It is, in many ways, rather sad to see the latest list of the Canadian cricketers who are going on a pre-World Cup trip. The official release is pretty threadbare and, if you look at it from the perspective of trying to interest media or even the average Canadian, about Canadian cricket, cricketers, or even the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup it does little to excite anyone (other than some of the players who have been selected, and their family and friends).

As usual, the listed players were not born anywhere, they do not live anywhere, it matters not to the selectors whether the players bat or bowl in a particular style or not, so why should it matter to Joe and Josephine Publique.

It is, presumably, a self-evident truth regarding what matches are on the schedule for this trip. But it might not be self-evident to someone who might be interested in cricket and who might like to promote the sport in Canada. Thus the media release is unlikely to have drawn massive attention in the media.

I could ask if those who create these mystic writings consider their target audience or ever consider if it is worth doing something well. After all, the players in the middle will have to perform with a certain quality or else there will be a certain weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The coach puts on a brave face, as ever, in the face of tougher odds than should exist for our cricketers. The ship sails on, minus a rudder or two, short of sails, lacking an engine, but equipped with a couple of birds to send off on missions to deliver messages if the ship gets stuck in some distant place. But some of the executive and administrative visionaries who lead Canadian cricket are unlikely to be troubled. The more fragmentation there is, the more chances there are to be elected as some kind of leader or cricket visionary at all kinds of levels.

Something which, sadly if not tragically, is a reflection of how so much of the world is governed, or in fact stagnates, Strong leadership of the brave, and sometimes the favoured, by the somewhat clueless.

Best wishes to the players and coach for this latest venture. Hope springs eternal….until the spring dries up due to global warming. You cannot put out the candle of love for the game. The Canadian cricketing candle flickers on.

Eddie Norfolk