of cricket as "an ideological weapon of subversive, anti-colonial, creole nationalism" (Intro. 2). Cultural critics C.L.R. James, Ashis Nandy and Brian Stoddart illustrate three different opinions about the role of colonial cricket.
C.L.R. James, in his seminal work Beyond a Boundary, focuses on aesthetics and takes the position that the style of play of black West Indians is itself a form of "social resistance against British colonialism" (Graves). In Boundary, James writes about the "cutting" ("a batting stroke in which the ball is hit toward the off-side in an arc between cover and third man, with the bat held at an angle closer to horizontal than perpendicular") style of West Indian cricketers (Rundell 47):
By that time I had seen many fine cutters, one of them, W. St. Hill, never to this day surpassed. . . . Phidias, Michelangelo, Burke. Greek history has already introduced me to Phidias and the Parthenon; from engravings and reproductions I had already begun a life-long worship of Michelangelo; and Burke, begun as a school chore, had rapidly become for me the most exciting master of prose in English ... I knew already long passages of him by heart. There in the very center of this was William Beldham and his cut (6).
James equates the cultural value of cricket to great works of Western art, and the omnipotence of style of a great cutter he likens to the artistic style of Michelangelo and Burke."The stylistic specificity of 'cutting,'" writes Benjamin Graves,"is of some relevance here; . . . the point is that the shot is very difficult ... ;a gesture of mastery that serves little if any practical purpose. To James, the 'cut' signifies a belligerent affront to the exigencies of colonial rule ... a stylization of emancipatory ambitions."
II. Ashis Nandy
Nandy, like James, recognizes cricket's revolutionary potential, but he identifies this potential in the "schizophrenic" nature of the game. According to Nandy, it was the "moral posture of the superiority and self-control of the gentleman cricketer" that created the spaces for those outside the hegemony to critique the English for not living up to their own standards of morality (7).
[Cricket] allowed the Indians to assess their colonial rulers by western values reflected in the official philosophy of cricket, and to find the rulers wanting. . . . The assessment thus anticipated the nationalist and particularly Gandhian critiques of the British which judged the everyday Christianity of the British in India with reference to philosophical Christianity (7).
The heroic ideal imputed to cricketers by Victorians in England combined with the pagan desire to win at all costs to create in cricket culture a kind of schizophrenia. The marginalized people in England's colonies recognized the split caused by this psychotic condition inherent in cricket culture and used it as the point of attack for its critique of colonial England.
III. Brian Stoddart
Stoddart, like Nandy, recognizes the significance in cricket's contradictory ideals. While Nandy identifies this contradiction as the site of cultural resistance, Stoddart focuses on an alternative view that points up the power of cricket as a tool deployed by the hegemonic order. Writing about two members of the Spartan club (a club composed of upwardly-mobile coloreds), Graham Trent Cumberbatch and H. M. Cummins, Stoddard points out a more complex reaction to racial discrimination:
On the one hand, men like Cumberbatch and Cummins became ardent enthusiasts of the cricket ideology, attempting to share the cultural values of the whites with whom they competed both in cricket and in society. On the other hand, they developed a strong desire to win, to beat the representatives of those who displayed prejudice. The essential paradox in this dual position is clear. While trying to emulate the ruling cricket and social values, Spartan members had also to deal with the inequalities contained in those ruling values. On the whole, Spartan men resolved to accept the inequalities, an excellent demonstration of Gramsci's theory of hegemony (Caribbean 20).
Stoddart views early cricket not as a revolutionary force, but as a white cultural re-inscription of black West Indian culture. While there were isolated instances of black cultural resistance, writes Stoddart, "for the most part, the colonial elites carried on this process [of colonization] unhindered, controlling those agencies . . . central in the creation of hegemonic cultural values" (26).
Transnational Competition: "But is it Cricket?"
Cricket in today's global environment has been altered a great deal by new technologies, capitalism and revised geo-political landscapes. Because of the intrinsic value of cricket as a repository of culture, postcolonial scholars and fans have looked to this new form of global cricket in an attempt to understand its full implications.
Several sites on the World Wide Web such as CricInfo offer weekly and/or daily information and news items about various national cricket teams. The central role England has maintained in global cricket for well over a hundred years is now being relinquished as her former colonies enter the international and technological marketplace. In the past, England was the primary provider of international competition for many of these countries. As England's Victorian ideal withers under the heat of international play, so too do the theories of nationhood that are tied to, or somehow dependent upon, cricket's age-old Victorian ideal. James's is one such theory, as Kenneth Surin explains: The claim that cricket is "a means of national expression" is just untenable, especially in the last two decades or so, when capitalism has moved into a globally integrated phase. Cricket, as a commercial sport, has had to respond to this transformation as a condition of its financial survival. This shift is especially evident in the way in which the modern (one might as well say "post-modern") West Indian professional cricketer now earns a living, namely, by playing several "seasons" in the course of a single year: the domestic West Indian season, and English summer of county cricket, a winter tour abroad, and if this can be squeezed in, maybe a spell playing for a state team during the Australian summer.
Once professional cricketers become professional athletes who tour the world in pursuit of ever-increasing financial rewards, their faces become more recognizable in the various countries where they play and -- most importantly -- their style of play becomes less distinctive. This latter point is the result of international players who routinely play against one another and who have more opportunity than in previous ages to imitate the best aspects of one another's style. Adds Surin, "Cricketing styles become homogenized in consequence of this 'internationalization' of the game, and even the 'subjectives' of cricketers becomes fungible".
Nandy, like Surin, also bemoans what has become of cricket in the modern world. As is usually the case with Nandy, he focuses on the role of cricket as harbinger of a cultural ideal. Once cricketers resort to bodylining ("fast leg-theory bowling, especially as used by the England fast bowlers during the 1932-3 Test series in Australia"; bowling close to the batsman's body) and other immoral acts in order to win, the real victory is already lost (Rundell 20). The value of cricket for Nandy is the cricketer's constant search for an ideal behavior. When cricketers scoff at seemingly trite notions of good sportsmanship, the space between the ideal and the actual identified by Nandy never materializes and the opportunity for cultural empowerment is closed off."When Australian wicket-keeper Rodney Marsh," writes Nandy, "openly says that Australia should try to beat the stronger West Indian side by reverting, if necessary, to being 'ugly Australians,' he is being true to the anti-culture of consumable sport" (117).
Despite the variance of opinion about the past and future role of cricket, the game remains a favorite pastime in former English colonies and does battle with soccer, another British import, as the most popular sport in the world.
http://www.english.emory.edu/Bahri/Cricket.html
The First West Indies Cricket Tour: Canada and the United States in 1886 (Paperback)
by Hilary McD. Beckles
FROM THE PUBLISHER
"The 1886 tour was a blend of networking and cricket outings, designed to expand business while enjoying the international cricket offered in the United States and Canada at the time. As they played their way from Canada to Philadelphia ('the great centre of cricket in the American continent') to New York, the fourteen men from British Guiana, Jamaica and Barbados may not have realized the significance of their journey in forging a sense of West Indian identity.
"Beckles analyses the journal kept by the Jamaican captain, Laurence Fyfe, and locates the tour within the developing social tapestry of West Indian cricket, identifying the banding together of business interests and cricket as first steps towards imagining a West Indian nation."
Vanesia Baksh, cricket writer, researcher, Wisden contributor, and former director of the ICC-West indies World Cup, Inc.
http://bookshop.uwimona.edu.jm/products/prog_details.asp?PID=SO0042&Cat=
HISTORY OF CRICKET IN NEWFOUNDLAND -- Posted Saturday, July 14 2007
The first reference to the game of Cricket played locally appears in the St. John's Times of August 17, 1847. On the day previous a game was played on the Parade ground between the officers of the H.M.S. Vesuvius (a visiting man-o'-war).
In 1851 there is a further reference to a cricket match played between 'the Gentlemen of St. John's' and the officers of a visiting warship H.M.S. Alarm.
In the St. John's Times issue of August 30, 1854 there is a reference to a St. John's Cricket Club and a Garrison Cricket Club. There is also a mention at Government House serving as a pitch for those contests between two clubs.
In 1859 the local cricket club competed against the officers of H.M.S. Jasper and H.M.S. Alarm and H.M.S. Tartar. Seemingly that same year the game had gained in popularity for we find there is mention of two local cricket clubs, one the St. John's Amateurs, the other team calling themselves the Terra Novas.
By 1868 all games of cricket were being played on the Parade grounds near Fort Townsend (the present site of the Central Fire Station and the Police barracks).
In 1875 the newspapers of that day report that cricket was being played in other towns in Newfoundland and notably Hr Grace, Carbonear, and Brigus (all those communities are in Conception Bay).
By 1879 the game of cricket had apparently 'caught on' locally for we find that the St. John's Cricket Association has come into being. The league then consisted of fours teams: Amateurs, Shamrocks, Terra Nova, and Metropolitans.
In 1882 it would seem that the league began to expand. The Mechanics Society entered a team. That same year the playing pitch was readied at Pleasantville by the side of Quidi Vidi Lake in St.John's. A hostelry and a cycling oval. The game of cricket was played within the area circumscribed by a bicycling racing track.
In 1883 a team from the legal profession (local) played the local clergy at Pleasantville. In 1883, as well, the local societies entered the cricket league: two such mentioned are the Benevolent Irish Society and the Star of the Sea Association.
1884 saw a named Shamrocks carry off all the cricket championship. That same year a team representing St. John's journeyed to Conception Bay there to play a series of games with a Harbour Grace eleven.
In 1884 there appears the first reference to Juvenile Cricket clubs being formed. Those clubs were known as White Rose, the Red Rose and the Black Diamond.
On August 5, 1885 the Terra Nova Cricket club played a match with H.M.S. Tenedos. This files for this year teams with clippings from newspapers as well as notes.
1886 saw games played in inter-town serieswith Brigus, Carbonear, and Harbour Grace. At St. John's a game was played between the Married and Single men.
In 1887 there is the first mention of football (soccer). It would in time challenge cricket as the most popular pastime.
In 1887 as well there is a record of many games of cricket being played at the pitch at Pleasantville. A special game was played on May 24 of that year to mark the celebration of the Queen's birthday.
1888 found frequent references to inter-town games involving St.John's and Conception Bay towns of Brigus, Harber Grace, and Carbonear.
In 1890 there is reference to a game of cricket played at Heart's Content. Presumably it would be a match between those who were involved with the Atlantic Cable company.
1893 and 1894. It would appear that the three local colleges formed and intercollegiate league in 1893. St. Bonaventure's college as well as the Methodist College and Bishop Felid College would be participants.
1896 saw Water Street mercantile firms now entering teams in the City Cricket League.
In 1897 there is a record of a game played between St. John's Tennis Club and H.M.S. Cordelia. Many of those who were associated with the game of tennis were also cricketers of note.
1899 through to 1907 Cricket was very popular with the students of the three City Colleges. Many pictures are on the file showing championship college teams.
In 1900 it would appear that cricket was at its peak locally. Our files are simply bulging with rosters of cricketers, match scores etc.
In the Evening Standard issue of February 17 1900 there is an item deling with the likelhood of a Halifax Cricket team Zingarees playing here. That team did subsequently turn up in St. John's. They played and defeated a City team by a score of 48 to 36.
By 1900 Soccer football seems to be trying to crowd cricket from the picture. However, despite that observation there are many reports on cricket matches played.
Editorial notes:-
The above text was compiled by Frank W. Graham, Curator and Honourory Secretary Newfoundland Sports Hall of Fame and Newfoundland Sports Archives.
The above article was transcribed from a recently acquired original copy of 'THE CANADIAN CRICKETER' vol 7 No. 2 dated March 1979. (JH)
Twenty20 World Championships -- Posted Friday, July 13 2007
Canada postpone quadrangular Twenty20
Cricinfo staff
July 13, 2007
The Canadian board has announced that the quadrangular Twenty20 tournament this September has been postponed. Canada had hoped for West Indies and two other full-member ICC countries to play a competition in Toronto ahead of the World Championships the same month.
The board says there was not enough time to obtain TV rights for such an event, but will continue to look at possibilities in 2008 and afterwards. A Canada spokesperson told Cricinfo: "Unfortunately, due to the difficulties of securing global media support in such a short timeframe, the CCA reports that it has proved impossible to bring the project to fruition in 2007."
The West Indies board apparently remains committed to working with the CCA to expand cricket in Canada, particularly through exposure to the Twenty20 version of the game, which is ideal for the North American cricket public.
Article sourced from:-
http://content-www.cricinfo.com/canada/content/story/301867.html
BEN SENNIK'S PRESENTATION OF THE 104TH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CCA -- Posted Friday, July 13 2007
It is my privilege to present this morning the 104th Annual Report of the CCA.
The CCA can pride itself on being one of the oldest sporting organizations in Canada. At time the CCA was incorporated - in 1892 - those were the glory days of cricket in Canada. Then Cricket was the national sport, although I have been challenged at times that lacrosse was national sport.
Nevertheless, Ladies and Gentlemen, cricket is fast stepping into another Golden Era. Together, we shall endeavor to put it on a strong footing, so that our children and grandchildren may enjoy the fruits of your labor.
In the past year, we had our challenges and rewards. I will leave it to each of the Executive Director to report to you regarding his portfolio. My responsibilities
consisted of the following: strategic planning and implementation; financial controls,
sponsorships; international relations; and the responsibility for seeking ways and means of attracting international cricket to Canada.
ADMINISTRATION
With the preparations underway for next year's ICC World Cup and several international matches played in Canada through last summer, it has been a testing time. The operation of the CCA depends upon the strength of the volunteering base at the Executive and at all levels of middle and lower positions. Their efforts have been taxed to the maximum. But I believe the sheer passion of cricket amongst the volunteers has been the engine driving them for that little extra effort to meet the commitments.
Canadian cricket is now in the fast lane. Its presence is growing both nationally and internationally - and I believe the time has come where professional management is needed. Hopefully, with the materialization of some of the initiatives currently underway, that need can be fulfilled.
FINANCIAL MATTERS
When the new Administration took office in November 2003, CCA had a deficit of around $200,000.00. After three years of diligent, hard work, strict controls and professional management of the financial undertakings, I am happy to say that we are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. You will be all delighted to know that this year we have managed a surplus of $92,952.00.
This figure could have been even larger if we were not hit with a currency exchange loss of approximately $40,000, due to the gaining strength of the Canadian Dollar against the U.S. Dollar. All proceeds received from the ICC are in U.S. Dollar currency. We had also to fund the considerably larger number of the tournaments this year. I will not steal the wind from the sails of our Auditors Arun Luthra and our Treasurer Damian Jegannathan, and let them present the pertinent details. Damaian has done a superlative job. Well done Damian..
