Kanha Dixit of Lester B. Pearson CI, winner of the 2012 CIBC CIMA Mayor's Schools MVP award.

Mayor Rob Ford and Amal Ratnayake, Chair of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), today officially launched the third annual CIMA Mayor’s School Cricket Tournament.

Also taking part were Raza Hasan, Senior Vice-President, CIBC; Doug Hannum, Cricket Canada; Ben Kavenagh, International Cricket Council (ICC); Chris Bolton, Chair, Toronto District School Board (TDSB) and Ann Andrachuk, Chair, Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB). Dwight Drummond, CBC Toronto News host, was the event’s MC.

“The launch of the third annual tournament gives Toronto’s young cricketers an opportunity to participate in a tournament of their own,” said Mayor Ford. “Cricket helps young people develop sport and leadership skills, and encourages them to stay involved in healthy activities.”

The 2013 tournament will be held on May 13 to 17 at the Eglinton Flats Park, G. Ross Lord Park, Centennial Park and Sunnybrook Park. The final games of the tournament will be held on June 1 at Sunnybrook Park. Tournament registration: http://www.cimacanada.org.

The CIMA Mayor’s School Cricket Tournament is a way for the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants to extend its support, engage youth and contribute to the community and the sport of cricket.

The Mayor’s School Cricket Tournament was the recipient of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Best Junior Participation Award for the Americas Region. The award was presented by Kavenagh and Hannum.

“CIMA is not just about helping business succeed, it is about helping people succeed,” said Ratnayake. “One of the ways we can do this is to instil in young people key business skills such as team work, leadership and perseverance, as well as an understanding of other cultures. That is exactly what the CIMA Mayor’s School Cricket Tournament provides. I look forward to an even more successful tournament in 2013.”

Cricket is one of the fastest growing sports in Toronto. Played in more than 100 countries across the world, it is part of the cultural heritage of thousands of Torontonians and is increasingly popular with school-age children and youth across the city. Cricket is played at several local schools and more than 50 school teams take part annually in Toronto tournaments. Cricket rivals basketball in popularity at some schools.

“We know that having a healthy active lifestyle is an important part of a student’s school experience,” said Bolton. “That is why are pleased to partner with the City of Toronto, the TCDSB and CIMA in promoting the CIMA’s Mayor’s School Cricket Tournament.”

“We are delighted to be part of this growing sport in Toronto that celebrates our diversity and encourages physical activity,” said Andrachuk. “It is important that our students are exposed to a variety of athletic activities to encourage an interest in healthy, active living, which in turn will enhance and improve student achievement.”

The main objective of the CIMA Mayor’s School Cricket Tournament is to provide Toronto’s young cricketers with an opportunity to experience tournament play and to learn team-building, cross-cultural communication and leadership.

Daniel Singh (Father Henry Carr Catholic Secondary School) winner of the Best Bowling Award from the 2012 CIBC Trophy CIMA Mayor's School Cricket Tournament.

At today’s event, Daniel Singh from Father Henry Carr Catholic Secondary School was given special recognition for being named best bowler of last year’s tournament. Talha Shaikh from George Harvey Collegiate Institute was named best batsman and Sarvagya Kanha Dixit from Lester B. Pearson Collegiate Institute was named MVP for the 2012 CIMA Mayor’s School Cricket Tournament.

Last year’s tournament winners and runners-up were presented with the new CIBC Trophy.

2012 High School Boys
Champions: Lester B. Pearson Collegiate Institute
Runner-up: George Harvey Collegiate Institute

2012 High School Girls
Champions: York Memorial Collegiate Institute
Runner-up: George Harvey Collegiate Institute

2012 Middle School:
Champions: Valley Park Middle School
Runner-up: Lambton-Kingsway Junior Middle School

Talhs Shaikh. (Batting award winner)

“CIBC is proud to support an inclusive event that is engaging children in our community in a healthy activity and fostering the growth of cricket in one of the world’s most multicultural cities,” said Hasan. “We look forward to awarding the CIBC Trophy to the tournament champions.”

Eddie Norfolk provides a summary of the 2012 tour
CIMA Mayor’s XI UK Tour 2012: 3 wins, 2 losses and 2 rainouts
The CIMA (Toronto) Mayor’s XI 2012 UK tour took place during July, thanks to lead sponsorship from RBC (Royal Bank of Canada) in association with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation (City of Toronto).
The CIMA Mayor’s XI won three matches, lost two and two games were abandoned without a ball being bowled due to rain. The wins came against Mitcham Cricket Club, the London Mayor’s XI and Purley Cricket Club. The losses were against Mitcham CC in a 30-over match, before the CIMA Mayor’s XI responded with a win in a 15-over game, and a narrow 2 run loss to Sunbury Cricket Club. Rain caused scheduled matches against Woodmansterne and Beddington to be abandoned without a ball being bowled.
Jasjeet Kalsi had a major impact in the game with Purley CC. He took four wickets for 13 runs as the CIMA Mayor’s XI bowled out Purely for 95. Jasjeet Kalsi then scored 54 crucial runs in a 3 wicket win for the tourists.
In the previous match against the London Mayor’s XI, Jasjeet Kalsi had also turned in a half-century effort with the bat, in reaching 54.
Dhruv Patel had bowling success in taking 3 wickets for just 6 runs against Mitcham CC (30 over game), the three wickets for 23 against the London Mayor’s XI and ended with five wickets in the final tour match against Sunbury Cricket Club.
Tour Results
Match #1 Woodmansterne (Surrey) v CIMA Mayor’s XI – Match abandoned without a ball being bowled (rain) – July 15, 2012
Match #2 CIMA Mayor’s XI 103 (29 ov: Vishal Patel 24) lost to Mitcham CC 105 for 7 wkts (18 ov: Anderson 28, Dhruv Patel 4-26) by 3 wickets – July 15, 2012 (30 over game)
Match #3 Mitcham CC 50 for 7 wkts (15ov: Daniel Singh 3-6) lost to CIMA Mayor’s XI 54 for no wkt (10 ov: Sarvagya Dixit 28*, Dhruv Patel 20*) by 10 wickets – July 15, 2012 (15 over game)
Match #4 CIMA Mayor’s XI 168 (38 ov: Jasjeet Kalsi 54, Mandish Shah 26, Abdullah Hammad 25, Joshua 3-24) beat London Mayor’s XI 132 (38.5 ov: Sameer 48, Ali 45, Dhruv Patel 3-23) by 36 runs – July 17, 2012 (40 over game)
Match #5 Purley CC 95 (24.5: Bowery 29, Jasjeet Kalsi 4-13) lost to CIMA Mayor’s XI 98-7 (21.4 ov: Jasjeet Kalsi 52) by three wickets – July 18, 2012 (25 over game)
Match #6 Beddington CC v CIMA Mayor’s XI – Match abandoned without a ball being bowled – July 18, 2012
Match #7 Sunbury CC 105 (24.4 ov: M. Smith 29, Dhruv Patel 5 wkts for ?) beat CIMA Mayor’s XI 103 (24.3 ov: Dhruv Patel 24, Abdullah Hammad 23, Aslen 4-18) by 2 runs – July 18, 2012 (30 over game)