The Canadian cricket content in a random selection of ethnic newspapers sampled this week is dominated by news about the Fourth Annual Mayor’s School Cricket tournament that concluded with the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) finals in Brampton on Saturday May 31, 2014. The ceremonials to herald the Kolkata Knight Riders success in the 2014 Indian Premier League (IPL) capture significant attention from the wider world of cricket.
Sri Lanka’s ODI series win gained some coverage in newspapers considered here, but if my travels had found an array of Sri Lankan journals then Sri Lanka’s tour of the UK would surely have had greater emphasis. Although Indo Caribbean World (June 4) includes a historical feature “Rewind: The Oval Test of 1998 that changed Sri Lanka’s fortunes”.
“The Weekly Voice” (June 7) reports that former Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga has agreed for his name to be used as Sorkkam establish the Arjuna Ranatunga Cricket Academy at the indoor facility on Ellesemere Road, Scarborough. A fund-raising golf tournament is scheduled for Friday June 27, followed by indoor clinics for juniors and adults, lead by Ranatunga, on the weekend of June 28-29 at the Sorkkam indoor nets. Sorkkam is hosting an “open house” on the evening of June 19, according to adverts in some newspapers, that will show off their facilities and provide information about the 2014 summer cricket camps. An open house was also scheduled for June 5, but this summary comes rather too late to invite people to attend that first open day.
“Caribbean Times International” (June 5) leads with Shivnarine Chanderpaul being “ready for NZ tests” and Ireland’s Kevin O’Brien being “excited for Limacol CPL (Caribbean Premier League) 2014)”. Stories on the inside pages deal with ongoing differences between the West Indies Cricket Board and Guyana that resulted in the third West Indies-New Zealand test being moved from Guyana’s National Stadium to the Queen’s Park Oval, Barbados.
The Guyanese Parliament passed the Cricket Administration Bill which may be “the way forward” for Guyanese cricket but, for now, is a political football between the WICB, the Guyanese government and whatever relevant cricketing administrations exist locally, regionally and internationally.
The West Indies-New Zealand test series opens today (June 8) followed by a test in Trinidad & Tobago (T&T). “Caribbean Times International” reports the Sports Minister of T&T had asked the WICB to reconsider the decision to omit Sunil Narine from consideration in the test series with the Kiwis. Narine stayed in India to play in the IPL final, so he missed the opening day of the Windies training camp for this test series.
“Indo-Caribbean World” (June 4) carries the story of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKK) edging out the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in “an exhilerating summit clash” IPL final, followed, on the same page, by the tales of how Sunil Narine opted to play in that final rather than attend day one of the West Indies training camp. Toronto Caribbean (June 4) headlined how “Narine leaks runs but KKR takes thriller” after a good first over in the IPL Final.
Meanwhile if playing the game matters, a WICB Media release about the first test begins: “Chris Gayle is fully prepared for what he described as the “perfect occasion” – his 100 Test match for the West Indies. The powerful left-hander added that he is eagerly looking forward to the historic event – especially at his favourite ground with family, friends and supporters watching.”
Gayle, who is 34 years old, “made his Test debut against Zimbabwe at the Queen’s Park Oval back in 2000. In that match he scored 33 and 0. He is now set to become the ninth West Indian to appear in 100 Test matches. The others are Shiv Chanderpaul, Courtney Walsh, Brian Lara, Sir Vivian Richards, Desmond Haynes, Clive Lloyd, Gordon Greenidge and Carl Hooper.”
“The Caribbean Camera” (June 5) carried stories about the Limacol CPL being on schedule, the WICB moving the test from Guyana, and about Jerome Taylor’s return to the West Indies squad for the tests against New Zealand. The return of fast bowlers Jerome Taylor and Kemar Roach to the West Indies squad after recent injuries was covered in “Caribbean Graphic” (June 4).
“Caribbean Graphic” includes a major item “Worth Repeating: Guyana Govt trashes WICB” plus news of a “Prestigious Toronto Gala Planned to Honor Tendulkar, Lara and Chanderpaul”. The Gala is being planned for the Westin Hotel by Roy Singh, who is behind plans for a Canadian Premier League and a state of the art cricket stadium in the Toronto area. There is a hope the dinner will attract 1,000 attendees, the cost is indicated as $500 per dinner plate.
Coverage of the CIMA/CIBC Mayor’s School Cricket
The coverage of the GTA playoffs in Brampton for the CIBC Trophy includes various photos, many feature the participating teams, and several include a write-up about the aims of CIMA (the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) in establishing and building this tournament. The list of city and GTA winners for 2014 is included in some of the edited reports. Some of the photo coverage features Brampton Mayor Susan Fennell with bat and ball, while a picture of CIMA officials and volunteers wass included in the overall photo mix.
“South Asian Generation Next” (June 5) includes the list of winning schools at the GTA and city levels, the photo of Mayor Susan Fennell with bat in hand, the CIMA volunteers picture plus photos of the GTA and Mississauga Girls High School winners Father Michael Goetz, GTA and Toronto Boys High School winners North Albion, and Toronto Girls High School champions York Memorial.
The June 6 edition of “Akhbaar-E-Pakistan” includes a block of seven photos, in black and white, about the tournament. It includes team photos of North Albion, Father Michael Goetz, North Park SS and Beryl Ford Middle School (June 6)
The pictures of the two GTA Girls High School finalists seem to gain the widest coverage, both teams feature in event coverage by “The Weekly Times of India” (June 6). York Memorial girls team gains the spotlight in “Hindi Abroad” (June 6) and is included on the back page of the “Weekly Urdu Post Canada” (June 5). A picture of Brampton’s North Park Secondary School team supports event coverage in “The Weekly Voice” (June 7).
Meanwhile “Desi Express” (June 5) provides coverage of the Markham City Boys High School championships and includes a photo of the Sinclair Secondary School team from Whitby, who fall under the Durham school region rather than the York Region. Sinclair became the first Durham school to appear in the CIMA/CIBC Mayor’s School Cricket tournament.
An article by Rishad Mahmood, reporting from Karachi and printed in “Canada Asian News” (June 1-14), deals with the “ping-pong match” and “ongoing tug of war” behind “The mad, mad world of the Pak (Pakistan) Cricket Board”. It seems cricket administration does not always follow a smooth path in Pakistan, the West Indies region and quite a few other cricketing countries and regions (great and small). The T&T Sports Minister is under fire for something beyond the cricketing boundary according to the “Caribbean Graphic”. Perhaps there are more googlies beyond the cricketing boundary in life than out in the middle?
Eddie Norfolk