SPONSORSHIPS:
Our main thrust was to seek various levels of sponsorships attached to the ICC WORLD CUP 2007 tournament in the West Indies next March.
The CCA has been in contact with many major corporations to discuss lead sponsorship of the national team and of cricket in general. The names include corporate giants such as Bank of Nova Scotia, Bank of Montreal, Royal Bank, State Bank of India, MoneyGram, KIA Motors, Tim Hortons, The Toronto Star, Rogers Communications, FedEx, Mr. Michael Lee Chin of AIC Limited, TD/Canada Trust and Ford of Canada.
The good news is that all those organizations were prepared to listen to the marketing story from the CCA and Canadian cricket - and in some cases, multiple meetings were held with the organization in question. I think I can safely say that never before has cricket been so much to the forefront in the minds of major Canadian companies. That is marvelous news for the sport.
The bad news is that - so far - none of the individual company initiatives has come to fruition. But our efforts continue unabated.
One of the greatest development, where the CCA can rightfully claim ample credit, is that the discussions we initiated with the Bank of Nova Scotia for Team Sponsorship - together with Scotiabank's existing sponsorship of junior cricket in Canada - led to the bank positioning itself as a prime global sponsor of the ICC World Cup 2007. We believe this transaction must be in several millions dollars. Most importantly, this will be the first instance of a Canadian corporate company participating in cricket sponsorship at the world level. In my opinion, this is a recognition of the future marketing potential for cricket in Canada.
We had another close miss with the MoneyGram, a large emerging financial institution. MoneyGram had confirmed their agreement to proceed with the Team
Sponsorship. But unfortunately again, sponsorship by MoneyGram was refused by ICC due to their prior commitment with another financial operation: Scotiabank.
We believe that the growth of cricket in Canada over the last several years and its increased national and international visibility is such that we are close to having a marketable "product". Certainly, many leading corporations are moving towards what they term "ethnic marketing" and cricket is well positioned to tap into the South Asian and West Indian communities across the country. We are by no means discouraged. On the contrary, we must continue to intensify our efforts, be patient and keep working at it.
The following sponsorships have been successfully completed:
1.01 Bank of Nova Scotia - $25,000 specifically geared towards thedevelopment of the cricket at the school level.
1.02 Slazenger U.K.- approximate value $ 80,000- covering the supply of the equipment and clothing for the National and U/19 teams until June 2007
1.03 World Cricket Inc (Barbados) The project is the printing and merchandising of player cards for the national team players. $5,000 has been received as an "initial deposit" on the marketing concepts. If it progresses further, the full value will be $20,000. It is proposed that the first $ 5000 already received will be distributed equally amongst all the player immediately upon the announcement of the National team for the World Cup. From the balance $ 15,000, 80% will again be distributed amongst the team players and 20% will be retained by the CCA.
1.04 DST Group Canada: $20,000 for National Team Sponsorship at the 2007 ICC World Cup.
1.05 Tourcan Travel: $10,000 as Official Tour Partner for the 2007 World Cup (Tourcan is an ICC-appointed official tour operator for the World Cup).
1.06 We are hopeful that the ongoing discussions with the Royal Bank may provide a long term sponsorship for the development of the cricket in Canada. Discussions are now at very high level of the management at the Royal Bank
1.07 An Agreement is pending final ratification (subject to a few outstanding points) with ATN as the Official Broadcast Media Sponsor of the national and Under-19 teams. The Agreement, if finalized, would cover sponsorship for 3 years with ATN, which has emerged as the dominant TV channel for cricket in Canada.
1.08 I am happy to say that CCA was responsible for the initiation of the process which resulted in OCA becoming a recipient of one of the largest grants ever to any sport organization in Ontario (ONE MILLION DOLLARS). The Ontario Government has shown its far sightedness to recognize the growing popularity of cricket - and, through it, perhaps the entry to the hearts of the cricketing voters. We are very happy for OCA. I am sure this will lead to the wake-up call for other Provinces and especially the Federal Government to make note and act. Cricket needs funding to grow.
1.09 "The Sponsorship Report" a highly respected monthly newsletter, in their publication of September/06, carried a report entitled "Cricket Flies below the Radar Screen". This has created some waves in the industry, and let us hope some thing meaningful will emerge.
1.010 M + D Community Corp a Canadian company has negotiated a deal with the Legendary Cricket players from India and Pakistan to play an exhibition game at the Rogers Center on March 3, 2007. The project is funded and managed solely by M+D Community. In lieu of CCA's support, a fee of $ 50,000 has been negotiated with the promoters. Heart & Stroke Association of Canada has negotiated a deal with M+D to be the major supporters for the event - a deal initiated by the CCA.
1.011 The Gala dinner sponsored by the St. Lucia Tourist Board held here in Toronto on October 5 was a great success. About 500 people attended. It generated a net profit of approximately $35,000, which will be accounted for in the current 2006/2007 financial year. We must thank the St. Lucia Tourist Board for this initiative. They were pleased with the immense interest which was generated for the Group C World Cup games to held in St. Lucia, where Canada is one of the participants.
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FUNDING:
Definitive progress has been made with Sports Canada towards approval of an ELIGIBILITY APPLICATION. When the application is approved, this will open up the doors to several areas of funding. A few examples are: putting players on contracts, appointment of a CEO and staff to run the affairs of the CCA, establishment of a system to promote the sport from toddler to the national level and funding of foreign tours. Later this morning, the Board will consider the approval of the several Policy documents which are crucially important to meet the mandatory requirements of the criteria.
Ed Bracht helped in making the initial Eligibility Application. Upon review by Sport Canada, it was deemed incomplete due to the insufficient information in several sections. Two names stand out who have been the real stalwarts in providing their services on a volunteer basis for the completion of the inadequacies in the application document.. This meant seeking and compiling information from various sources. These two gentlemen are Ramon Lachmanshingh, who is in a Senior Management position at the Ministry of Environment in Ottawa, and Rajesh Kumar a 4th-year MBA student at the University of Toronto. They have handled the job with creativity, imagination and speed. Both undertook this job for the sheer love of the game. The CCA proposes to recognize their services in the appropriate manner at the appropriate time.
Two meetings were held with Sports Canada in Ottawa. This helped in developing an excellent rapport between us and the Federal officials. The CCA is in discussions with Sports Canada through the Prime Minister's Office, for the consideration of a grant towards the funding for the World Cup in 2007. Let us pray and hope it happens..
WORLD CUP BUSINESS COMMITTEE:
Under the Chairmanship of Steve Ferley, this committee has done an outstanding job.
The committee comprises four members: Farokh Noria, Ajaz Haque, Anil Shah and Andy Merchant. Each and every one has brought to the table wealth of business
acumen, credibility, and total commitment.
This committee solely handles the Sponsorship portfolio. It is also the liaison between the 2007 World Cup Organization in the West Indies and the CCA. Their joint efforts have been conducive to raising considerably large sums of money, which I have already spoken about. The Board thanks them all for their extraordinary achievements.
WICB & INTERNATIONAL CRICKET:
I believe the CCA has developed an excellent relationship of mutual respect and openness with Mr. Ken Gordon, the new President of WICB. I have found him to be a very trustworthy, amiable and down-to-earth gentleman. I admire his progressive ideas and the will to develop the Americas as the next market for cricket. I believe in him because I know he is serious and determined to deliver.
Through the initiative of Mr. Gordon, a high level meeting with top management personnel from the BCCI, was arranged in New York in June. The CCA and USACA attended the meeting. Mr. Gordon most skillfully ensured a commitment from the BCCI contingent to commence yearly international matches in Canada and the U.S. It is a major breakthrough for the promotion and development of the cricket in North
America.
It was agreed that West Indies and India will play two games in Canada and two in the U.S. in September this year, subject to the infrastructure facilities being to the satisfaction of India. CCA met all the commitments punctually as requested by BCCI. A further meeting took place in London during the ICC Annual Conference. Towards the end of July, Mr. Gordon and Mr. Modi of the BCCI, and ourselves it was jointly decided that, in view of the time limitation for holding a successful event in September, the game should be postponed until June or July 2007. We are therefore on for the game next year.
ICC:
Good working relationships with the management, technical and financial personnel have been maintained. Calvin Clarke and I attended the ICC Annual Conference in London in July. This year Dicky Lord from Argentina was re-elected to the ICC Chief Executive Committee and Samir Inamdar from Kenya was elected to the ICC Executive Board and the IDI Board. This was quite a breakthrough for the North Americas and Africa to break the long-standing monopoly of Europe and South East Asia representatives on the ICC Board.
Following an amendment at the Conference to the Code of Conduct Commission Terms of Reference, the top six Associate members, Kenya, Ireland, Scotland, Canada, Bermuda and the Netherlands was each entitled to nominate a person to sit on ICC Code of Coduct Commission. I am pleased to announce that I received the confirmation last Thursday that our nominee Mr. Stindar (Stein) K. Lal, Q.C., was appointed to the Commission.
Canada has been awarded the ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup 2012. A 64 pages Host Agreement is under review. Several clarifications still need to be rehashed with ICC. Our Legal Counsel Rahul Shastri must review and provide his opinion. We still are little distance away prior to coming to a decision.
MEDIA:
Great strides have been made in print, radio and television to grow the visibility of cricket. Almost all the national newspapers have started to cover cricket news. In Toronto specifically, The Toronto Star has made a major commitment to cricket news, often dedicating full-page coverage. Some 20 ethnic media newspapers, radio stations and TV stations have increased the coverage of cricket. In particular, ATN/CBN (Asian Television and the Commonwealth Broadcasting Network) now has live ball-by-ball coverage of many international series, including - I'm told - the upcoming England/Australia Ashes Series. The CCA has played a dominant role in that increasing media coverage of the sport. As we get closer to the World Cup, this will no doubt result in even greater exposure at all levels.
One other point I should address in the area of "media" might surprise you. As we progress the CCA's own website, it's becoming more and more clear to us that the CCA itself is in the media business. In fact, we have our own media vehicle. To the extent that we can operate the website efficiently with appropriate format and informative updates, we are able to offer exposure to cricket-oriented companies via the website. This certainly helps in attracting sponsorship dollars. It would be remiss of me if I didn't give particular mention in this area to Nauman Vania who has done a superb job in building the website in a totally professional manner from all aspects.
MAPLE LEAF CRICKET CLUB:
The CCA was committed to the hilt with the management of Maple Leaf to seek the approval of one of the King City grounds as an official ICC-approved facility. That approval was received and Canada is now in the excellent position of having two ICC-approved facilities.
At last year's AGM, a presentation was made outlining an Architect's concept for developing a modern, state-of-the-art cricket facility at King City. Some further
progress has been made. Two meetings have been held with a prospective sports arena development company based in Washington. This company has done considerable research on their own, and have expressed willingness to go the next step of discussions. But prior to that, they have sought some pertinent information about the property and its Management, which was conveyed to the Maple Leaf some months back. Elvin Pompey, the President of Maple Leaf CC, has assured me that it will be forthcoming shortly. Let us keep positive and focused.
CONCLUSION
Finally, I must express my sincere gratitude to all for having given me the opportunity to serve you. It was indeed a privilege. I tried to the best of my ability to be objective and pragmatic in setting the attainable goals. I believe, together we have made steady progress in our efforts. There could have been times when we were not successful, but I can assure you that it was not for the lack of concentrated effort. Thank you for your support. I must also extend my sincere thanks to, each and every volunteer, who has helped us in providing his services in a multitude of the operational activities.
Winston Churchill had the following words of Abraham Lincoln framed on the wall at his office:
" I do the very best I can. I mean to keep going. If the end brings me out alright, then what is said against me won't matter. And if I am wrong ten angels swearing that I was right won't make a difference"
I, also, have tried to be guided by those words of wisdom.
Thank you all.
Report sourced from:-
http://www.windiescricket.com/index.cfm?objectid=5B9BC32E-E616-7B90-5D34347663083D4F&article=true&id=431195
New Canadian domestic individual scoring record -- Posted Thursday, July 12 2007
Irfan Rabbani scored 304 runs from a 50-over total of 438 runs for 5 wickets as his Appolo team romped to a 227 run victory over United XI in the Canadian Commonwealth Cricket Association last weekend. This is the highest individual score in Canadian domestic cricket, overhauling the 280 scored by Canadian international player Don Maxwell when with York University.
Rabbani hit 48 boundaries and six sixes. He took part in stands of 120 runs for the 2nd wicket, 155 runs for the 3rd wicket and 118 runs for the 4th wicket. Naveed Tariq was next highest scorer with 57 runs. Rabbani was eventually bowled by Khayan Raja.
Congratulations for an amazing batting achievement.
This feat is timely, as the fallen record comes on the eve of the second Canadian Colleges and Universities cricket tournament. This year's event has a 20/20 format and includes ten teams, who will be playing at Maple Leaf CC, King City, Ontario between Monday July 16 and Friday July 20th.
Maxwell took in some of the play during the recent ICC Intercontinental Cup matches at King City.
Eddie Norfolk
UAE’s consolation win over Ontario -- Posted Thursday, July 12 2007
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) wound up its’ trip to the Greater Toronto Area with a 6 wicket win over Ontario.
Ontario batted first and made 228 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in 50 overs. UAE replied with 230 runs for the loss of 4 wickets with nine overs to spare.
Nayeem Aslam sealed victory with a drive for six.
Saqib Ali starred for the UAE with 64 runs, including 7 boundaries and 3 sixes. Khuram Khan took 3 wickets for 27 runs in ten overs of bowling for the visitors. Saad bin Zafar hit 64 runs for Ontario (9 boundaries) and captain Zahir Haniff hit a breezy 51 runs not out in 42 balls.
This was a consolation win for the UAE after losing the ICC Intercontinental Cup match to Canada by an innings. Canada tops the standings in this competition that stretches over 2 years. The top two of the eight competing countries will play off for the title.
Scoring summary Maple Leaf CC, King City, Ont (July 11 – 50 over match) :
Ontario 228 runs for 7 wickets (50 overs; Saad bin Zafar 64 runs, Zahir Haniff 51 runs not out, Azib Ali 37 runs, Khuram Khan 3 wickets for 27 runs)
UAE 230 runs for 4 wickets (40.4 overs; Saqib Ali 64 runs, Arshad Ali 39 runs, Nayeem Aslam 37 runs not out)
ICC Intercontinental Cup Standings 2007-2008
Canada’s next Intercontinental Cup matches
Oct 12-15 v Kenya (Nairobi)
Oct 25-28 v Namibia (Windhoek)
Eddie Norfolk
ICC under 19 Cricket World Cup -- Posted Thursday, July 12 2007
The East Asia-Pacific Region is where it all begins as its qualifying tournament takes place in Port Vila, Vanuatu from 18-22 July. Besides the host country, Japan, Papua
New Guinea (PNG) and Fiji will take part in the tournament with the winner earning a ticket to Malaysia.
