Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion asked the question “Where are the girls” during a welcoming talk as the CIMA Mayor’s School Cricket Tournament made a debut at the Boys High School level in Mississauga on Tuesday (May 21, 2013).
Someone on behalf of the organizers chipped in to say that three girls schools will be competing in the Missauaga Girls High Schools event this Friday (May 24). Mayor McCallion was a driving force for Canadian women’s (ice) hockey.
The championship trophy for the inaugural 1987 World Women’s Hockey tournament was named after Mayor McCallion. An event organized by the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association, with matches played in North York and Mississauga.
This year’s expansion of the CIMA Mayor’s Schools Cricket Tournament into the Greater Toronto area might be seen as having some parallels with that first women’s international tournament. CIMA as organizers have CIBC as supporting lead financial sponsors. So teams compete within each of the four participating cities, and in the ultimate June 1, 2013 Greater Toronto Area championship event for the CIBC Trophy.
A short-term cricketing parallel comes with the news that York Memorial Collegiate Institute (CI)’s girls team beat West Humber CI to win the Toronto 2013 CIBC Trophy in the Girls High School competition.
Mayor McCallion put on some batting gloves, hit a couple of shots and tossed a cricket ball up and caught it during the ceremonial phase of Tuesday’s Mississauga launch of the city’s CIBC Trophy for cricket. She spoke of the significance of getting programs about all walks of life into the schools. Seeds planted and grown from an early age may produce good fruit.
She hoped some of the players would show the determination and dedication to excel at cricket and progress to play for Canada on the international stage in cricket’s World Series. Mayor MaCallion recognized the re-birth of cricket in Canada, noting the oft referenced declaration by Sir John A. McDonald about cricket being Canada’s national game. This re-birth brought some financial challenges in making provision for the local cricketing community, as other sports, such as lacrosse has being going through a major revival in recent years, soccer is growing and the traditional sports such as hockey need facilities.
Mayor McCallion saw the local cricket community as needing to come together to attract funding to put in place a club house, to adopt baseball terminology, but quite clearly carrying the same meaning as a pavilion in cricket terms. Mayor McCallion posed with each of the six teams and took part in some interviews, including with Omni TV leaving to perform other duties in her busy schedule.
It was certainly a busy schedule on the cricket front in this first CIMA Mississauga Mayor’s Boys High Schools tournament. One where pavilion facilities to allow periodic showers and changes of clothing for the players and match officials would have been useful. The score might have been able to sit in a special area and look down on the play without any distraction from spectators and players passing in front of the scorers tent. But that may dawn on a different day as Canadian cricket marches onward.
There had been overnight rain, the morning was overcast but the sun emerged and the temperature rose until the return of some clouds by the time of the semi-final match at the Iceland ground. Clouds that gave way to rain to herald the first Mississauga CIBC Trophy Boys High School championship final between Stephen Lewis and Lincoln Alexander schools. A game announced as limited to five overs due to the possible advent of rain. Through the tears of rain Stephen Lewis seemed to win the Mississauga Mayor’s CIBC Trophy for Boys High Schools, but details will follow in due course, after some of the game notes dry out.
Toronto Girls High Schools Championship 2013
Rain hit the final in Mississauga on Tuesday, but at G. Ross Lord Park, in the northern part of the amalgamated City of Toronto, the cricket does not appear to have been interrupted, although the event had been washed out by overnight rain and thunder last Wednesday. It seems fitting to provide a summary the 2013 CIBC Trophy for the Toronto Girls High Schools tournament and link, in sport and community, the cities of Toronto and Mississauga.
There were four competing teams in this Girls High Schools championship: Earl Haig Sceondary School, George Harvey CI, , West Humber CI and York Memorial CI.
York Memorial began by dismissing Earl Haig for 21 runs in just 4.1 overs. Jessica Truong took three wickets for three runs and Saabiqa Chowdhury took three for eight. Wides were the top scored for Earl Haig and a stream of wides helped York Memorial to a ten wicket win after just 1.4 overs.
West Humber opened by beating George Harvey by 18 runs. Whittina Brown notched 22 not out and Priyanka Suramala 20 not out as West Humber hit 58 for one wicket from eight overs. Opener Dharmi Patel made 15 not out, but George Harvey was restricted to 40 for two wickets in reply.
West Humber then struck 54 for five against York Memorial. Opening bat Whittina Brown hit 25 runs before being bowled by Saabiqa Chowdhury, who took four wickets for 11 runs. Dawn Nguyen made 20, but York Memorial closed on 46 for six wickets and lost by eight runs. Priyanka Suramala took three wickets for 14 runs.
In the last phase of round-robin action, York Memorial reached 50 for five from eight overs against George Harvey, aided by a knock of 20 from Dawn Nguyen. Three run outs and some steady bowled meant George Harvey replied with just 26 for five wickets. York Memorial won by 27 runs.
Earl Haig had made 29 for nine from eight overs and lost by eight wickets to George Harvey, who scored 30 for two in 5.4 overs. Earl Haig’s closing round-robin match was against West Humber. In this match, West Humber bowled a lot of wides that cost 42 runs. Perhaps this came at a similar phase in the day to a situation in Mississauga where the wind sudddenly blew wildly. The wides carried Earl Haig to 53 for eight wickets, and West Humber only won from the last ball of the alloted eight overs. West Humber scoring 54 for three wickets. Tanisha Sharma scored 16 not out. Wides contributed 26 runs.
A championship final then took place between the top two teams in the standings, namely West Humber (won 3, lost 0) and York Memorial (won 2, lost 1). Whittina Brown was out for nine, Priyanka Suramala was the leading scorer with the bat, making 13 not out and West Humber’s score of 54 for two wickets was dependent upon on 23 wides. Fanda Babur hit 35 not out and supported by 19 wides York Memorial reached a winning 58 runs at the end of eight overs to become Toronto’s 2013 Girls High School CIBC Trophy winners.
On Wednesday there is Boy’s High School action in Brampton and on Friday Girls High School cricket for the CIBC Trophy will be in Mississauga.

Eddie Norfolk