As the year draws to a close, it is a good opportunity to review the past year for Canadian cricket. It is not a year marked by notable international success but there were certainly some high points, along with some lows. The following review is undoubtedly incomplete and we’d welcome reviews of the year from a league or provincial viewpoint.
Perhaps the most positive aspect of 2012 has been the elevation of cricket in the media, and in the public eye.

Sportsnet in particular started taking an interest in cricket, with the Caribbean T20 being shown in January, regular cricket on Sportsnet World including the ICC T20 World Cup, and a weekly slot for the ICC 360 show. The IPL got extensive coverage, Insomniacs could even have watched the Under-19 World Cup final in the middle of the night on the main Sportsnet channel. The internet also provided another avenue for cricket fans, with Canada’s Auty Cup matches streamed live from the ground thanks to a partnership with CBC, and the World Cricket Weekly podcast featured on the Sportsnet web site. The BCML final was streamed on-line as was the new Ontario Premier League T20. This gave cricket unprecedented exposure to a mainstream Canadian audience, and was capped by a feature when comedian Rick Mercer visited national team training for his show.
Cricket Canada deserve some credit for this, working hard to market the game (and this was noted by the ICC who presented Cricket Canada with an award for these efforts). The national body has been creative, using social media, its mainstream web site, and partnering with mainstream media as far as possible.
Ravin Moorthy was elected Cricket Canada president in the spring, the first Cricket Canada president from Alberta and the first for nearly twenty years not from eastern Canada (Jack Kyle from BC stepped down in 1993, and was followed by Jimmy Siew, Geoff Edwards, Ben Sennick and Ranjit Saini, all from Ontario).
There were other administrative changes, with Doug Hannum being appointed CEO on March. Hannum comes from a general sports administration background rather than from the cricketing world and to date has kept a low profile. Australian David Patterson was appointed high performance manager, and coach Michael Dighton ended his brief appointment for family reasons, to be replaced by Gus Logie, back for a second stint.
Cricket Canada did embark on a series of on-line surveys as part of developing a strategic plan – yet to be unveiled, but any plan will require resources. Cricket Canada is severely challenged by funding limitations (as pointed out publically by Rick Mercer who contrasted the $78,000 annual grant from Sport Canada with the $1 million plus given to yachting). An application to the ICC for money from the Targeted Assistance and Performance Program failed- while the Netherlands received $1.5 million. Cricket Canada currently does receive about $960,000 annually in ICC High Performance Program funding.
Newfoundland and Labrador joined Cricket Canada at the Annual General Meeeting, meaning that every province is now represented for the first time in the organization’s history. The small group playing cricket in the far east of the country made their mark on the national stage by finishing 2nd in the Maritimes T20 tournament, defeating Quebec, New Brunswick and PEI, and losing only to Nova Scotia. In general cricket is flourishing in the Atlantic provinces, where small groups of committed volunteers have built solid organizations to support cricket development.
National team
The senior men’s national team did not have a great year. As 2012 winds down, they are in last place in both the Intercontinental Cup, and in the World Cricket League. The team is dominantly young, and plays their cricket in Canada, so there is hope for the future but it is clear that Canada is slipping well behind the leading associates – Ireland, Scotland and the highly impressive Afghans.
The national team started the year by taking part in the Carribean T20 competition, where they lost all four games; Jimmy Hansra had a poor tournament and stepped down as captain at its conclusion. Rizwan Cheema replaced him as the team travelled to Sri Lanka for the World T20 qualifier. Canada finished third in its group with 5 wins and two losses, earning a spot in the play-offs, where they were demolished by the eventual winners, Ireland. They faced Scotland in a play-off for 6th place and lost off the last ball. Gunasekera was the top bat, with good support from Patel and Nitish Kumar, while Cheema was a disappointment with the bat. He proved far more effective as a bowler, and Junaid Siddiqui also had a good tournament.
April saw the team in Namibia, where they split a pair of one day games, and lost the 4-day ICC match. The Scottish tour in August was literally a wash-out, with not a ball bowled in the 4 day Intercontinental Cup match and only one of two one day internationals being completed- a loss.