The action will then shift to Belfast, Ireland where the European qualifying tournament will take place from 23 to 26 July. Scotland, the Netherlands, Denmark and the host team will take part in the event, which will be held on round-robin league basis.
In America, Canada will be aiming to return to the main event after missing out in 2006. The city of Toronto will host the Americas regional qualifier between 13 and 18 August. Besides Canada, Bermuda, Argentina, the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas will compete on the single league basis with the team finishing on top of the table securing a berth for the Malaysian tournament.
Asia will field the highest number of teams (nine) when that region’s qualifier is played in Malaysia from 20 to 29 August. The participating teams include two Affiliates – Qatar and Afghanistan – while the other seven are Nepal, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand, as well as the host team.
If Malaysia wins the tournament, the losing finalist will qualify for the ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup as Malaysia is already guaranteed a place in the main event.
The Africa regional qualifier will be held in Benoni, South Africa from 25 to 30 August and will have eight teams competing – Ghana, Namibia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Nigeria and Bostwana.
The ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup is a vital part of the ICC Development Program and provides a vehicle for the best young cricketers in the world to parade their skills.
Many of the future stars of the game experience their first true international exposure at this tournament and players such as Brian Lara, Mike Atherton, Yuvraj Singh, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Chris Cairns, Michael Clarke, Graeme Smith and Sanath Jayasuriya have used the event as a stepping stone to full international honours.
First staged in Australia in 1988, the tournament was initially organised on an occasional basis, but since the commencement of the ICC Development Program in 1997 it has become a biennial fixture.
The 2010 ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup will be held in Kenya while the 2012 tournament will be staged in Canada and UAE will host the 2014 edition.
For more information about the ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup including details of all five qualifying tournaments for the 2008 event go to:
http://www.icc-cricket.com/icc/events/u19worldcup/
Article sourced from ICC Media release
ICC WORLD CRICKET LEAGUE EXPLAINED -- Posted Thursday, July 12 2007
The pupose of the ICC World Cricket League is to give regular global one-day cricket opportunities to the top 19 non-Test countries. The tournament in Nairobi involved the best six 'Associates' - Kenya plus Scotland, Ireland, Canada, Bermuda and the Netherlands.
The ICC World Cricket Leahue is about more than just those top six high-performance teams. At present, it is a five-division tournament designed to afford teams of various standards the opportunity to play regular one-day cricket against similarly ranked opponents regardless of where in the world they are located.
It will also ensure that the qualifying pathway for the ICC Cricket World Cup is open to the majority of the 87 ICC Associate and Affiliate members.
This new structure of one-day cricket will sit on top of regional qualifying events to create a pyramid structure in which all teams will have an opportunity to develop and an incentive to improve.
Success will be rewarded with promotion and the ICC World Cricket League will allow ICC to satisfy the relative strengths of these members on a regular basis than ever before.
It means, for example, that Papua New Guinea, currently the strongest team in the East Asia-Pacific region, will be able to test itself against similarly ranked teams from Ugabda in Africa and qualifiers from Europe and the Americas.
Before the introduction of the ICC World Cricket League these matches would only take place every four years. Now these opportunities will come around for all countries twice as often, and even more frequently for some.
Apart from Division 1, the next eight best from the ICC Trophy 2005 have been allocated into Division 2, 3, 4 and 5 with the top teams from the five regional qualifying events. Promotion and relegation will be possible between divisions as each team seeks to move up the world cricket rankings.
Article sourced from the publication 'World Cricket League'.
Lost wickets at Sunnybrook -- Posted Wednesday, July 11 2007
In a walk about in Toronto's Sunnybrook Park yesterday I met a very young lady cricketer with her father.
They had been using one of the nets to improve Christy's batting and bowling. For whatever reason their stumps disappeared.
Christy has written the following:-
"I just wanted to notify some details about the wickets that I lost. The stumps are dark navy blue, and the wickets (bails) have a wood colour.
Maybe if you can see carefully, on the stumps there might be some white letters written.
Thank you,
Sincerely,
Christy.
P.S. This is my e-mail address: batzsc_tech@yahoo.ca ".
I reported the situation to the Sunnybrook Park Superintendent, who indicated that he would make enquiries with his staff.
If the staff do not locate the stumps, perhaps some modest contibutions could be sent to Quasra Sports for the replacement of the lost stumps.
Let us demonstrate to Christy that cricket is more than a game, it being about team work and fellowship.
Jon Harris.
Canada's cricket obligations at home in August -- Posted Wednesday, July 11 2007
ICC UNDER 19 CRICKET WORLD CUP QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT - ICC AMERICAS
Monday August 13 Argentina versus Cayman Islands
Bahamas versus Bermuda
Tuesday August 14 Bermuda versus Cayman Islands
Canada versus Argentina
Thursday August 16 Canada versus Bahamas
Argentina versus Bermuda
Friday August 17 Canada versus Cayman Islands
Argentina versus Bahamas
Saturday August 18 Cayman Islands versus Bahamas
Bermuda versus Canada
ICC AMERICA'S - WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIPS
Monday August 20 Trinidad and Tobago versus Canada
Bermuda versus Argentina
Tuesday August 21 Trinidad and Tobago versus Bermuda
Canada versus Argentina
Thursday August 23 Trinidad and Tobago -v- Argentina
Canada versus Bermuda
Friday August 24 Trinidad and Tobago -v- Americas XI
Rest of Americas "A' versus "B"
All matches to be played at the King City facilities
Calgary cricket news -- Posted Tuesday, July 10 2007
Predators Win JRR
Predators has brought the John Ross Robertson Trophy to Calgary. The 2006 Nolan Cup Champions put on a bowling clinic over the weekend in Vancouver to bring the cup home. On Saturday Predators took on the 2006 Manitoba league champions and quickly found themselves in a spot of trouble. Reeling at 20/5 Dev Sharma (30) and Muninder Bhogal (25) led a recovery and dragged Predators total to 114 from 42 overs. With a paltry total on the board a special bowling performance was needed and it was delivered in spades. Sharma is no doubt one of the best bowlers in Western Canada and who showed it again with an opening burst that yielded 7 wickets (7-30) and with the help of Ronnie Badesha (3-25) eventually scuttled Manitoba out for 60. For the last 9 months Predators sole focus has been to win the John Ross trophy and on Sunday they stood one win away from achieving their goal. As with the semifinal, Predators batted first and with contributions from Narriner Sidhu (35), and Bhogal (25) leading the charge, they crept to a respectable total of 164. With a defendable total on the board the Predators bowlers backed themselves to dismantle the Salim Akbar CC bowling and that is exactly what they did. A great team effort led by Narrinder Sidhu (3-24), Badesha (3-29) and Zulfikar Hussain (3-30) bowled out the hosts for 115 bringing the JRR trophy to Calgary. Predators are deserving 2007 John Ross Robertson Trophy champions and will return to action in Calgary July 14th at Riley Park.
Wicket Maidens tour to Calgary
For the first time in the history of the Calgary and District Cricket League a team comprised entirely of women played a match in Calgary. The Wicket Maidens from Victoria BC played two games against the Calgary Colts on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday the colts batted first and put up a fighting score of 159 before bowling the Maidens out for 116. Sunday was more of the same as the Colts in a match shortened to 30 overs racked up a massive score of 259 before bowling out the visitors for under 100. A great weekend of cricket for both teams and a great learning experience on both ends. The C&DCL has invited the Maidens to return next year and to make this an annual event and raise the profile of the womens game in Calgary.
Stories submitted by Mukal
Ontario Cricket Academy coach -- Posted Tuesday, July 10 2007
Mihir Dutta hails from Kolkata (Calcutta), India, home to many famous Indian Test players. Mr. Dutta had an outstanding cricket career, in the midst of his engineering studies at one of India’s foremost Universities.
As a right handed batsman and fast medium bowler, Mr. Dutta played in the Cricket Association of Bengal Premier League- from the young age of 13! Alongside many Indian First-class and Test players namely - Saurav Ganguly, Arun Lal, Ashok Malhotra, Pranab Roy, Amber Roy, Dilip Doshi, Subrata Guha, Michael Dalvi and Asok Gandotra- he was eventually made captain of his Premier club and made a lasting impact on their careers.
As his schooling and studies excelled so too did his cricketing honours. From 1974 to 1980 Mr. Dutta represented Jadavpur University- the leading university cricket team in East India- in the All India Inter - University Cricket Tournament (Rohington Beria Trophy and Zonal Vizzy Trophy). Over the years in these First Class tournaments, he was awarded as Most Valuable Player, Best Bowler and Best Batsman.
He has toured and played extensively in UAE, Kenya, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong. His major tour to southeast Asia was with a Bengal State XI- containing many Ranji Trophy players.
As a coach Mr. Dutta has had a colourful career, from coaching his old University team to coaching young cricketers from East Calcutta District Cricket Federation. He was recognized as a very influential coach in his Premier club- where many Test players have been borne.
Item sourced from the Ontario Cricket Academy web site at http://www.ontariocricket.com/mihir.html
Toronto Cricket Academy -- Posted Tuesday, July 10 2007
The Toronto Cricket Academy played an offical 30 over Game (U-15) against the Malton Cricket Club this past weekend.
One of the Toronto Cricket Academy players took a hat trick, a helmet Trick and 5 Wickets in 6 Balls.
Also three years ago when playing an official 25 over game (U-15) against Commomwealth, TCA bowled Commonwealth out for 1 run.
As these are official games these should be mentioned somewhere for its historic value.
Item written by Sufhmit Senna and submitted by Brian Hale.
CANADIAN LADY CRICKETERS ENTER THE WORLD SCENE -- Posted Tuesday, July 10 2007
Since 1785 the sport of cricket has been mainly a male domain across the country, but now times are changing as the lady cricketers of Canada step onto the international scene.
Between August 19 and August 26 Canada will play host to the inaugural Americas Women's Cricket Championship in Toronto. Nations taking part include Argentina, Bermuda, Canada and Tinidad & Tobago.
In 2005 the Canadain ladies suffered a bitter disapointment when three days before departing for Jamaica to take part in the West Indiesa Ladies Championships, hurricanes Denis and Emily roared across the island causing the tournament to be cancelled.
During the summer of 2006 Canada and Bermuda met in Victoria, B.C. to decide which country would represent the Americas in the World Cup qualifying matches to be held in Pakistan in 2008. The next World Cup will be held in Australia in 2009.
The series was closely contested and Bermuda won the event 2 matches to one, following a thrillling 3 run victory in the final game.
One of the earliest references to ladies cricket in Canada occurred in 1939 when an English team from Harrogate School toured to Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto.
Article sourced from July 1, 2007 press release.
A report from the Maple Leaf Cricket Club -- Posted Monday, July 9 2007
Maple Leaf Cricket Club has successfully hosted ICC Cup games for the Canadian Cricket Association. There was a tremendous amount of work to undertake, given the fragile nature of finances and resources. Overall our performance has been excellent.
UAE, Netherlands, as well Canadian teams were well served with excellent pitches, good catering, ground staff and some excellent junior volunteers. We were able to provide internet connections so that live scores could be broadcast. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Austin Ward and his staff for providing the players with the best pitches and super fast outfields. Sanjam Suri, Neil Saini, and Usman Limbada were the most dedicated juniors who helped us manage the event. These are small things for the big league people at ICC. For a small club, that is run by fees paid by players, it is an achievement.
I wish to thank the fee paying TDCA players, both past and present, for creating an outstanding facility that is second to none for playing conditions.
Maple Leaf Cricket Club has also hosted a very successful Maple Leaf 20/20 Cricket Tournament for the TDCA.
The parking lot has been extended and we can now park more cars. The initial design and cost estimate phase to put turf nets is starting today. Once the estimate and design is complete, I will be forwarding the project report to the board for approval.
On the side of improvements, that still need to be made, is the on-going problem with the sight screens. We are having difficulty, due to lack of funds, and are trying to be creative so that costs can be kept low. On the weekend, Mr. Mike Kendall, President OCA came to visit Maple Leaf and I have given him a good round of the facility and the on going continual improvement initiatives, as well as new projects that are under consideration. This morning, I have communicated with Ed Bracht to have his input before launching new projects, so that any issues related to the trust agreement are resolved prior to initiating any new project that includes any capital spending.
I would like to propose the making of a think tank to be called “Friends of the Maple Leaf”. This group will have the mandate to discuss plans for improvement at Maple Leaf Cricket Club and provide ideas for the improvement of Canadian Cricket. The group will also include individual who are generally reluctant, or do not have the time to run for any office. I hope you will support this initiative at the next board meeting. This group should include persons who have businesses, marketing, development, municipal, other sport, and cricket association representatives etcetera. The final decision to accept, modify, or reject recommendations will always rest with the board. I feel Maple Leaf Cricket Club is ideally situated to become the “Centre of Cricket Excellence”. At the next Board meeting, we need to discuss this matter and if accepted; start to work on a plan to achieve our objectives.
Financially speaking, the hosting of these games does not make good business sense. As you are aware that for each day that is lost by TDCA to host its games, TDCA has to go and rent grounds elsewhere. We at Maple Leaf have to cover that expense by refunding certain fixed amounts.
International games take up 2 grounds to play one match. Thus there is no gain made by MLCC. In addition we are also required to pick up several other expenses and provide staff as well as volunteers. Weekend games at MLCC are a net loss and since TDCA in the end has to ensure that MLCC stays in the black, the TDCA in fact becomes the host. We have responsibility towards OCA, CCA, and ICC to do our best to host games in Canada at a reasonable cost. I will be initiating discussions with CCA to find other ways of meeting our costs so that TDCA does not continue to become the most expensive league to play cricket in Canada.
Maple Leaf Cricket Club has the following objectives:
1. Provide Best Quality Cricket Grounds and enjoyable playing environment for its Members.
2. Become the most advanced and best equipped facility to train players in North America. (Centre of Cricket Excellence)
3. Be financially self reliant and reduce/eliminate the financial burden on the TDCA
4. Be a host to higher level games for OCA, CCA, ICC, and other cricket organisation.
I want to thank to all those who came to MLCC during and before these matches, and provided us with their support.
Best Regards.
Ranjit Saini
President, MLCC
Editorial comment:-
"Think Tank"
Think being the operative word.
