Cricket in Saskatchewan
20 May 2005
First of all I would like to thank canadacricket.com for providing this opportunity to express my views and perception about Cricket in Saskatchewan. I should admit that if a major event takes place at CCA level or contrary to it, if a controversy arises in Canadian cricket, the very first thing I do is to go to the forums hosted by the Canada Cricket website and read comments from members, who are better connected at the CCA level than some of us are. As this is my first column, I will give a brief overview of cricket in Saskatchewan and then I will provide you with some insights of our U-25 team to Edmonton.
Saskatchewan Cricket Association: Cricket in Saskatchewan is played in two cities, Regina and Saskatoon. There are two teams in Regina (Indo Canada Cricket Club and Pakistan Cricket Club of Regina) and one in Saskatoon (Saskatoon Cricket Club). The biggest sources of our membership are the universities located in these respective cities. Students have a very positive impact in the sense that we get very good talent to represent Saskatchewan from time to time. On the other hand the negative aspect is that we loose the majority of this talent as they move on to other places in search of jobs. Our membership is meager even when compared to other neighboring provinces like Alberta and Manitoba (due to differences in the number of immigrants). Therefore, it is an ongoing struggle for our province to maintain a large membership.
Saskatchewan U-25 Team: Cricket in Saskatchewan is still in developing stages therefore; our main aim is to participate in various tournaments at this moment. Our goal is to have more youth membership and introduce cricket to our local community. It is my pleasure to be associated with Saskatchewan U-25 team. Last year in 2004, the tournament coordinators appreciated Saskatchewan's initiative for sending an U-25 team to participate for the first time ever in its history. They were amazed to see a complete U-25 team from Saskatchewan and congratulated us on our efforts to improve cricket.
The expectations are not very high from Saskatchewan; however, we are confident that our team will do their level best to put up a good show. It should be noted that Saskatchewan is merely able to gather 11 players for this tournament and on the other hand the rest of the provinces bring their best-selected 15 players, which makes a big difference.
The most important outcome of Western U-25 tournament, from the point of view as a SCA member, is the exposure of players to a quality Cricket. These tournaments are a medium to judge our potential at the national level and provide us the knowledge and motivation to implement and improve our skill levels.
Phani Adapa