Global T20 and the need to change the mindset in Canada

For discussion of all aspects of Canadian cricket
mautan
Posts: 94
Joined: Wed Jun 20, 2018 3:22 pm

Re: Global T20 and the need to change the mindset in Canada

Post by mautan » Wed Jul 24, 2019 8:36 pm

JSMunn wrote:
Wed Jul 24, 2019 7:45 am
I think this is a really interesting discussion. The relative disappearance of Canadian cricketers of West Indies heritage does seem to be due to the fact the sport is not passed down to the Canadian born 2nd generation. There are many reasons for this, including the choices that were available to these kids- if you were a talented athlete, there were strong role models in other sports- Donavan Bailey for instance, plus the promotion and support for "mainstream" sports.
I do have the impression that the sport is more resilient in immigrant families from Asia. A high proportion of U19 cricketers are Canadian born. However the transition from elite Under 19 to national level cricketers is poor and retention of club cricketers is not great.
The challenge is to provide the support and opportunity to encourage and develop the 2nd generation- give them clubs to play for, good cricket grounds, good development programmes for players, coaches, officials and administrators, strong infrastructure, and good governance. Cricket falls far behind other sports here, and players drift away from the game.
Cricket can build from its immigrant base if you can transmit the love of the game into the next generation. Canada claims to be multi-cultural, and other aspects of immigrant culture do seem to be resilient- food, religion, arts etc.
Agree with your points. Yes the under 19 are mostly Canadian born, so that is a good sign. The biggest problem is the administration and lack of vision. My point was thinking mainstream only may not be the solution (especially looking at last 30 years).But good administration, lobbying for govt support and all the other points you mentioned about good grounds etc can make a difference. And for it to be reasonably successful, we do have decent numbers who are interested in cricket. If they can pass it on to the next gen, which hopefully happens due to popularity of T20, then we have a chance. Unforrunately the greed of BCCI and ICC will always be a challenge as they dont care if the WC shrinks or cricket does not get included in Olympics. WC and Olympics have better chances of getting funding from Govts...anyways that is a different topic.

Post Reply