"Think" outside the GTA.
"Think" to include cricketers from coast to coast.
"Think" that the association(s) and communication can be a "virtual" group, not confined by a particular board room. (Jon Harris and SJH)
Canada goes top after comprehensive victory over UAE (ICC) -- Posted Monday, July 9 2007
Canada goes top after comprehensive victory over UAE (ICC media release)
Welsh, Dhaniram and Bastiampillai to the fore; proud coach Dassanayake praises young players, calls for emphasis on preparation
Canada sits on top of the ICC Intercontinental Cup 2007-08 table following its convincing defeat of the United Arab Emirates in Toronto this week and interim coach Pubudu Dassanayake is delighted with how the side performed over the three days.
“The guys were so determined to win here – they were not going to settle for anything less than an outright victory,” said Dassanayake, who has been coaching the team since May.
“Against the Netherlands we lost just when we thought we had it in the bag, which was really disappointing. But the way they bounced back from that was very encouraging for me,” he said.
Dassanayake, who has made no secret of his desire to take on the job full time, was particularly impressed with some of the more inexperienced players in the side.
“In the first innings, we bowled them out cheaply (for 112) but then we lost two early wickets and so I told Trevin (Bastiampillai) and Asif Mulla just to hang around, play only the balls they needed to play and build a partnership. They did that really well for me and that set things up nicely for (Sunil) Dhaniram coming in later.”
Dhaniram ended up unbeaten on 141 as Canada posted a big first innings total of 450 and then Canada bowled UAE out in the second innings for just 110 to win by an innings and 228 runs.
It is still the early stages of the competition and four of the eight teams (Bermuda, Namibia, Kenya and defending champion Ireland) have yet to get their campaigns underway but for the time being Canada, the beaten finalist from 2004 and 2006, is top of the table.
Having played two, the Canadians have 26 points and although they lost to the Netherlands in that tight game last week, the fact that they gained six points for winning the first innings may be crucial in the long run.
The Netherlands, which has played just one match so far, sits in second place with 14 points while Scotland and the UAE are in joint third position, with three points each to their names following their rain-affected draw recently in Ayr.
Notwithstanding the batting of Dhaniram, Mulla and Bastiampillai, medium-pacer Steve Welsh was the real hero for Canada as he followed up on his seven wickets in the first innings with another five in the second as the UAE crumbled.
Only Shadeep Silva put up any kind of resistance on day three as he added 43 before becoming another of Welsh’s victims. But no one else made the Canadians sweat as the UAE collapsed from 85-2 in its second innings to 110 all out.
Welsh ended with match figures of 12-93, his best first-class effort, and was the clear choice for the man of the match award.
“Welsh bowled beautifully on what was a good track for batting. At times I would say he was unplayable as he has a great action and can swing it both ways. He and Henry (Osinde) did very well for us,” said Dassanayake.
Indeed, as well as Osinde, Welsh was well backed up on Sunday by Durand Soraine who took 3-8 off five overs.
“The key for us in this competition is getting our preparation right. There is a huge amount of enthusiasm and the team spirit is great,” said Dassanayake.
“We were underprepared for the first game against the Dutch but we really played well against the UAE. It is vital that we get the chance to train hard and prepare ourselves when we go away to places like Kenya and Namibia later in the competition. If we can do that then I think we can be very competitive again.
“I believe cricket in Canada is on the up. It is definitely growing here and it’s a very positive time for the sport in this part of the world,” he said.
The ICC Intercontinental Cup has quickly grown in stature and profile since its inception three years ago and now the ICC’s premier first-class tournament is an integral part of the Associate Members’ cricket schedule.
Having previously been designed around a two-group, three-day format, the event has evolved into an eight-team, round-robin and truly global tournament featuring four-day cricket which gives those teams who do not play Test cricket the chance to experience the longer form of the game.
Scotland won the first ICC Intercontinental Cup in 2004, beating Canada in the final, while Ireland has been victorious in both events since then, beating Kenya in the 2005 decider and Canada earlier this year in the 2006-07event.
The final of the ICC Intercontinental Cup 2007-08 will take place in November 2008 at a venue yet to be decided.
For full scorecard and more information about the ICC Intercontinental Cup go to: http://www.icc-cricket.com/icc/events/intercontinental/
For the latest full points table and system go to: http://www.icc-cricket.com/icc/events/intercontinental/points.html
Canada hammers UAE -- Posted Monday, July 9 2007
ICC Intercontinental Cup Match - Scoring summary (July 8), Maple Leaf CC, King City, Ontario:
UAE won the toss and elected to bat.
United Arab Emirates 112 all out (39.5 overs; Gayan Silva 36 runs, Steve Welsh 7 wickets for 42 runs) and 110 runs all out (41.3 overs; Shahdeep Silva 43 runs; Steve Welsh 5 wickets for 51 runs, Durand Sorraine 3 wickets for 9 runs)
Canada 450 runs all out (Sunil Dhaniram 141 runs not out, Asif Mulla 87 runs, Trevin Bastiampillai 71 runs, Kevin Sandher 64 runs, Qaiser Ali 42 runs; Zaheed Shah 4 wickets for 108 runs, Javed Ismail 4 wickets for 123 runs)
Canada won by an innings and 228 runs.
Canada gains 20 points (6 points for first innings lead and 14 points for an outright win).
Umpires: Roger Dill (Bermuda) and Courtney Young (Cayman Islands)
Canada romped home by an innings and 228 runs against the United Arab Emirates at Maple Leaf CC on Sunday. The UAE was bowled out for 110 runs in its second innings. There was resistance from three UAE batsman, but the visitors batting folded soon after Saqib Ali was third out with the total on 85 runs. Shahdeep Silva went 5 runs later for a valiant 43 runs, that included 6 boundaries, then the rest of the batting folded. Durand Sorraine was able to gain three quick wickets for just 9 runs in the closing stanza, just after lunch.
Henry Osinde bowled with hostility in the UAE second innings. He took 2 wickets for 43 runs and was a tough proposition at times, especially towards the end of the second day when a strong wind was blowing from north-west to south-east across the ground. This had made life tough for first innings Canadian bowling hero Steve Welsh, but with little wind on Sunday morning, Welsh was able to swing the ball and cause the batsmen problems.
Welsh has previously not had a good record when given limited opportunities for his adopted country, but was well rewarded as he moved to take his tenth wicket of the match, a notable barometer of cricket bowling statistics. He ended with 5 second innings wickets for 51 runs to give a match return of 12 wickets for 93 runs. His one previous first-class appearance was as a replacement in South Africa last December some two months after his last match of the year.
UAE Manager Inamul Haq Khan said at the post-match presentations Canada had bowled and fielded well. Captain Arshad Ali, who made 25 runs in the UAE second innings added “Canada played really well.”
Welsh was named man-of-the-match ahead of his captain Sunil Dhaniram, who scored 141 runs not out. It was Dhaniram’s first appearance as Canadian skipper who said “the boys did well” and wished the visitors well in their future Intercontinental Cup matches.
There are eight countries in the structure of the current IC Cup competition, playing each other once over a two year period, with a final between the top two late in 2008.
Canada had a number of regular players missing but a number of newer or replacement players did well, which bodes well for the future.
Trevin Bastiampillai played with great concentration on the first day after the early Canadian batting faltered. He moved up through the gears on the second morning. Asif Mulla has made tremendous progress as a batsman since being included on the winter trip to South Africa. He now looks set to be wicketkeeper in the absence of Ashish Bagai, now going to New York and then London, England, to follow business career interests.
Canada can make use of the Intercontinental Cup matches, and some of the associated one-day games surrounding them to build a solid squad for the 2009 Cricket World Cup (CWC) qualifying competition in the UAE. Success there brings a spot in the 2011 CWC in South Asia.
There is clearly a large base of potential players with good skills in this country. Properly identifying them, their successors and providing the necessary development, training and coaching facilities is a key need.
The marketing and promotion of the Canadian cricket team for the two home Intercontinental Cup matches with the Netherlands and the UAE, as well as the two ODI matches with the Dutch, has been appropriately described as ‘non-existent’ and ‘abysmal’.
The chance for television coverage on community television was spurned by the CCA leadership; at best the CCA leaders may admit reluctantly, they ignored the potential.
Six of the side playing against the UAE have devoted most of their winter and much of this year to playing for Canada. They deserve better than to be seen by a hardcore of 40-50 people, most of whom are fulfilling a designated role in administering these games or reporting on them.
No TV cameras made an appearance at these prime 8 days of play, plus one day washed out, that will form the home senior international program if the projected four country 20/20 tournament for the Labour Day weekend does not materialize.
If this country’s cricket administrators could get their act together, the next time the Cricket World Cup comes to the Americas region, it need not be assigned to the West Indies, it could be played in major Canadian cities. There is scope for having a day game played in the east and a day/night match in the west that could increase global live TV coverage for such a World Cup. But who of the present leadership has the planning and leadership skills to deliver such a plan, let alone implement it?
The first steps must be to focus on Canadian cricket as the core business product. By all means plan for leading countries to come and play ODIs here, but do so in a way that provides a clear, sustainable path of revenue and assists development of the sport in this country.
There is much more to promoting cricket than having a reasonable wicket and outfield. There might even have been some play in the second ODI against the Dutch if extra matting to cover a damp adjacent wicket had been available.
The core national team players made great strides on applying the basics of cricket during the winter. Some of the leaders need to show similar commitment if the game is to thrive, or even survive in the longer term. This should not be rocket science to achieve. If some of the leaders feel it is too much of a struggle, then they need to consider if they should step aside.
Perhaps it is something as simple as not understaning how cricket is and has been promoted in places where it has been established and recognizing what needs to be done in a country where it is not a mainstream sport.
The FIFA Under-20 World Cup has major promotions surrounding it. The Toronto Blue Jays and Argos advertise their matches, as do the new Toronto soccer clubs, who already have public TV coverage.
The CCA missed a chance to market this year's home international matches at the recent CIMA Spirit of Cricket event. It is just one example of a lost opportunity.
Eddie Norfolk
A chronological history of cricket in British Columbia -- Posted Monday, July 9 2007
By 1858, matches between the British Navy and Victoria clubs began to be reported in the Victoria newspapers, whose sports coverage for two decades, was almost exclusively devoted to cricket. There are records of two innings matches which began at noon.
In 1860, the "Westminster Folk" established a cricket club on the mainland at McLean’s farm in Pitt River. On the Island, matches were played at Beacon Hill and Colwood. The first of the Dominion Day inter-city matches between Vancouver and Victoria took place in 1887 at Larwill Park, which was located at Cambie and Dunsmuir.
In 1892, a cricket field and pavilion was established at Brockton Point, referred to by Sir Donald Bradman in 1932 as the "most scenic ground in the world".
The first fixture was a match between Vancouver and the Californians, with whom a friendly rivalry started developing since an historic match in California in 1869.
The following is a chronological record of some of our major ensuing events.
1912 B.C Cricket Association formed
1913 Australian Touring team visits Vancouver
1914 Formation of the B.C Mainland Cricket League
1922 B.C enters her first Western Canadian Cricket Tournament and wins it.
1923 Vancouver hosts the Western Canadian Cricket Tournament and wins it
1932 Australian cricket team good will tour. Sir Don Bradman was the Captain. BC Mainland team defeats Australia by 12 runs
1936 The Vancouver side defeats the Hollywood Cricket Club. Hollywood team included starts as Errol Flynn, Nigel Bruce and Boris Karloff.
1937 First visit of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) to Vancouver. Subsequent visits by the same club in 1951,1959,1967, 1985 and 1994.
1947 Senior Dominion Cricket Championship established.
1959 Vancouver Women’s Cricket Association formed
1961 Visit of the Emu cricket club
1964 Tour by the New Zealand Cricket XI
1968 Visit by the Australian Old Collegians
1973 Visit by the Kent Cricket Club
1975 Visit of the Australian Cricket Test Team to Canada.
Canadian Tour to Windward and Leeward Islands.
Hydrabad cricket team visits Vancouver
1983 Provincial tournament is held in Vancouver
1994 B.C hosts and wins Senior National Tournament in Vancouver
1995 B.C creates and wins North American tournament.
The above chronology was compiled by Ben Seebarin and sourced from the following:-
http://www.geocities.com/burrardcricketclub/History%20Of%20Cricket%20in%20B.C.htm
Toronto Police CC -- Posted Monday, July 9 2007
The Toronto Police cricket match honouring one of their fallen officers was played last weekend before far more than the anticipated 500 spectators. As one wag suggested that there should be parking for 500 cars.
There are two cricket grounds on McNichol, one of which is used by the Scarborough Cricket League, and both grounds are below the hydro lines
Senior police officers advised that their 'Percy Cummins' McNichol cricket ground had been re-layed, seeded and levelled in the spring. Certainly the ground was far beyond the previous facilities last visited a couple of years ago.
The Toronto Police XI scored 202 runs, with Samuels providing the highest score of 41 run out. The Barbados Ex-Police Association bowler Shafi took three wickets for 4 runs.
The Barbados Ex-Police XI scored 153 all out, Hunt scoring 57.
The McNicol ground could use more space for parking. Given that all the cars parked on the side road belonged to certain officials, it is unlikely any tickets would be given, unless it was my car.
I had met with two senior offcers at Sunnybrook Park during the CIMA event. One of those officers approached me at McNicol about the recreation sport of dominoes, a traditional game at cricket matches in the Caribbean and also played at McNichol.
Jon Harris.
British Columbia Mainland Cricket League -- Posted Sunday, July 8 2007
Club six - a - side 2007
Use the link for match results and photographs of various cricketers
http://www.bcmcl.org/index.jsp?page_id=CLUB6ASIDE2007
Canada- UAE photos -- Posted Sunday, July 8 2007
Photographs by Eddie Norfolk
 Asif Mulla batting |  Bastiampillai |  Gayan Silva |
 Kevin Sandher |  Qaiser Ali |  S teve Welsh |
 Sunil Dhaniram celebrates his century |  UAE squad |
Canada piles up runs against UAE -- Posted Sunday, July 8 2007
Canada managed to bat for almost the entire second day against the UAE in the ICC Intercontinental Cup match at Maple Leaf CC.
Overnight batsmen Trevin Bastiampillai and Asif Mulla pushed their third wicket partnership to 141 runs, then captain Sunil Dhaniram and Kevin Sandher shared a stand of 180 runs for the 9th wicket. Canada was eventually all out for 450 runs; a lead of 338 runs.
Dhaniram top-scored with 141 runs not out, Mulla made 87 runs, Bastiampillai 71 runs and Sandher 64 runs. Each of these scores are personal bests in first-class cricket.
