A documentary on Canadian cricket is expected to appear on Canadian TV in June/ July of this year..
“We are excited to announce the launch of the Represent the RED brand with a documentary episode that covers Cricket Canada story lines over the past two years. We have been fortunate to be along for the ride of what has been a dramatically rich story and captured key points of view from players, administrators and the media. We hope that through the documentary, we will shed light on the struggles and successes of developing the sport of cricket in Canada and show the path for which Cricket Canada will travel over the coming years as it looks to rebuild.”
– Rathan Moorthy – Executive Producer
Editorial Summary:
Amidst rapid growth in participation and increased awareness through mainstream Canadian media, the sports’ national governing body, Cricket Canada, continues to struggle to find its place as a peer amongst the national sports fraternity. The sport in Canada is continually hampered by funding shortfalls, lack of facilities, governance issues and administrative hurdles, which give Cricket Canada the perception of an organization in continual distress. In April 2012, amidst great uncertainty, a new board led by a charismatic and experienced administrator, Ravin Moorthy, attempted to shake the stigma and rebuild an organization that had lost direction and focus.
Add to this, more reasons to be optimistic, as on the field, the national team received a boost with the return of its most experienced and recognized player, former captain Ashish Bagai.
Cricket Canada was poised to deliver what fans of the game so strongly desired … a winner.
Unfortunately, as Cricket Canada made hefty strides off the field, on the field the organization suffered heavy damages. Under the leadership of former West Indies cricketer, head coach Gus Logie, the team was unable to develop a winning culture and failed to qualify for the 2014 WT20.
The subsequent removal of Logie, saw the return of Englishman Andy Pick. In a relief capacity, Pick’s results were only marginally better. Although qualification for the 2015 CWC would always be difficult, Canada was expected to challenge for a top 6 finish and retain coveted ODI status and high performance funding. This did not happen.
With the loss of over $1M in ICC high performance funding, a new cycle would commence. A new board led by former High Performance chair, Vimal Hardat, has taken the helm. Hardat is surrounded by a relatively inexperienced team that will need to mature quickly and refocus on 2016 World T20 Qualification and an opportunity to regain Canada’s place as a top flight associate nation.
Shifting away from the national team, the development of strong participation initiatives, funded and executed by the ICC Americas regional office, brings a proven methodology for expanding cricket participation beyond its immigrant roots and into a more mainstream population. Together with, aggressive discussion around stadium projects in the Greater Toronto Area and the promise of commercial events, Cricket Canada will again have the opportunity to weigh its resources and capabilities to help move the sport forward.
Represent the RED provides a critical review of key storylines from 2012-2014 and provides the viewer with exclusive in-depth insight from Canada’s top cricket journalists, administrators and national team members.
The documentary includes match highlights from the Rogers Centre T20, TV Summer of 2013, ICC WT20 & CWC Qualifiers, 2011 Cricket World Cup, and media coverage of ICC visits to Canada, Inaugural Cricket Canada Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, AGM and a unique “Voice of the Fan” segment.