The season ended in November with a reassuring series against the USA, retaining the Auty Cup by having the better half of a draw in the 2 day game, winning the 50 over one-day match, and splitting the two T20 games. Raza-ur-Rehman was the success of the tour, with two fine innings in the 2-day match, and some solid spin bowling in the limited overs matches.
Overall in all formats the team played 22 matches, losing 11, winning 8 and with draws or not result in three.
The Canadian women won the ICC T20 Americas tournament with a good all round-performance – perhaps the top achievement on the international stage for the year.
Cricket Canada provided significant new development opportunities through the National Cricket League. This combined the top 21 high performance cricketers with 44 elite cricketers from across the country divided among the five teams – Pacific Edge, Eastern Fury, Western Stallions, Prairie Fire and Central Shield, playing both T20 and 50 over games. The tournament was affected by rain but provided excellent opportunities for cricketers from the more peripheral parts of cricketing Canada to mix with national team members and benefit from high level coaching. In addition the Canada Cup Under-18 Cricket Championship had four teams – Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Combined Provinces. The Combined Provinces squad included players from Manitoba, Quebec and Saskatchewan.
The MCC toured Canada, playing matches in Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto. The tour concluded with a thrilling tie against a Canadian Selects XI. The tour coincided with the new Ontario Premier League T20 competition, and top-level cricketers in theToronto area had plenty of opportunity for high level competition in August. The OPL fielded four teams, with each having four national team members and four national youth team members in the squad. The tournament was modeled on the IPL, with music and cheerleaders, and was reasonably well attended for its first season.
The Skydome match
The low point of the year was probably the T20 Skydome match, put together by promoters Kat Rose and endorsed by Cricket Canada. The match itself was fairly entertaining, although the teams did not resemble those heavily promoted prior to the event. Six Pakistani internationals withdrew at the last minute, when they failed to obtain permission from the PCB to attend. Brian Lara was present in Toronto but didn’t play, with rumours that his participation was contingent on payment up front. This definitely impacted attendance, but a crowd estimated at 12,000 watched established internationals such as Sanath Jayasuriya, Mark Boucher, Jason Oram, and Stewart McGill, bolstered by Canadaian national team members play. The game was also shown across Canada on Sportsnet. After the match was over, however, it was clear that the promoters had been banking on a much greater attendance, and the overseas stars were not paid for their efforts. When last in the news, the issue was heading for the courts, and future efforts to attract overseas stars to Canada for exhibitions will be challenging.
Departures
Canadian cricket lost some major figures in 2012, notably Jack Kyle, former president, the redoubtable Cliff Cox, CC Vice President, and Colin Harvey, former CC treasurer and umpiring coordinator. All three made immense contributions to cricket in Canada through their volunteer efforts over decades of service.
Another tragic loss was that of Tariq Sikandar, 24 year old Calgary cricketer. He was shot and killed in November.
The Leagues
Canadian cricket is rooted in the successful leagues established across the country. We list standings and champions on Canada Cricket Online, but it is worth noting a couple of outstanding achievements.
Brampton Masters were the TDCA Elite Champions, and put together an unbeaten season – playing 16 games, winning 12 and having four rained out.

The performance of the year took place in the Calgary Elite Division, where Kanata Panthers and Glenmore CC scored 832 runs in a 50-over/ side match. Kanata scored 508/2; Nasir Khan played a sensational innings of 302 runs on 137 balls which included 30 fours and 22 sixes. Glenmore made 326/3 in reply!

Canada Cricket Online’s player of the year
Middle-order and left arm spinner batsman Raza-ur-Rehman established himself in the national team with some solid performances. He played a key role for the Canadians in the two-day Auty Cup draw. He was the game’s leading scorer with 142 runs off 314 balls. Rehman played a prominent role in Toronto Cricket Club winning its division in the Toronto & District Cricket Association (TDCA) Elite League this year. He amassed 356 runs in 15 matches at an average of 39.56 with a century – 129 not out – against Overseas last August. Bowling left-arm spin, he picked up 21 wickets (av. 14.81).