The UAE managed 40 runs for the loss of 1 wicket in jusr over one hour's batting toward the day's end. A further 298 runs must be scored in order to avoid an innings defeat. UAE skipper Arshad Ali was 17 runs not out at the end of the day and is a key threat to Canada.
Canadian coach Pubudu Dassanayake hopes his side "keep pressurising them (the UAE batsmen), and our bowlers bowl in the right areas and we hold our catches" when the third day begins on Sunday morning. He added "we need early wickets", otherwise it could be a tough day in the field for Canada.
Dhaniram made an excellent century from 171 balls that included 25 boundaries. His stand with Sandher should result in Canada winning this match. Sandher, often the last batsmen for Canada, has made half-centuries in consecutive Intercontinental Cup matches. He played a sensible support innings but began to attach the tiring UAE bowling as the day wore on. His career-best 64 runs included one drive for six and 7 boundaries.
Mulla batted 103 balls for his 87 runs (9x4's, 2x6's) to ensure Canada moved to a solid lead. Young Bastiampillai had played a watchful innings on the first day before his shot repertoire began to flower on the second day. He made 9 boundaries in his 209 ball innings.
UAE pace bowlers Zaheed Shah and Javed Ismail each took 4 wickets and each bowled over 30. Shah's 4 wickets cost 108 runs and Ismail's 123 runs. Opening bowler Ahmed Nadeem withdrew from the field on the first day and was unable to field on Saturday due to injury.
The umpires are Roger Dill (Bermuda) and Courtney Young (Cayman Islands)
Eddie Norfolk
Memorial cricket match will honour Toronto police officer -- Posted Saturday, July 7 2007
The Toronto Police and Barbados Ex-Police Association will be facing off at the annual Memorial Cricket Match Saturday July 7, at Toronto's Percy Cummins Cricket Ground, MacNicoll Avenue and White Heather Boulevard at noon.
Percy Cummins, a native of Barbados, is the only black officer with the Toronto Police Services to be killed in the line of duty. He was an officer in Barbados before coming to Canada in 1970 and served at 14 Division before being transferred to 11 Division where he was shot with his own gun on his first day of service in September, 1981.
Percy played on the Barbados Ex-Police Association cricket team.
"We want to remember him," said David Hope, a member of the Barbados Ex-Police Association.
"Percy was always involved in the Community. He was very caring and would help anyone any time. He was an excellent family man."
Hope said he expects about 500 people to come out and watch the match.
Article written by Michelle McLean and published in the Scarborough Mirror, Friday, July 6, 2007.
Welsh leads Canada to good position against UAE -- Posted Saturday, July 7 2007
ICC Intercontinental Cup Match - Scoring summary (July 6; Day 1 of 4), Maple Leaf CC, King City, Ontario:
United Arab Emirates 112 all out (39.5 overs; Gayan Silva 36 runs, Steve Welsh 7 wickets for 42 runs)
Canada 123 runs for 4 wickets (47 overs; Qaiser Ali 42 runs, Trevin Bastiampillai 29 runs not out, Asif Mulla 28 runs not out)
Canada leads by 11 runs. Match comprises two innings of 10 wickets (outs) per side.
UAE won the toss and elected to bat.
Umpires: Roger Dill (Bermuda) and Courtney Young (Cayman Islands)
Report:
King City, Ontario (July 6):
Canadian opening bowler Steve Welsh took the first five United Arab Emirates (UAE) wickets as the visitors were bundled out for 112 runs. Welsh ended with 7 wickets for 42 runs. Canada replied with 123 runs for 4 wickets by close of play; a lead of 11 runs and a gain of 6 points in the ICC Intercontinental Cup standings for first innings lead.
Canada will be hoping to bat for a long time on the second day, and possibly into the third day, to secure a match winning position. Qaiser Ali scored 42 runs for Canada. Trevin Bastiampillai, 29 runs not out, and Asif Mulla, 28 runs not out, will resume the Canadian innings on Saturday. The match is scheduled for four days. Play begins at 10.30 am at Maple Leaf CC, King City.
Welsh swings to seven wicket haul
Welsh made the ball swing in his best spell of bowling for his adopted country. He accounted for four batting dangermen in the UAE line-up: Arshad Ali, Saqib Ali, Khurram Khan and Javed Ismail. These four combined for just 6 runs, but they will have a chance to redeem themselved in the second innings. This fine opening spell had the opposition reeling at 20 runs for the loss 5 wickets.
He made some balls swing away, and others into the batsmen. Welsh comes from Australia but has lived and played cricket in Vancouver, BC, for several years.
Slow-bowler Kevin Sandher broke the promising recovery between Shahdeep Silva and Sayan Silva to herald the lunch interval. The pair had added 41 runs before Shahdeep skied the ball and was caught. He had made 22 runs.
Soon after lunch, Welsh ended opening batsman Sayan Silva's innings for 36 runs and closed the innings by bowling last man Zahid Shah. Meanwhile, Henry Osinde had chipped in with 2 wickets for 60 runs. Sandher's one wicket cost no runs. Canadian wicketkeeper Asif Mulla took four catches.
One or two slip catches and a possible chance in the outfield went begging, which at present do not seem costly. Some of the work in the field could have been better, but there has been limited preparation time together for this squad.
Canada recovers from bad start
The Canadian innings had another bad start as Aftab Shamsudeen was leg-before wicket and Geoff Barnett was caught in the slips. The side had failed to get off to a good start in three recent innings against the Netherlands. This time, 2 were out for just 3 runs in the early going.
Trevin Bastiampillai and Qaiser Ali gradually steered their side to a better position. Ali began to play some solid shots, and Bastiampillai was not tempted by balls being bowled outside the off stump. Just when Ali seemed set for a good score, he was bowled by Shah for 42 runs, including six boundaries. This made it 42 for 3 wickets.
Debutatant Hemnarine Chattergoon began brightly. However, he was bowled by Ismail after scoring 10 of the 12 runs added for the fourth wicket.
Asif Mulla then joined Bastiampillai and the pair saw Canada to a first innings lead, which brings 6 points in the ICC Intercontinental Cup standings, and a lead of 11 runs by close of play. This pairing will be hoping to build a good partnership when play resumes on Saturday. The lead is currently slender, but Canada has six wickets remaining in its first innings and should be capable of building a solid first innings lead.
Eddie Norfolk
CANADIAN LADY CRICKETERS ENTER THE WORLD SCENE -- Posted Saturday, July 7 2007
Since 1785 the sport of cricket has been mainly a male domain across the country, but now times are changing as the lady cricketers of Canada step onto the international scene.
Between August 19 and August 26 Canada will play host to the inaugural Americas Women's Cricket Championship in Toronto. Nations taking part include Argentina, Bermuda, Canada and Tinidad & Tobago.
In 2005 the Canadain ladies suffered a bitter disapointment when three days before departing for Jamaica to take part in the West Indiesa Ladies Championships, hurricanes Denis and Emily roared across the island causing the tournament to be cancelled.
During the summer of 2006 Canada and Bermuda met in Victoria, B.C. to decide which country would represent the Americas in the World Cup qualifying matches to be held in Pakistan in 2008. The next World Cup will be held in Australia in 2009.
The series was closely contested and Bermuda won the event 2 matches to one, following a thrillling 3 run victory in the final game.
One of the earliest references to ladies cricket in Canada occurred in 1939 when an English team from Harrogate School toured to Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto.
Article sourced from July 1, 2007 press release.
Canadians could do with support against UAE -- Posted Friday, July 6 2007
Canada's cricket team faces the United Arab Emirates in the second and final home ICC Intercontinental Cup match of this summer at Maple Leaf Cricket Club, King City, Ontario, starting Friday July 6. The match is scheduled for 4 days (July 6-9).
Sunil Dhanriam (Ontario) captains Canada and is optimistic his side can beat the visitors. The home side includes five amateur players who took part in all Canada's winter trips to South Africa, Kenya and the West Indies. Those players commitment to Canadian cricket will hopefully be rewarded with a win on the field over the next few days. Two of the five, Dhaniram and Kevin Sandher (British Columbia), also attended the ICC Winter Training Camp in Pretoria (South Africa) for about a month before Canada's winter schedule got into gear. Qaiser Ali (Quebec), Henry Osinde and Asif Mulla (both Ontario) were the other three on major overseas duty last winter.
Opening batsman Geoff Barnett, who plays for Central Districts in New Zealand, was the other CWC 2007 participant. He is playing in BC during the Canadian summer.
Canada played a winning draw against the UAE in the inaugural Intercontinental Cup in 2004, but lost in the final to Scotland. In May, seven of the squad facing the UAE were on the losing side as Ireland took the 2006 IC Cup in Leicester, England.
The UAE was last in Canada for the 2001 ICC Trophy, a one-day match competition. Canada edged home in the final over on that occasion.The UAE lost to Ireland and Namibia in 2006 groups matches in the IC Cup and drew with Scotland. Arshad Ali, Khurram Khan, Saqib Ali and Javed Ismail are the dangermen with the bat for the visitors. Mohmamed Tauqir, Zahid Shah and Khan present the main bowling threat.
Canada is keen to win after losing its opening match to the Netherlands. In the fall, the Maple Leaf side is due to face Kenya and Namibia on the road. That will be a demanding assignment for the players.
The IC Cup now extends over 2 years with the final in late 2008. Eight leading ICC Associate countries are in this competition.
It would be good for the players to see a reasonable crowd turn out for the upcoming match. One member of the small crowds for the ODIs this week came in from Iowa City. He was only outnumbered by about 20 people from the Greater Toronto Area at Wednesday's rained-off match.
Eddie Norfolk
Burkhari shows promise -- Posted Friday, July 6 2007
One of the things new Dutch Coach Paul-Jan Bakker stressed to his players at the start of the 4-day match with Canada was ”this is hard work”. Bakker gained major experience playing first-class and one-day cricket in England with Hampshire. He obviously comes from the school that believes things don't come easy in life, or in cricket.
There might be a few exceptions where raw talent can get you through, but normally it has to be combined with appropriate practice and application during matches. The days when someone might just come out, score some runs and barely contribute in bowling or fielding are mostly past in international cricket.
Mudassar Burkhari made his first-class debut against Canada. He played a promising innings of 66 runs in the first innings, batting lower down the order, and 33 in the second innings. He stood at the wicket thinking he shouldn't have been given out caught by the wicket keeper when on 33, but it's the umpires decision that counts. Cricket's a demanding game for the batsmen, and equally demanding for the umpires.
At the leading Associate level, the ICC has yet to introduce video replays, on a permanent basis, for either the Intercontinental Cup or ODIs. That is one area where the ICC ought to review their budget and see if funds can be made available to allow such progress. After all, umpires progressing from this level need to become familiar with the use of technological aids provided at Full member country tests and ODIs. However, a decision on whether a batsman hit a ball for a catch is not currently a reviewable option, unless things have changed in the last week or two.
Burkhari also took some wickets. He missed a couple of catches in the 1st ODI match and gained experience of the demands of fielding in Canada's first innings at King City. A partnership between left-hander Sunil Dhaniram and right-hander Kevin Sandher of xx runs kept the score moving with several singles, interspersed with some boundary hits. This disrupts life for the bowlers, who must adjust their bowling line to such a batting combination. It also means some of the fielders get a lot of exercise chasing after the ball, or moving between positions on the boundaries.
Burkhari was fielding at long-leg for most of the Dhaniram-Sandher stand. There was no third-man, so each time there was a single he had to move some 60 metres or so to be in the required position. He did squeak to his captain, Dutch wicketkeeper Jeroen Smits, at one point that the batsman would not be getting these runs if he - Burkhari - was bowling.
That can be a big mistake for a rookie but it's all become part of the learning curve. He made a fine stop using his foot on the final day of that game to prevent a boundary and earned praise from his teammates. Adeel Raja chirped about soccer playing skills from his third-man position.
There were few spectators on the southern side of the ground during the match, but one of them coaches youngsters with West Indians CC in the Toronto and District Cricket Association and one was me.
I know Mudassar Burkhari will have been given advice by the coach. Soon after his cries to Jeroen Smits about having to more from one side of the field to the other, and an indication he felt he could bowl better, I simply said ”think yourself lucky they (the batsman) are not playing the ball behind square on the legside (most of the singles were from shots in front of square). You'd be having to chase the ball down each time, and then move across to the other side of the wicket.”
Burkhari made a promising start in these matches in the Greater Toronto Area. Now he has to repeat, and build on these showings for the future. That's one of the reasons why veterans such as coach Bakker say cricket is hard work.
The other thing experienced veterans know how to do is to have a chat with spectators on the boundary but remain focussed on the play and zoom in on the ball if it comes anywhere near their fielding territory.
Peter Borren put in a good word for Burkhari's overall contribution. So, a good start for the 23-year-old Burkhari, but from which to build for the future. As can leg-spinner Mangesh Panchal and batsman Atse Buurman who also gained initial outings for the Dutch at this level.
Basic info: Mudassar Burkhari born Gujarat, Pakistan December 26, 1983, RHB, RMF. (No middle name. Profile picture to follow at the weekend - disk with someone else at present.)
Eddie Norfolk
Peter Borren reflects on a good week -- Posted Friday, July 6 2007
Peter Borren reflects on a good week for the Dutch and himself.
It was time to interrupt Peter Borren as he sat listening to music, hoping there would be some play in the second Canada-ODI. Borren scored his first first-class century in the Intercontinental Cup match, he bowled well (especially on the second morning) and made 98 in the first ODI. Both run-scoring achievements are career bests for the 23-year old. His 105 in the IC Cup beats the 49 he made against Canada in Sinoville last December.
So what did he think of this Canadian trip? “It's been good,” he said, thinking of both his personal form and the team's performances. “I've had a bit of form with the bat. The wickets have played very well. It's been nice to score some runs; to have more responsibility and to bat a bit higher up the order.”
The comment on 'more responsibility' echoed his role as vice captain, behind captain and wicketkeeper Jeroen Smits. The vice-captaincy? “I've enjoyed it. It's a bit of a role to play so I now have a few things to say and give my opinions (to the rest of the squad).
Changes after CWC 2007
Cricket World Cup 2007 saw some changes in the Dutch line-up as veterans Luuk van Trost, previously captain, and Tim de Leede, both of whom were all-rounders, retired, as for the time being has the younger Daan van Bunge.
Van Bunge devoted most of his time over the northern hemisphere winter to international cricket, includng attendance at the ICC Winter Training Camp. The reward for his efforts was to gain global fame for conceding six sixes in an over against South African in CWC 2007.
