Eddie Norfolk, with thanks to David Grossman and the Toronto Star
It may have gone largely unnoticed, except to those readers of the Toronto Star who fully explore the Sports section, but a young female cricketer was named a High School Athlete of the Week in the April 7, 2010 edition. Probably the headline and story ‘Messi’s four goals lift Barca’ will have gained more notice on Page S6 that day.
Vijura Krishnakumar, who attends the Stephen Lewis school in Mississauga, was given the award after scoring 50 runs against Chinguacousy and taking the final wicket in a win over Glenforest in Peel Region indoor cricket. Vijura is a 16-year old in grade 11 and is captain of the Stephen Lewis female cricket team.

David Grossman, the Star’s High Schools sports correspondent who also has programs on High School and University Sports on the FAN590, also points out that Vijura was the most valuable player (MVP) on her school’s softball team in Grade 9. She is an executive member of the school athletic council and has aspirations to attend the University of Waterloo to study criminal law.

It is a bit belated of me to put forward this recognition of a young cricketer, but it does fit in with this past week’s Canada Women versus the USA Women cricket series in King City.

Cricket in the schools depends on the efforts of a range of volunteers, as do most sports. The King City series, in turn, owed a major debt to the efforts of the ICC Americas Development and to those who maintain and manage the grounds at Maple Leaf CC.
The notes I sent from the ground during the three 50-over matches could not have been made without the efforts of the ground workers who looked after the scoreboard and the scorers.

The largest gathering of Canadian female cricketers that I have seen was the inaugural Mayor McCallion championship run a couple of years ago by the Mississauga Ramblers Cricket Club at the Iceland grounds, on a pretty cold and windy day.

I do not remember seeing many, if any, cricketers named as High School Athlete of the Week in the Toronto Star over the years. David Grossman did produce a fine feature on Nitish Kumar last year, to recognize Nitish’s selection for the senior Canadian men’s team. But for now it is congratulations to Vijura for her selection, and thanks to David Grossman for devoting some time and space to cricket.