Father McGivney Catholic Academy (CA) scored 91/7 from 15 overs and beat Maple High School (HS) by 20 runs in the midday clash of the unbeaten teams in the York Region Athletic Association’s outdoor cricket championships on Thursday (10 October 2019). Father McGivney CA followed with a 9 run win against Middlefield Collegiate Institute in a 3pm game to remain unbeaten in this year’s round robin with 5 wins from 5 games.
Maple HS struck 121/4 from 15 overs in the other 3pm match, then restricted Bur Oak Secondary School to 58/9 and won by 63 runs. So Maple HS ended the day on 4 wins and 1 loss to ensure a place in the playoffs. This defeat means Bur Oak SS end the round robin phase with 3 wins and 3 losses. .
Middlefield CI began the day with a 9 wicket win against Bill Hoggarth Secondary School (SS). The loss against Father McGivney CA means Middlefield CI has now won 3 and lost 3, as have Bill Hoggarth SS and Bur Oak SS. Confirmation of which two of these three schools advances to the playoffs, which will be based on net run rate, is expected on Friday (11 October).
The miserable weather on Thursday October 3rd resulted in two games being played with the maximum overs reduced to 10 overs per innings. Father McGiveny CA beat Huron Heights SS and Maple HS beat Bill Crothers SS. A decision on whether the two matches that were not played on October 3 will be re-scheduled or if those games will be deemed to have been abandoned as “no result” games is expected to be made on Friday (11 October).
The two games that did not take place on October 3 were McGivney CA v Bill Crothers SS and Maple HS v Huron Heights SS. Huron Heights SS has a record, to date, of 1 win and 4 losses,
while Bill Crothers SS has lost 5 matches.
The playoffs involving the top four schools from the round-robin phase of the competition are currently scheduled for next Wednesday (16 October 2019) at McCowan Reservoir, Markham, Ontario. The two cricket fields do not have turf wickets but the outfields are quite well maintained, especially by local standards.
It would be useful if some form of pavilion or changing facility with permanent washrooms was put in place at McCowan Reservoir. Such a facility could include areas for scorers to record details of play without the prospect of scorebooks, scoresheets and lists of player names being blown across the fields or soaked in the event of rain. Last year’s playoffs included strong winds plus a burst of rain, hail, sleet and snow that began as the semi-finals ended. But the Final went ahead in the end and Maple HS won the YRAA outdoor cricket championship.
Perhaps a scoreboard might even emerge to serve each of the two playing fields so those out in the middle could remain aware of the latest score and state of the game. But the absence of a scoreboard or the lack of numbers being posted where a scoreboard is available are, sadly, too often the standard for cricket in the Greater Toronto Area.
Improved facilities at the ground might even result in the emergence of a YRAA outdoor cricket championship for female cricketers. Canada’s women’s cricket team lost a T20 international series to the USA earlier in 2019 that resulted in the USA participating in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Global Qualifier. Canada lost that series by a 3-0 margin but has played insufficient women’s T20 internationals to be included in the ICC Women’s T20 rankings.
Canada’s male Under-19 cricketers did win the ICC Americas Under-19 championship this summer and the team qualified for the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup that will be played in South Africa during January and February 2020.
Surely more support for school cricket development programs and competitions for male and female players from the national and Ontario provincial cricket associations ought to be in place? Wasn’t that the underlying concept behind Cricket Canada’s “Cricket KIDS” program that continues in some cricketing provinces but may be stumbling in Ontario?
Eddie Norfolk