Coach Peter Cantrell also called it a day - cricket is a heftily time demanding sport and he has other work and family interests. Paul-Jan Bakker has taken over as coach. He has significant experience with Hampshire in the County Championship circuit as well as for the Netherlands.
Overall, the Dutch had a tough time against Australia and South Africa at CWC 2007, but were delighted to beat Scotland, who benefit from playing in certain England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) competitions. The Dutch participation in what had been the Cheltenham & Gloucester (C&G) Cup ended a couple of years ago, as did the English minor counties. The C&G began life as the Gillette Cup knock-out competition; the first major domestic one-day competition.
Borren's thoughts on the Dutch
The performances in Canada suggest the Dutch team can maintain or possibly improve its ranking against fellow against fellow ICC Associate Countries.”I think we've got a pretty good side,” said Borren. “We have a few new guys who've made a good show.”
Ryan ten Doeschate (contracted to Essex in England) and Baz Zuiderent were both unavailable for this trip. “When they come in, we're looking a pretty good side.”
Ten Doeschate has made some county championship centuries for Essex this season: I saw one against Nottingham when in England just after Canada's Intercontinental Cup Final loss to Ireland in May. He scored 258 runs not out against Canada in the IC Cup group match in South Africa last December, when Borren made his previous first-class best score of 49 runs.
Next Stop Ireland.
The Dutch were to leave Toronto immediately after the second ODI. ”We fly home tonight, play club cricket at the weekend and fly to Ireland on Monday or Tuesday.”
His focus was on the current trip and game. ”We play Ireland, West Indies and Scotland,as well I think. It's fantastic. We're all eager to play cricket. We've done pretty well over the last six months. Hopefully we can go forward with confidence.”
Eddie Norfolk
Mapleleaf Cup Twenty20 Tournament -- Posted Friday, July 6 2007
“Twenty20, are you ready” was the chant this past Canada Day weekend at Maple Leaf Cricket Club as the T&DCA kicked off its inaugural Annual Twenty20 cricket tournament. A total of twelve teams participated in the knockout tournament, all competing for approximately $4000 in prize money.
There were a number of Premier Division teams, as well as, some representation from the lower divisions. However, after some grueling and keenly contested games, it was the youthful and exuberant, Popeyes Cricket Club, and the experienced and seasoned campaigner, Overseas Cricket Club, that met in the finals.
Popeyes is a relatively new team in the league, that had a meteoric rise to First Division. They boast a very young team that is full of energy and highly talented players. They were lead by the ever popular, swash-buckling batsman, Rizwan Cheema. Overseas on the other hand, is a more mature team that has been around the league from its inception. They boast a line-up that has a blend of youth and experience.
Overseas won the toss and elected to bat first. They were quickly reduced to 21 runs for 3 wickets from 6 overs before the middle order put up some resistance in the form of a 42 run partnership by Barry Ganase (10) and Gunjan Patel (16) Popeyes fought back and soon had the upper hand again with Overseas in trouble at 73 runs for 6 wickets after 13 overs. However, Overseas was not ready to give up, a 57 run partnership by Under 19 players Ryazkhan Pathan (18) and Kevin James (35) saw them amass a total of 146 from the allotted 20 Overs. The pick of the Popeyes bowlers was Javed Rao with figures of 2 for 16 and Rizwan Cheema with 2 for 24.
Given their record thus far in the tournament, Popeyes was full of confidence. One player was heard wagering that they only needed 10 overs to finish the tasks! They started off in typical style racing to 37 from 4 overs before loosing their 1st wicket. Rizwan Cheema (28) did not disappoint his fans, hitting 20 off the second over of the game. Overseas kept fighting to get back in the game, with Popeyes at 73 for 5 from 13 overs, the game was now in the balance and set for a grand finish. This time it was Popeyes youthful Under 19’s in the form of Saad Bin Zaffer (26) and Saad Bin Nazer (28) who came together for a partnership of 40 runs to tip the balance in the favour of Popeyes. At this stage Popeyes was left with a target of 23 runs from 3 overs, on a lightening fast King City out-field, with 4 wickets in hand….Game On! However, the cricket gods were on the side of experience today.
Overseas restricted Popeyes to 137 all out from 19.4 overs for a narrow margin of victory of 9 runs. The pick of the bowlers for Overseas were Zahid Hussain with figures of 3 for 16 and Ryazkhan Pathan 3 for 22.
The following received awards for their individual performances
Rizwan Cheema - Best batsman
Zahid Hussain - Best Bowliing
Usman Limnada - special award for allround performance
Gunjan Patel - best batting in semi-finals
Kevin James - Man of the Match
The following executives were present and all had words of encouragement and best wishes for the teams. They endorsed the Twenty20 format and the role it had to play in the future development of the game within the league and the province.
Ranjit Choudary – President of H&D, Vice President OCA
Mohammed Shaik – President of T&DCA, Secretary of OCA
Ranjit Saini - President Mapleleaf, Treasurer of OCA, T&D Board Member
Officials for the match were;
Ashook Brijcoomar and Austin Foote
The game, like the entire tournament, was played in the true spirit of the game, with excellent display of batting, bowling, fielding, and most of all discipline and sportsmanship. The true spirit of the tournament was displayed by none other than Punjab Sports Club. Punjab displayed tremendous grit and determination, even though a Third Division team, made it to the semi-finals where they lost a keenly contested match versus Overseas CC. Even so, the entire Punjab team stuck around to witness the finals, and were the first on the field to congratulate the winners, Overseas. To Overseas and Popeyes goes the cheques for being champions and runner-up respectively, to Punjab, a heart full of admiration for Sportsmanship.
Congratulations!
Toronto Cricket Academy -- Posted Friday, July 6 2007
The Toronto Cricket Academy played an offical 30 over Game (U-15) against the Malton Cricket Club this past weekend. One of the Toronto Cricket Academy players took a hat trick, a helmet Trick and 5 Wickets in 6 Balls. Also three years ago when playing an official 25 over game (U-15) against Commomwealth, TCA bowled Commonwealth out for 1 run. As these are official games these should be mentioned somewhere for its historic value. Sufhmit Senna
Item submitted by Brian Hale.
Dhaniram upbeat despite under-strength Canada -- Posted Thursday, July 5 2007
Canada v UAE, Intercontinental Cup, Toronto
James Fitzgerald
July 4, 2007
Sunil Dhaniram, the stand-in Canada captain, is upbeat about his side's chances of beating UAE in the Intercontinental Cup this Friday, although he is without three important players.
Dhaniram replaces regular captain Ashish Bagai, who has work commitments, while opening bowler Umar Bhatti and experienced all-rounder Jon Davison are also missing. Their replacements for the match in Toronto are Steve Welsh, Aftab Shamshudeen and Hemnarine Chattergoon.
"We are missing a couple of guys but I think we have the players who can win," said Dhaniram, the 38-year-old slow left-arm bowler and middle-order batsman. "I have every faith in the replacements coming in and I know we are going to give it our best shot.
"I have played a few times against the UAE and they are always tough to play against. I think their batting is really their strength with Saqib Ali and Khurram Khan especially. But we will be trying to restrict them and then we will go in and get the heads down and try to get a win."
It is imperative for Canada to get their campaign back on track after losing by 45 runs to Netherlands last week. In a seesawing game, Netherlands' all-rounder Peter Borren took responsibility in the second innings, scoring his maiden first-class century and setting up victory for his side. Borren was then the destroyer on Tuesday, with 96 off 70 balls as he helped Netherlands to an 117-run win in their ODI against Canada at Toronto CSCC.
For Canada, the four-day version of the game takes priority from Friday and the quick bowling of Henry Osinde could be key. His performance was a highlight of the ICC Intercontinental Cup match against the Netherlands as he took seven wickets in the match and showed that even though he was batting at number 11, he can still contribute meaningfully in that department too, scoring 60 in the first innings and six not out in the second.
Good form was also shown by Shahzad Khan, Dhaniram and Qaiser Ali with the bat and Bhatti (until he injured his hand) and Kevin Sandher with the ball. So all is certainly not lost for the north Americans.
Meanwhile, the UAE began this tour with a visit to a wet and rainy Ayr to take on Scotland. However, only 46 overs of that match were played with Arshad Ali's team recovering from 18-3 to 174-4 before the rain returned to call a permanent halt to proceedings.
Coming from the heat of the Emirates' summer, Arshad would have been nervous playing in what were typically Scottish conditions so he would have been happy with how his side recovered on day one.
If he was, perhaps, secretly relieved to get away from Ayr with a draw, Arshad will feel he has the ammunition to threaten Canada with an outright win and victory will almost certainly put his side on top of the table at this early stage.
Apart from the captain himself, the team boasts some consistent performers such as Saqib, the experienced Khurram and wicketkeeper-batsman Gayan Silva. There is also plenty of know-how in the bowling line-up with Ahmed Nadeem, Mohammad Tauqir and Javed Ismael having been on the scene for some time now.
With rain having followed the UAE across the Atlantic Ocean, there may be some interruptions over the four days of the match but both teams need a victory so expect the players to make the most of conditions when they do get out on to the field.
Canada in particular will be anxious not to lose two matches in a row at home. Given there is a new format for this tournament in place it is not yet clear how many defeats a team can afford to suffer and still hope to qualify for the final but two successive losses would be a serious blow to Canada's chances of making another final, as it did in 2004 and 2006.
James Fitzgerald is ICC Communications Officer
Rain halts young Canadians march -- Posted Thursday, July 5 2007
Naysayers who reckon Canada's talent stocks are dwindling may have to think again after a Canadian Invitational X1, may up of young players on the brink of national selection, had the United Arab Emirates on the run in their second 50 overs game at King City Wednesday.
The local team won Tuesday's encounter by 37 runs and looked on their way to another win when rain forced the game to be abandoned.
Final score: Canadian Invitational X1 179-4 (off 33 overs).
Tuesday's topscorer Jabbar Chaudhary from Montreal again looked in ominous form but failed to control a hook shot when on 25 and it was left to his makeshift opening partner, offspinning allrounder Jason Patraj of Toronto's Vikings club, to shoulder the batting duties. After a slow start Patraj struck a well-crafted 68 (off 95 balls) and was he well supported towards the end of the innings by Southern Ontario's Pedro Depeiza, formerly of Barbados Ist Division club Maple.
These young cricketers ran well between the wickets and Depeiza (30 not out off 25 balls) was not afraid to loft both spinners and medium pacers into the outfield.
But the locals were never to know whether their 5.42 runrate in a game reduced by rain would have been enough as persistent drizzle during the lunch break prevented any further play.
Ontario Cricket Academy star has eyes set on county cricket! -- Posted Thursday, July 5 2007
At the tender age of 12, Nikhil Dutta is making great strides towards his dream of playing professional cricket. Nik, as he is affectionately known, began his cricket at the Ontario Cricket Academy in Mississauga, and may be the first Canadian raised cricketer to play county cricket in England.
For the second time in as many months, Nik will be flown out and hosted by the historic Sussex County Cricket Club in England, to receive two weeks of extensive coaching and training by the full coaching staff at the county club. Nik’s coach Derek Perera, of the Ontario Cricket Academy, was elated when he first got news that the county was interested in Nik, “I was extremely happy to hear that Nik was approached by Sussex, but not surprised. I know that Nik is very gifted, but what is more, is that he has the dedication and commitment to improvement that not many players possess”.
Nik’s father Mihir Dutta, co-founder and coach at the Ontario Cricket Academy, who accompanied Nik on his first trip to England was naturally pleased at the county’s offer to host Nik, and modest with his son’s success “I am very happy for Nik and also for our academy. I feel that our programs are on par with test playing countries and we will see more players reaching great heights through the Ontario Cricket Academy”.
After observing the sessions Nik underwent on his first trip to Sussex C.C.C., Dutta was pleased to see that all the coaching methodologies and techniques implemented by the county coaches were the same that are used at the Ontario Cricket Academy.
Nik created quite a stir with his batting at the Sussex indoor nets, where England’s latest batting star Matt Prior stopped his own net practice to turn around and marvel at the pint-sized lad smashing the bowling machine- which was set at over 80 miles per hour. Norman Gifford, ex-England player and one of the main coaches at the county was so impressed with Nik’s batting that he asked Nik to return to England to be part of the county age group set-up. Nik also caught the attention of one of the greatest spinners in world cricket, Saqlain Mushtaq, who upon seeing Nik for a few minutes, went on to spend the whole day working on his various deliveries.
Nik’s successes have not only been in the nets, in fact this year in an Under 13 league match in Toronto, he just missed out on a major milestone and what might well be an age group league record when he registered 99 not out as the captain of the Ontario Cricket Academy. Coach Derek Perera stated that, “Nik is mature beyond his years. Apart from possessing every shot in the ‘book’, he has the ability to bat for long periods of time. In fact, sometimes I bowl at him for hours at the academy, and try every trick under the sun to get him out!”
Mihir Dutta has also arranged for another Ontario Cricket Academy rising star, Darius D’Souza to attend sessions at the Sussex County Cricket Club. Darius, at the age of 17 is one of Canada’s brightest young all-round prospects, and has been short-listed for the national U-19 pool. Recently, Darius registered his maiden league century at the senior level, which was followed on the same long weekend, by two consecutive fifties and a five wicket haul. Dutta believes that “Darius’s mental strength, athleticism and natural ability really set him apart from his peers”.
When asked about the success and future of the players, Derek Perera stated “this is a great opportunity for both players, and my advice to both of them is to relish the moment and learn as much as they can. They are both young and still must climb the ladder, but definitely they are on the right path and have all the tools they need to become pros”. It must be agreed that the Ontario Cricket Academy is also on the right path, and has the formula for success that Canadian cricket so badly needs.
UAE lose to future Canadian stars -- Posted Wednesday, July 4 2007
A Canadian Invitational X1, made up mostly of younger players on the fringe of the national team, defeated United Arab Emirates by 37 runs at King City Tuesday.
Final scores: Canadian Invitational X1 270-7; UAE 233.
The Canadian batsmen were put into bat on a hard pitch and fast outfield. Quebec opener Jabbar Chaudhary took a heavy toll of the visiting bowlers.
After losing opening partner Mohammad Iqbal for 18, Chaudhary mixed solid defence with powerful attacking strokes to dominate all the UAE bowlers before being run out for a well-played 75. He was partnered along the way by Edmonton's Zain Ahmed, in his first representative game. After a slow start he hit his stride and contributed a solid 56. Hemnarine Chattergoon, former West Indies Under-19 batsman, showed his class cutting and driving the bowling with ease before a soft dismissal when he reached 50.
