The 2014 RBC CIMA Mayor’s tour party was originally disclosed in the program for the CIMA Celebration of Cricket event at Sunnybrook Park. A second airing came during a coaching session with former Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga at the Sorkkam cricket facility in Scarborough, Ontario, just ahead of the 2014 Under 17 Canada Cup. The official announcement of the touring party came during the course of the Under-17 Canada Cup.
The tour party includes Armaan Kapoor, now at Wilfrid Laurier University, who played for Canada during the winter in the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup and Thursaanth “Shan” Anantharajah (Fletcher’s Meadow, SS, Brampton) who scored the most runs in the recent 2014 Under-17 Canada Cup. Shan Anantharajah played for the championship winning Ontario Under-17 Reds team. Cricket Across the Pond tourist Zaeem Sagri (Louise Arbour SS, Brampton) played for Ontario Under-17 Greens in the 2014 Canada Cup.
The official naming event about the RBC CIMA Mayor’s touring party gained more media attention than the Under-17 Canada Cup. A similar situation arose in early August 2009 when a large media crowd gathered at Toronto’s City Hall for the naming of the CIMA Mayor’s “Cricket Across the Pond” tour party but almost nobody moved on to the Toronto Cricket Club where Canada A and Canada B played a two-day warm-up game as preparations for ICC Intercontinental Cup and ODI games against Kenya.
The twelve players in the 2014 RBC CIMA Mayor’s touring team are: Christopher Persaud (Sinclair Secondary School, Whitby), Armaan Kapoor (Brampton Centennial SS/Wilfrid Laurier University), Shivang Kantawala (North Albion Collegiate Institute, Toronto), Malhar Patel (North Albion CI, Toronto), Dhruv Patel (North Albion CI, Toronto), Rohit Malhotra (Stephen Lewis SS, Mississauga), Shahryar Iqbal (St. Roch Catholic SS, Brampton), Muhammad Shahzad (Bill Crothers SS, Markham), Purshinder Sandhu (Lincoln M. Alexander SS, Mississauga), Zaeem Sagri (Louise Arbour SS, Brampton), Thursaanth “Shan” Anantharajah (Fletcher’s Meadow SS, Brampton) and Sabes Rasanayagam (North Park SS and Sheridan College, Brampton).
The team manager is Arumugan Ahilesan, a member of the CIMA Canada Board, and Mahendra Ram of York Memorial C.I. is the coach.
Possibly some of the 2014 Cricket Across the Pond tourists will be named to either Canada’s Under-17 team to play in Bermuda during August, or the ICC Americas team that is to participate in the upcoming the West Indies Cricket Board Regional Under-19 Championship.
For all the various faults, some legitimate, that can be put at the feet of the ICC, it should be remembered that most of the grass wickets in the Greater Toronto Area were created with financial assistance from the ICC in preparation for the Canadian Cricket Association hosting the 2001 ICC Trophy. A grass wicket has been put in place in recent years at the Iceland ground in Mississauga, where Mississauga Ramblers play.
Canada has also gained from players being included in various ICC Americas Under-15 and Under-19 teams that have played in tournaments in the West Indies. However, some of the elected officials at provincial and national levels too often seem rather slow in expressing thanks for such help or in ensuring sponsors are publicly thanked for helping Canadian cricket. A situation that has resulted in a current lack of sponsorship for the 2014 National Cricket League, which is still hoped to take place during September.
The Chair of CIMA Canada makes a point of thanking the sponsors of the various CIMA Canada cricket programs in print and at media launches and at the related cricketing events, as well as thanking the volunteers and players without whom there would not be any such events. It also does not seem to matter if the actual person who is the Chair of CIMA Canada changes, the core messages and key values do not change.
How many realize that at least one spin-off Spirit of Cricket event took place at Centennial Park, Etobicoke in the last five or so years, or that Centennial Park hosted an Ontario inter-league provincial championship in a similar timeframe? Etobicoke’s Centennial Park hosted the recent Under-17 Canada Cup.
Perhaps if there had been a sixth team in the 2014 Under-17 Canada Cup, the Iceland ground might have been used to host one game each day. The ground is west of Centennial Park beyond the Eglinton Avenue boundary between the merged City of Toronto and the City of Mississauga. The Ramblers managed something of a batting collapse against Toronto in the Elite Division of the Toronto and District Cricket League when I briefly stopped by the Iceland ground on Saturday July 5, 2014.
The variable weather can be a challenge for playing cricket in this part of the world. The air conditioning on a subway train was so cold after the heat and humidity of Centennial Park during the junior championships that I changed course, concerned about the potential of suffering from frost-bite, and took a quick look at the outdoor action at the Iceland ground.
The playing and weather conditions for cricket in the London area may become part of the learning experience for some of the 2014 Cricket across the Pond tourists.
2014 RBC CIMA Mayor’s Playing Schedule
Sunday July 20 RBC CIMA Mayor’s XI v Old Wimbledonians Cricket Club
4pm – 25 overs The Old Wimbledonians Association Sports Ground, 143 Coombe Lane, Raynes Park, London SW20 0QX
Monday July 21 RBC CIMA Mayor’s XI v Reigate Priory
1pm – 25 overs Reigate Priory Cricket Club, Park Lane, Reigate, Surrey RH2 8JX
Tuesday July 22 RBC CIMA Mayor’s XI v CIMA UK XI
6pm – 20 overs Chessington Cricket Club, Sir Francis Barker Ground, Leatherhead Road, KT9 2NB
Wednesday July 23 RBC CIMA Mayor’s XI v Purley Cricket Club
5.30 pm – 30 overs Purley Cricket Club, The Ridge, Purley, Surrey CR8 3PF
Thursday July 24 RBC CIMA Mayor’s XI v Chris Gayle Academy – Cricket for Change
10am – 20 overs The Cricket Centre, Plough Lane, Wimbledon, SM6 8JQ
Thursday July 24 RBC CIMA Mayor’s XI v Sunbury Cricket Club
2pm – 30 overs Jeff Kaye Memorial Ground, Kenton Court Meadow, Lower Hampton Road, Sunbury on Thames, Middlesex, TW15 5AS.
Note: The above venues and times are provide as guidance. Adverse weather, or other factors, might impact the playing schedule.
Eddie Norfolk