Spectators who like leaping up and down with sponsored cards showing “4” or “6” did not have a field day on Monday as Canada reached 276 for six by close of play against Kenya in the ICC Intercontinental Cup 4-day game in Dubai. A patient innings of 89 by young Nitish Kumar came close to the century mark. Today’s play has some parallels with some phases of solid batting by Canada on the opening day against the United Arab Emirates at King City in July 2007. The last time Canada won an ICC Intercontinental Cup, as mentioned in a recent article in “Share” by Ron Fanfair.

In July 2007, the UAE won the toss and decided to bat first, but a total of 112 all out was not what captain Arshad Ali was seeking. The captain was out first, caught in the second over for 4 off the bowling of Steve Welsh. Welsh went on to take seven for 42 in 19.2 overs.
Canada did not begin too well, losing two wickets for just three runs in the opening two overs. But then came some solid batting, not giving rapture to some of the spectators who included one or two Canadian selectors. Qaiser Ali, at number four, made 42 from 95 balls, before becoming the third wicket to fall with the score on 70. Ali’s third-wicket partner, Trevin Bastiampillai, ended the day on 29 not out. Wicketkeeper-batsman Asif Mulla was 28 not out at close of play and Canada had reached 124 for four. A lead of 12 runs, which brought 6 points for first innings lead.
Mulla was out for 87 after an innings of 103 balls, with Canada having reached 223 for 5. He had hit nine boundaries and a couple of sixes. The solidity in the Canadian innings took a bit of a turn as Bastiampillai was next out after scoring a patient 71 from 209 balls. Some of the crowd were not happy that the ball had not been thundering off to the boundary during Canada’s innings. Some of the same folks were probably even less happy when Canada’s eighth wicket fell at 270.
But captain Sunil Dhaniram found a solid partner in Kevin Sandher in what proved a stand of 180 for the ninth wicket. Sandher made 64 from 115 balls, including seven boundaries and a six. Dhaniram was 141 not out when the ninth wicket fell, and did not face another ball as the last man then holed out for a golden duck. The boundary card flashers, if there had been any such cards around, would have been able to celebrate 25 boundaries in Dhaniram’s knock.
The wind had got up a bit and it was not too pleasant to be bowling into the wind that evening. The UAE closed the second day on 40 for 1, after losing a wicket to the second ball of the innings.
There was no shortage of storm clouds on day three, with thunder claps every now and then, plus the occasional flash of lightning. But the storm mostly bypassed the Maple Leaf grounds and the UAE innings, seemingly fairly solid at 85 for two wickets took a bit of a nosedive and the visitors were all out for 110. Steve Welsh took five for 51, Durand Soraine took three for 9 and Canada had won by an innings and 228 runs. Welsh ended the game with 12 wickets for 93 runs.
So perhaps in the current game, the remaining Canadian batsmen can add a useful number of runs on day two and present a challenge to the Kenyans.
Recently there were reviews that the former young golden boy of Bangladesh cricket, Mohammad Ashraful, might be having a renaissance or re-birth with the bat after his innings of 190 in the first test against Sri Lanka. He might have become the first Bangladeshi batsman to reach 200 in a test, but fell some ten runs short. Current captain Mushfiqur Rahim then achieved that individual goal for Bangladesh and was then out on a round 200. Ashraful and Rahim had shared a fifth wicket stand of 267.
At the end of February 2007, Ashraful hit some runs in the last ten overs for Bangladesh against Canada in an ODI in Antigua. Canada lost by 13 runs in a game that certainly could have been won by Canada. The wheels had wobbled during the last ten or so overs of the Bangladesh innings. Something that more experience against reasonable standard international teams might have addressed. Ashraful scored 60 off 45 balls. Shakib-al-Hasan ended on 134 not out.
But in all the upheavals in team selections – as much in Bangladesh as in Canada and other places – the question of expecting too much from some young players does can, in my opinion. The possibly “re-born” or “re-invented” Mohammad Ashraful is now 28 going on 29. So some six years ago he was a quite young 22 year old. Mushfiqur Rahim, now the captain at 24, was in that same team against Canada, but did not bat. So Rahim has the chance of being written off at an early age if all does not go well for his country in next two or three years.
Intense nationalism from some of the critics can arise. In the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup the expected Super-8 Clash of the sub-continent game in Barbados became Bangladesh v Ireland, rather than India v Pakistan. Ireland, after being thumped a few days earlier by Australia, bounced back to beat Bangladesh. Something that let the critics loose on some of the Bangladesh players.
I am still convinced there is a need for Canada to have an “A” team through which players can gain international experience and also to have some Junior internationals and events that are not just ICC-inspired regional or international tournaments. Players need to be able to develop properly, but the overall structure remains in need of some enhancements in Canada, allied to needs for facilities and funding. For now, let’s hope the later batsman accumulate some useful runs on Tuesday and the Canadian bowling and fielding comes up to the mark against Kenya to conclude this current trip to the UAE.
As for the boundary card flashers, Hiral Patel pulled a six and hit a boundary in one of the early overs. There were notes about some nice boundary strokes by Nitish Kumar, Raza-ur-Rehman was going quite well for a time, and a few boundaries came from byes and leg-byes.

Eddie Norfolk