The Canadian innings slowed in the last 10 overs when skipper Naresh Patel (12) and Sohan Anjaria (23 from 37 balls) were unable to build on the solid platform provided by the top order.
UAE were in early trouble as local pacemen Calvert Hooper ( 3-45 off 10) and Naresh Roopnarine (2-36 off 7) dismissed the top half of their order before the total reached 50. But once they were removed from the attack the local spin quartet were unable to contain Saqid Ali (90) and Javed Ismail (62). The two threatened to pull off an improbable win. Quebec legspinner Krunal Patel, a former Canadian Under-19 rep, picked up 2-33 off 6 overs, Sohan Anjaria 1-43 while skipper Patel and Zahid Hussain went wicketless.
In the end it was excellent fielding that snuffed out the UAE challenge as Ahmed, Chattergoon and wicketkeeper Kendon Ottley capped standout performances when they combined to run out the last two batsmen.
Another match is scheduled at King City on Wednesday July 4 in a second 50 overs game.
Canada battered to emphatic defeat -- Posted Tuesday, July 3 2007
Canada v Netherlands, 1st ODI, Toronto
Cricinfo staff
July 3, 2007
Netherlands 289 for 7 (Borren 96, Szwarczynski 51) beat Canada 172 (Dhaniram 55, Schiferli 3-18, Bukhari 3-24) by 117 runs
Netherlands romped to 117-run victory over Canada in the first of two ODIs at the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club, but the manner of their victory was far more emphatic than the final margin suggests.
They underlined what the World Cup had shown, namely that the gap between the four leading Associates - of which they are one - and Canada remains wide. Whereas the four-day Intercontinental Cup match had gone down to the wire - and Canada will still wonder quite how they lost it - there was only ever one winner at Toronto today.
Netherlands won the toss, batted, and all their top five contributed with South African-born Eric Szwarczynski cracking 51 and then the middle of the innings was given a real fillip by Peter Borren who smashed 96 off 69 balls. It was his first ODI fifty and included four sixes and nine fours.
Canada were 21 for 3 in the ninth over and from there on in the innings fell apart. At 73 for 8 a complete humiliation seemed likely but Sunil Dhaniram hit ten fours in his 55 and the last pair of Steven Welsh and Henry Osinde chipped in with a stand of 45. By then, all that was at stake was pride.
Report sourced from:-
http://content-www.cricinfo.com/canada/content/story/300599.html
Ensure a fair contest between bat and ball -- Posted Tuesday, July 3 2007
Tony Greig:
It is quite interesting whenever the ICC decide to change laws - the first thing I look at is whether they are going backwards on what we had before. And it seems to me that in one or two of these cases, they probably are.
The new changes to the laws revolve around one-day cricket, because this is still a very young game. The one-day internationals are becoming very batsmen-orientated and they [the ODIs] were very flat in the middle to latter part, and as a result of that, in their wisdom, the ICC decided that they would introduce the Powerplays. I was quite upset when this happened because in my view the first 15 overs that used to be the order of the day was changed and I didn't think that there was anything wrong with that. There was no reason why it should have be changed. However, three separate Powerplays were introduced in order to spread the limitation of the fielders from various parts of the ground during a match.
Now we have a situation where the ICC has said that it will give the bowlers a bit more. They have decided to allow the bowlers, in the last two Powerplays, to have three fielders outside the circle. This should allow the fielding side to defend a little bit better. As far as I am concerned, it is a recommendation that has come from the cricket committee and in the circumstances, probably the correct one.
The number of overs making up of the Powerplays will be reduced proportionately when a game is reduced - that seems to make sense to me.
The next one is quite a big change - if a bowler bowls a front-foot no-ball, in an ODI, the next delivery will now be deemed a free hit and a batsman cannot be dismissed by the bowler off that delivery - though, obviously he can be run out. This will slow things up a bit but it will be a bigger incentive for bowlers to stop bowling these no-balls. There are far too many of them bowled, and now we have got some drastic action being taken against them. This will also create quite a bit of fun as far as the crowds are concerned.
There will also be a mandatory change of ball after 35 overs of each innings with the old ball being replaced by a clean, used ball. This is an interesting change and it implies the manufacturers of the cricket balls haven't been able to make a white cricket ball that stays white. The reason is leather is of a dark color - once the materials used on the outside are worn away the leather absorbs the moisture and the ball turns dark. And of course that's a serious problem. Now, the alternative would have been to start the match with two balls, which used to be the case earlier on. This decision I believe, is a step in the right direction, but it does not say much about the manufacturers of these cricket balls.
The ICC has accepted the recommendation that the grounds should be a little bit bigger. They haven't been able to agree on making them - the stadiums - as big as possible. So, we have got marginal increases in the straight and square boundaries. So, a few changes being made - very well thought of changes I'm sure - not really going back on anything that they have done before.
Ian Chappell:
A couple of things that I find a bit bemusing, the first one being the free hit after a front-foot no-ball. I've long believed that the game should have never changed the back-foot no-ball law, which was in place earlier. It brings so many positives to the game of cricket including the fact that it supplies a genuine free hit to the batsman because with a back-foot no-ball, the call is so early that the batsman has an opportunity to hit the ball wherever he wants and he does that without any changes in the field placing.
What we've seen in Australia with the free hit after the front foot no-ball is that the captain can make changes to the field, which I find absolutely ludicrous. Now, this new law doesn't actually state whether the captain can make changes or not to the field - if he is not allowed to, then it's still relatively OK. But I don't understand why you have to complicate something that can be fixed quite simply; and also the back-foot no-ball law brings so many other positives to the game that I cannot believe why it was ever changed in the first place.
The additional fielder being allowed outside the fielding circle during either the second or third Powerplay is probably a good thing because I think the bowlers are forgotten far too often when it comes to changes in laws in the playing conditions and at least this suggests that the ICC hasn't forgotten that the bowlers do play a part in the game.
As regards the boundary changes I do not understand why you can't play in the ground as it is laid out. In the Adelaide Oval, for instance, if you played the full ground, you had a huge boundary down the ground, but as compensation for the batsmen, you have very short square boundaries - somewhere around 60 metres. What this does is that it plays into the strategy of the game. A spin bowler will be trying to get the batsman to loft straight, because that will increase his chances of getting him caught whereas the batsman is looking to hit the ball square where he can get an easier six and this becomes part of the cat-and-mouse game of cricket between the batsman and the bowler and I think that's the way the game is meant to be played.
If you play on the bigger grounds then that also brings in the captain's strategy as he can't put guys out in the deep who haven't got a good throwing arm. Larger grounds assists the teams who have got good outfielders, and the teams who run well between the wickets and it makes the teams who have poor outfielders and who are poor runners between the wickets clean up their act.
The players association will say that another reason for having shorter boundaries is the safety reason - so that when the players are sliding, they don't get injured. But I think that's absolute nonsense, because if you put a fence out there, the player will not crash into the fence and hurt himself. I know that because I played in the days when most of the grounds had fences. Your natural instincts will tell you not to go crashing into the fence.
And the thing about the fences is that they do away with the nonsense of having to use replays to find out if something was a boundary or not which I find a crashing bore. I'd be quite happy to go back to playing in the ground as it's laid out and this would bring a lot of benefits to the game of cricket. If the administrators think that the people only want to see sixes and hence they want short boundaries then I don't think they know too much about cricket because the bulk of the cricket fans want to see a competitive game of cricket where all aspects of the game are on show.
I'm pretty ambivalent about the mandatory changing of the cricket ball after 35 overs. I think that doesn't solve the real problem, which is to find a white ball that not only lasts 50 overs but one that lasts 80 overs so that you can play Test matches at night. That's what you should be looking at. You can change the ball if it goes out of shape - I have no problem with that - but changing it because it gets discoloured is overlooking the main problem and it also stops what I think is a great idea which is to play Test matches at night. One of the reasons why you would want to do that is so that more people can get to the game and watch it. So I think the much more important job will be to find a white ball that goes the distance.
Sanjay Manjrekar:
The fact that an additional fielder will be allowed outside the fielding circle during either the second or third Powerplay is a welcome change. It also makes sense when an ODI innings is reduced that the numbers of overs making up each of the three Powerplays shall be reduced proportionately and that indeed makes sense.
I think the rule applying to the front-foot no-ball might seem a bit too harsh for the bowlers. One reason behind this move might be to prevent the bowlers from bowling the extra 15-20 deliveries and stretching the game forward. But I think the bowlers get penalised anyway - they have to bowl those extra balls and no-balls always hurt the team - and I have my doubts as to whether this additional penalty is fair in what is already a batsman's game.
The mandatory changing of the cricket ball after 35 overs makes sense because it has become so predictable - the one thing I keep saying on air is the only thing that is predictable about one-day cricket is the changing of the ball around that time.
A welcome change is that the ICC is showing that they are concerned about the size of the grounds. I was very glad to see three new grounds in the West Indies, used for the World Cup, had longer boundaries. I think everybody is now becoming aware of this uneven contest between bat and ball where bats are getting heavier, batsmen are getting stronger, but boundaries are getting shorter.
The ICC have addressed that with a maximum and minimum stipulation in the sizes of the grounds which we've been talking about on air for the last three to four years and am glad to see that that has been acknowledged and there is a provision now for certain sizes in the ground.
Even after this I think the batsmen will still continue to hit the ball into the stands for a six - when was the last time you saw a lofted shot clear the boundary by just a few inches? This is something that they will have to keep looking at to ensure a fair contest between bat and ball.
The changes that have come in are not too bad, but not really too significant.
The most important suggestion that has to come to the ICC, which was discussed, was the number of matches and the amount of cricket that is being played at the international level. That is something that they have looked at but I don't think they are too confident about restricting the number of matches that are played in a year. They have realised that their hands are tied in certain cases where the boards are free to organise certain matches [due to] the commercial constraints that they face, television contracts that they have signed where a certain number of cricket days have been promised to them - they do understand all that but it's good to see an acknowledgment by the ICC of all that ails international cricket. I'm quite glad that all these changes have come in.
Finally, I've recently watched a Test match between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in Colombo - another Test that Bangladesh lost on the morning of day four. If there is no improvement shown over the next two matches I would like to see the ICC acknowledge that and at least officially show some concern about the development of Bangladesh at the Test match level. They've done enough in the one-day arena for all of us to feel hopeful about their one day future, but when it comes to Test matches, it's now close to 50 Tests for them and if this worrying trend continues I'd like the ICC to make an acknowledgement of their concern that Bangladesh haven't really grown in the manner that they would have liked.
Article sourced from:-
http://content-www.cricinfo.com/talk/content/multimedia/300179.html?view=transcript
At a recent informal discussion about the use of white cricket balls, the purveyor of cricket balls was concerned that the paint over the leather was not enduring the duration of a regular Toronto and District Cricket Association league match. This was noted to be prevalent on damp grounds. (JH)
Netherlands seal 45-run win -- Posted Monday, July 2 2007
Canada v Netherlands, Intercontinental Cup, Ontario, 4th day
Cricinfo staff
July 2, 2007
Netherlands 297 (Kervezee 98) and 310 (Borren 105) beat Canada 337 for 9 dec (Dhaniram 73) and 225 (Qaiser Ali 53) by 45 runs
Netherlands completed a hard-fought 45-run win in their Intercontinental Cup clash against Canada in Toronto. Legspinner Mangesh Panchal took four wickets - including top-scorer Qaiser Ali for 53 - as Netherlands completed an impressive turnaround having been in deep trouble on the third day.
After being two down overnight, Canada battled during the morning session and reached 105 for 2 before Mark Jonkman removed Trevin Bastiampillai for 46. Panchal then nailed Ali six runs later and the innings became more of a struggle for the Canadians.
Ashish Bagai, the captain, tried to hold the chase together with 38, but lost partners at regular intervals. Ashif Mulla became Panchal's second wicket and, with 97 wanted and five wickets standing, Sunil Dhaniram was caught behind of Jonkman for an enterprising 30.
Any lingering hopes Canada had of reaching their target disappeared when Bagai edged to Jeron Smits and the end came three overs later when Umar Bhatti was bowled by Panchal. Netherlands take 14 points for their victory and Canada leave with six.
Report sourced from:-
http://content-www.cricinfo.com/icccont2007/content/story/300234.html
Winnipeg match report -- Posted Monday, July 2 2007
The longest day of the year saw the return of the previous skipper Nigel & for the first time this season no fear of the weather interfering with the game, was this coincidental. Despite some heavy storms over the past couple of days the wicket was dry & hard, the outfield green, lush & long & the sky blue & almost cloudless.
Taverners were out in force & with the opposition, Cosmos, with a full squad, Captain Daibee decided to rest for the evening after winning the toss & passing the captaincy to Neal. Taverners decided to bat, opening with Sam & Hein, Sam was unfortunate with a delivery that kept low & that he dragged onto the stumps, much to the delight of his weekend teammates. Nigel joined Dr Peters & between them they pushed the score along at a decent clip, with Nigel still thinking he was playing indoors & attempting runs from almost every shot. With the departure of Hein, David joined Nigel & the opposition Captain Keith positioned himself in the outfield awaiting Davids favourite shot & within a couple of overs was duly rewarded, when David over or under hit a straight drive to Keith on the boundary. This brought novice KC to the wicket to face his 1st ever ball & the Gods were not with him, as he recieved a good inswinger that demolished the wicket. Nigel was then joined by last weeks birthday boy who continued to strke the ball around the field with at times shots that resembled orthodox cricket strokes. At the end of the Taverners alloted 20 overs they had aquired 138 runs. Umpire Page for the second week stood for the whole 20 overs before heading to the pavilion to pad up to stand again for 20 overs as wicket keeper.
The Cosmos openers set about the Taverner bowling as though they wanted to wrap up the game in short order & it was only some tight overs from David Hakes that kept them in check for a while. After a couple of wickets had fallen & Harry Ketwaroo retired, we had an incident that the writer has never experienced on the field before, a young & obvious newcomer to the game arrived at the wicket to be advised that he should be wearing a helmet. After aquiring the upper protection he was asked if he was wearing a cup. On discovering that he was not he was banished to the pavilion much chastened but very much aware, so that he will not do that again.
But even these tactics were not sufficient to prevent the opposition from wrapping up the game with balls to spare.
It was certainly good to see Ossie Bell still trundling in to bowl his characteristic low deliveries & expecting almost every ball to give him a victim even the near wides.
The evening wrapped up with a BBQ at Nigels with the usual cold libations where we joined by non playing members Joe Sid & Rob with the usual wide ranging discussions about everything but cricket.
