In the distance the illuminated batsmen, bowlers and fielders focus on the magical 22 yards of the cricket pitch. A light on the nearby highway provides the “midnight sun”, but that individual artificial sun is not sufficient to allow cricket to be played. In the foreground to the left of the photo is the base that houses the generator for one set of four lights mounted several metres above this base. The table with the tropy is in the middle of the photo, and on the left is a small patch of light. It is the display for a video camera, mounted on a the top of a tripod of the game in progress. One leg of the supporting tripod can be seen.

At some stage in the near future, video footage of the game may be posted somewhere. There is an interesting contrast between some of the video taken from the highway end to that taken from the “memorial trophy” end (Courtneypark Drive) end of the ground. The batsman at the highway end seemed to be under a spotlight when the game was viewed from the highway end. It was not possible to move the light pylons between Thursday and Friday, and next time the plan is to have taller lights, a bit like those on the nearby school fields.

In trying to take photos under the lights at different stages in the game, a mystic image of the spirit of a batsman and some mystery streak of light was captured. On Saturday I thought this could be the returning spirit of Charles Dickens ghost of Jacob Marley. Ebeneezer Cricket Canada/Canadian Cricket Association was possibly being shown the ghost of Canadian cricket past, present and future. The development aspect of Canadian cricket has certainly been advancing, some have added indoor facilities, some have battled to gain dedicated playing areas, but Canadian cricket needs more, much like another Dickens’ young character.

But if “we” don’t push out the message of what has been done, where we should be going and what we are doing through a range of media outlets and exhibitions “we” will not reach any kind of promised land of the chance of playing an ICC Full member team in a test series. Some venture capital and some extra people to push out the message of what goes on in Canadian cricket could help move things forward in support of the youth it is claimed “we” wish to see develop in Canadian cricket.

The trophy sits on the same table that I now see was used in the Mississauga news report about the tournament. The photos stuck on the table were from Thursday’s action. Some included action under lights. But some of the video footage provides images of a game happily taking place is good looking light. But one camera angle provided a bright V around the batsman at the highway end. But with some pre-event publicity in some local media outlets, there was a crowd and many folk stayed to the end of play on Friday night.

The last still photo came out well. It was midnight at the oasis – a close-up of the artificial pitch under lights. So we need to raise funds for grass wickets and a pavilion for the ground, as well as a pavilion for the Mississauga Ramblers ground at Iceland, which has grass wickets. The lower floor of the pavilion could provide indoor nets, with a second floor meeting area for functions and a third floor for changing rooms, and where3 scorers and off-field match officials could look down on the play. All it takes is some money, and some concerted plans to raise money for funding such ventures.

The ghost of Canadian cricket’s future? It could happen with the right people involved.

Eddie Norfolk
September 1, 2014 .