Sourced from Taverners CC Website: www.tavernerscc.com
A Vancouver match report -- Posted Monday, July 2 2007
After a light workout on Saturday against Surrey City the ones found themselves in White Rock for a date with this season's surprise package, PakCan. PakCan finished fourth last year, a creditable finish, but never looked like threatening the big three. This season with the assistance of WestJet and Predators CC from Calgary they look like real contenders when they inflicted the Lomas first loss of the season several weeks ago in a 10 run squeaker at Upper Brockton. With payback on their minds the Lomas made a few changes from Saturday's winning team, Donaldson and Hawes were included at the expense of Collins and Jason Sandher to give the Lomas perhaps their strongest side of the season.
On arrival in Surrey the conditions were more mid-November than mid-June and serious consideration was given to a game of footy instead of cricket. Realistically you shouldn't be playing cricket in June when you can see your breath. However, it wasn't actually raining so it was decided to wait around for an hour and see if conditions improved. For the next hour it didn't actually rain, so this being Vancouver the game was on, despite a very wet outfield. Welsh and Baber Sandhu tossed, and Welsh lost again. PakCan elected to bat.
The last meeting between these two sides had seen an airlift from Alberta of some five or six players. Today only Deva Sharma and Arees Rauf had made the cross-Rockies trip and PakCan looked a weaker side.
Usman Tahir and Chaudry Javed came out to open and Steve Welsh took the new ball with Andy Mason. Welsh immediately looked like he was in no mood to be beaten by PakCan again, bowling with good control and movement. Andy Mason had a rough night trying to keep up with Geoff Barnett's drinking and was soon interspersing complete dross with absolute jaffas. The early breakthrough came when Javed found out why Welsh has been recalled by Canada as he was trapped plumb in front. Tahir went soon after, caught at cover off a leading edge, as Welsh removed both openers with 12 on the board. That brought PakCan's best player, Baber Sandhu, to the crease with the ball still new and moving around. He successfully negotiated the remainder of Welsh's spell, but he didn't score many runs.
Mason's licorice allsorts were replaced by Andrew Downs, who, after a dreadful first ball long hop was pulled for four, began to trouble Rauf. After a few airy shots, some of which went for runs, Rauf appeared to be unsettled by some commentary from the fielders and flashed at a wide one to give Welsh a head high catch at slip, 30 for 3. Welsh then decided to give himself a rest and Mason tried the opposite end. The change of ends seemed to settle Mason and his line and length improved considerably. He induced a miscued drive from Arif-Shakeel, who made a good hundred off the Lomas last season, and then made the major breakthrough when Sandhu drove uppishly to Sandher at cover. At 60 for 4, and with their best player out, the Lomas were well on top of PakCan. Showing a ruthless streak which has been missing for a few matches the Lomas soon got into the rest of the PakCan batting. Masood fell to Mason for a duck, followed by a brace of wickets for Sandher. Welsh came back to remove the last recognized batsman, Mohammed Arshad, with an inswinging yorker and Alistair Donaldson winkled out the final batsman to leave PakCan on a wholly inadequate 104 all out.
Dixon and McGowan came out to open for the Lomas. The total was larger than it looks on paper given the adhesive qualities of a wet Crescent Beach outfield but both batsmen had had a hit the day before and McGowan at least is in good form. Arif-Shakeel and Sharma took the new ball and both managed to extract some movement from the pitch and some swing in the air. The first few overs saw some playing and missing, but no serious alarms. With wickets not falling, spin was quickly introduced and Masood and Khan began with a very shiny ball. McGowan saw his opportunity and began to unleash his favoured straight drives, Dixon more sedately punching away for singles off the back foot. The score was travelling along at a decent clip with good running between the wickets and PakCan became desperate rather quickly. Saini came on and bowled a variety of deliveries, everything from long hops that were pulled for four to deliveries that moved both ways, but singularly failed to get a wicket. By the 17th over Baber Sandhu, usually an off-spinner, was bowling seam up and the game was well and truly over. McGowan managed a second fifty of the season while Dixon eased to 36, timing the ball a little better than the day before. Lomas with a comprehensive 10 wicket win.
Article sourced from:-
http://www.vancouvercricket.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=158&Itemid=1
ICC new President -- Posted Sunday, July 1 2007
England and Wales Cricket Board chairman David Morgan has been confirmed as president elect of the game's world governing body.
Welshman Morgan will take over as head of the International Cricket Council next May and serve until 2010.
The 69-year-old's appointment was approved at the ICC executive board's annual conference at Lord's.
Morgan, who will succeed South African Ray Mali, will be the first ECB official to hold the ICC presidency.
"I'll be discussing with the board the timetable of my exit and the timetable for the election of my successor. I would imagine I will have completed all my duties at the ECB by the end of September.
"Thereafter my priority will be to support current president Ray Mali for the remainder of his term in office.
"I am hugely grateful to Ray because it was one year ago that, as president of Cricket South Africa, he made the first approach to me to become a candidate for the role of ICC president," said Morgan.
A former commercial director of a steel company, Morgan joined Glamorgan CCC in 1980 in a senior marketing role.
A gentleman with great vision
ECB chief executive David Collier on Morgan
He held that position for 13 years until his election as club chairman and in 1997 joined the ECB board as deputy to then chairman Lord MacLaurin.
Morgan was seen as a safe pair of hands.when he was elected as MacLaurin's successor in January 2003 and has certainly been a conciliatory figure for most of his time in charge.
But he has not always been able to avoid controversy, attracting criticism for his handling of England's 2004 tour to Zimbabwe and for approving the sale of live TV rights to BSkyB in a £220m deal.
Both Morgan and India's Sharad Pawar were put forward as candidates for the ICC presidency at the beginning of the year, resulting in an impasse which lasted until a compromise was agreed when officials arrived in London earlier this week.
It will see Pawar succeed Morgan as president in 2010, a year before India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh co-host the World Cup.
"I am happy to pledge my full support to the ICC as we move forward together at an exciting time for cricket," Pawar commented.
Morgan's elevation was welcomed by David Collier, who has worked alongside him as ECB chief executive.
"The world game has chosen a gentleman with great vision whose skills will be of major benefit to the cricket world," Collier said.
"I am convinced that his style of leadership will unite the cricket family and positively lead the game to new heights.
"David joins a very elite list of British sports administrators who have led world governing bodies. ECB is very proud that David joins that elite group and we wish him every success in this exciting new role."
Former trades union leader Bill Morris, currently an independent member of the ECB's management board, has already been suggested as a possible successor as chairman.
OTHER ICC DECISIONS
Future ICC presidential terms to be limited to two years, with no option for an extra 12 months
ICC management instructed to draw up an international programme which limits the number of Tests, one-dayers and Twenty20 games sides may play in any one series; no team to play more than seven Twenty20 internationals per year
One extra fielder to be allowed outside the circle in the second or third powerplay of limited overs internationals.
Ball to be mandatorily changed after 35 overs of each innings in limited overs internationals
If a player bowls a front-foot no-ball in a one-dayer, the next one will be deemed a free hit
Minimum boundary sizes for one-dayers to be increased to at least 150 yards square of the wicket and 70 yards straight, instead of 140 and 65.
It is unusual for the ICC to recognise that mistakes have been made, but two clear admissions were made in Friday's meeting that could have a serious - and positive bearing on the way international cricket is played in the future.
First was the general agreement that future World Cups should be no longer than five weeks in duration.
This comes as a welcome relief after the tortuous seven week trek around the West Indies watching a tournament that had everything to do with making money, and little to do with promoting the best shop window for cricket.
This might have consequences for the smaller teams such as Ireland and Scotland, but I expect to see more than one match played on every day - one under lights - to keep the same number of matches over the shorter period of time.
The bottom line is that the World Cup must show cricket at its best and most exciting, and the ICC has failed to achieve that in its last two tournaments.
There was also a pledge to play less international cricket. I do hope that this is not merely rhetoric, announced to keep the increasingly frustrated players happy at a time when the ICC is on the back foot.
In fact it is not the ICC's fault that so much cricket is being played - technically a Test series need be of no more than two matches with three one-day internationals.
It is the greedy domestic boards that add to the workload in order to make as much cash as possible out of television deals.
There will have to be a serious commitment from every member of the ICC to address this problem or, as I argued at the end of the recent series between England and West Indies, the standard of Test cricket will quickly drop to a level that is no longer sustainable. The warning signs are already there to see.
As usual, the issue of Zimbabwe was sidestepped by the administrators.
Zimbabwe will not be playing Tests for the foreseeable future - not because of the desperate political and economic situation there, but simply because the Zimbabwean administrators - whose handling of the game's finances will be investigated by independent auditors - have said that the players are not good enough.
How convenient for the world governing body that it can once again duck the thorny issue.
From October 1st, one-day no balls will be followed by a free hit - which has a staggering impact on the number of no-balls bowled in English domestic cricket - and David Morgan's resignation as chairman of the ECB this summer to become President of the ICC will spark an interesting contest here.
Finally, one humorous note: the Falkland Islands Cricket Association has been awarded Affiliate status.
It was not a unanimous decision - Argentina abstained.
Honestly!
Article sourced from:-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/6254524.stm
Borren keeps Netherlands fighting -- Posted Sunday, July 1 2007
Cricinfo staff
July 1, 2007
Canada 337 for 9 dec and 44 for 2 (Bastiampillai 21*, Qaiser Ali 14*) need 227 more runs to beat Netherlands 297 and 310 (Borren 105*)
Peter Borren struck his maiden first-class century as Netherlands staged an outstanding fightback against Canada in their Intercontinental Cup match in Toronto. With four wickets remaining, Netherlands' lead stood at 98 but Borren and the lower order extended it to a healthy 270.
Two early wickets from Henry Osinde plunged Netherlands into trouble on 66 for 5 before Borren, born and brought up in New Zealand, set about his recovery operation. He added 72 with Mudassar Bukhari and 73 with Jeron Smits, who faced 107 balls for his 8. Borren's century included 17 fours and a six, but even when he and Smits fell within the space of three balls Canada couldn't wrap up the innings.
Mark Jonkman struck seven boundaries in his 43 as the last two wickets added a priceless 99 runs. However, Canada didn't help themselves by dropping four catches and conceding 44 extras.
Borren's fine day continued when he removed Shahzad Khan early in Canada's run chase, following Geoff Barnett's run out for 0, leaving an intriguing final day in prospect as Canada search for a further 227 runs.
Article sourced from:-
http://content-www.cricinfo.com/icccont2007/content/story/300234.html
Canada needs to bat well to beat Dutch -- Posted Sunday, July 1 2007
Scoring Summary:
ICC Intercontinental Cup match at Maple Leaf CC, King City, Ontario - June 30, 2007 (Close of play day 3 of 4)
The Netherlands 297 runs all out (Alexei Kervezee 98 runs, Mudassar Bukhari 66 runs not out, Tom de Grooth 38 runs; Henry Osinde 4 wickets for 47 runs, Umar Bhatti 3 wickets for 64 runs) and 310 runs all out (Peter Borren 105 runs, Mark Jonkman 43 runs not out, Mudassar Bukhari 33 runs, Henry Osinde 3 wickets for 68 runs, Kevin Sandher 3 wickets for 78 runs)
Canada 337 runs for 9 wickets declared (Sunil Dhaniram 73 runs, Henry Osinde 60 runs not out, Kevin Sandher 57 runs, Shahzad Khan 55 runs, Mudassar Bukhari 3 wickets for 61 runs) and 44 runs for 2 wickets
Canada needs 227 more runs to win, with 8 second innings wickets standing. Although it is doubtful Umar Bhatti will be able to bat (no substitute batsman is allowed in this match).
Fortunes swung back in favour of the Netherlands on the 3rd day of the ICC Intercontinental Cup match with Canada. Peter Borren was the batting star for the Dutch, scoring his first century at this level as his side reached 310 runs all out. Lte-order batsman Mark Jonkman scored 43 runs.
Canada was left to score 217 runs in its second innings to win the match but lost two early wickets. The day ended with Canada on 44 runs for 2 wickets, so 227 more runs are needed, and the side needs to bat well in order to clinch victory.
Canada had begun the day well, taking two early wickets, but Borren, who made 105 runs, lead the Dutch resistance. Canada must hope Trevin Bastiampillai and Qaiser Ali continue to build towards a winning total when play resumes at 10.30 am on Sunday.
The day began well for the hosts, as Henry Osinde took two early wickets to leave the visitors struggling at 66 runs for 5 wickets. Mudassar Bukhari was then dropped in the covers by Kevin Sandher. Bukhari, a batting hero in the Dutch first innings, went on to help Borren move the total to 138 runs before Bukhari was out for 33 runs.
Borren and skipper Jeroen Smits built a partnership of 73 runs that steadied the Dutch innings. There was talk of 250 runs being the target for the Dutch, a score that would have left Canada to make 210 runs to win. In the end, Canada faces a higher target. Borren was eventually out for 105 runs, which included 13 boundaries and a six. His previous best score at this level was 49 runs, also against Canada in December 2006.
Smits was caught next over. He had battled away for 107 balls in scoring 8 runs. The trend in this match for late-order batsman to perform well continued, as did missed catches. The Dutch had missed several on the second day; Canada missed some on the third day.
The last two Dutch wickets added 99 runs, lead by a solid knock of 43 by Mark Jonkman. It is a key need in cricket, as in other team sports, to press home an advantage. Canada needs to work on this aspect of its game, but this is difficult when players are only meet together one or two days before some important international matches.
Osinde ended with 3 wickets for 68 runs and left-arm spinner Sandher 3 wickets for 78 runs. Canada kept pace bowlers from the north end for almost all the Dutch innings. It might have been worth a chance to try one of the spin bowlers from that end, as batsmen would be hitting against the wind.
Limited preparation time was probably a factor in the early run out of Canadian opening bat, Geoff Barnett, when partner Shazhad Khan did not respond to Barnett’s call for a run. Khan was soon out, leg-before wicket, playing no stroke to a ball from Borren.
Trevin Bastiampillai was 21 runs not out and Qaiser Ali 14 runs not out at close of play. Ali scored 174 runs against the Dutch in South Africa last December. A repeat innings would be take Canada to victory but this is a harder pitch on which to score runs.
There has been some variable bounce on the pitch. Several balls bowled from the north end have lifted appreciably, but others have kept low. Batsman need to show restraint and take their time in trying to build an innings.
There were some strong winds from the north-west on day three, that may have contributed to some of the missed catches, and sometimes wayward bowling. Canada needs to concentrate on batting sensibly. As for the result of this match, it is probably blowing in the wind. It is a match where both sides can look at some solid achievements and at areas requiring improvement.
Eddie Norfolk