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August 2009

Africa’s duo for the Canada 2009 ICC U-19 CWC Qualifier -- Posted Sunday, August 30 2009

Eddie Norfolk

Uganda and Sierra Leone are Africa’s two participants due at the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup qualifier in Toronto, following success in the African Qualifier in late April and early May 2009.

Sierra Leone has been reported as having some difficulties obtaining visas and there has been some speculation on whether the squad will (a) arrive just ahead of its opening match, (b) arrive late, or (c) not arrive at all. This would be sad as the country is an Affiliate country and had to pre-qualify for the African Under-19 Championship. Sierra Leone is due to face Vanuatu on the opening day of the Toronto tournament (Sept 1) at Maple Leaf CC, King City, Ontario.

Uganda headed the African U-19 Championship with a record of 6 wins and 1 loss. The loss was by 3 wickets to Namibia. Sierra Leone came second with 5 wins and 2 defeats, ahead of Namibia (4/2, plus 1 no result), Zambia (4/3), Kenya (3/3 plus 1 no result), Botswana (3/4), Tanzania (2/5) and Nigeria (0/7).

The tournament was held in Zambia and included some low scoring matches, such as Uganda’s 6 wicket win over Tanzania, who made 48 all out, and a ten wicket win by Sierra Leone in response to Nigeria’s 44 all out.

Uganda closed with a 48 run Duckworth/Lewis win over Sierra Leone. Uganda made 94 in 41.3 overs, Ibrahim Kabia taking 3 wickets for 20 runs, but Sierra Leone struggled to 35 for 8 wickets in 20 overs as Geoffery Nyero took 6 wickets for just 7 runs.

Kenya had a disappointing tournament, including a 110 run loss to Zambia, but was already assured of a place in the 2010 ICC Under-19 CWC as hosts. However, the ICC came up with a ruling that sees the 2010 event switch to New Zealand. Kenya will still be one of the participants. Five teams from the Toronto qualifier will join Kenya and the ten ICC Full Members for the U-19 CWC.

*Sierra Leone Situation re; U19 CWC Qualifier - Still Hoping to Participate

Apparently, Sierra Leone's visa applications were made to the wrong office of Immigration Canada. New applications are being produced that will be presented to the correct office early next week.

Cricket Canada has been in contact with Immigration Canada, who , I understand, will attempt to assist in this process. Hopefully the Sierra Leone youngsters will be able to participate in this tournament, but firm news will only be available early in the coming week.

The original schedule has Sierra Leone playing Vanuatu on Tuesday Sept 1 (opening day) followed by the USA on Wednesday. Thursday Sept 3 is a scheduled rest/reserve day, as is Sunday Sept 6.

Eddie Norfolk

How they reached the Canada 2009 ICC Under-19 CWC Qualifier -- Posted Sunday, August 30 2009


East-Asia Pacific Under-19 Championship

Papua New Guinea hosted and won the East-Asia Pacific Under-19 Championship. PNG topped the round robin standings with an unbeaten 4/0 record, then beat Vanuatu (3/1) in the Final by 173 runs. PNG posted 276 for 8 wickets in the Final, lead by 101 from opening bat Heni Siaka. Jason Kila made 48. Vanuatu suffered two early runouts, before being dismissed for 103 (34.2 overs). Kila took 4 wickets for 20 from 10 overs and Siaka chipped in with 3 wickets for 4 runs (1.2 overs) to complete the win.

In the round robin standings, Fiji (2/2) came third, Indonesia (1/3) fourth and Japan (0/4) trailed the field.

PNG took part in the 2008 Under-19 CWC in Malaysia as the East-Asia Pacific representative.

Asian Cricket Council Elite Under-19 Championship

The Asian CC Elite U-19 Championship was staged in Kuwait. The top two teams from each group progressed to the semi-finals, with the subsequent winners meeting in the Final.

In Group A, Hong Kong (3/1) topped the standings due to a better net run rate (NRR) than Nepal (also 3/1). Malaysia was third in this group with 2 wins and 2 losses. Singapore (1/3) were fourth in the group due to a better NRR than Saudi Arabia (also 1/3).

Afghanistan went unbeaten (4/0) in Group B. Qatar (3/1) also qualified for the semi-final stage. UAE (2/2), Oman (1/3) and Bhutan (0/4) completed the Group B standings.

Afghanistan made 190 for 4 wickets (47.1 overs) to overhaul Nepal’s 186 for 8 (50 overs) in one semi-final. Aimal Wafa lead with an unbeaten 61, well supported by 47 not out from Asghar Hotak. Hotak had taken 3 wickets for 18 runs in the Nepal innings. Prithu Bashota lead Nepal’s batting with a knock of 81.

Irfan Ahmed made 59 but Hong Kong only reached 161 all out (45.5 overs) in its semi-final with Qatar. Opening bowler Niaz Ali took 4 wickets for 26 as the Qatar reply was restricted to 138 all out (48.3 overs).

Asghar Hotak made 70 and Zard Ali as Afghanistan recovered to reach 215 for 9 wickets (50 overs), after being on 21 for 5 wickets and then 76 for 5 in the Final. Niaz Ali took 3 wickets for 34, Aizaz Khan 3 for 26 and Niazkhat Khan 3 for 44. Jamie Atkinson lead the way with 94 for Hong Kong, well supported by fellow opening bat Shakeel Haq (51 runs). Niazkhat Khan to make a vital 46 not out to see Hong Kong reach victory after 47 overs. Hong Kong made 216 for 2 wickets.

Nepal took part as Asian Cricket Council U-19 Champions in the 2008 U-19 CWC in Malaysia, who participated as hosts.

TJT National Cricket League 2009 – Scoring Summaries -- Posted Sunday, August 30 2009
Eddie Norfolk

The TJT National Cricket League’s inaugural season continues at Toronto’s G. Ross Lord Park, with the regular season continuing on September 4 and 11.

Here is a summary of scoring, including some highlight notes, on from matches for which scorecard information is available, as supplied by the league sponsors, TJT Realty before matches played on Friday August 28.

Details from missing matches, including confirmation of the result between the Kings and Titans (Aug 20) will be included at a later date. Man of the Match award details also requires completion.

Unofficial Standings, based on known results thru Thurs Aug 27, 2009

P W L N/R Pts
Titans 4 3 1 0 12
Gladiators 2 2 0 0 8
Royals 3 2 1 0 8
Warriors 1 1 0 0 4
Kings 2 0 2 0 0
Chiefs 4 0 4 0 0

Note: Scores from the Aug 14 match where it seems the Gladiators beat the Titans, based on published league standings, will also be added at a later date.


Summary of Results

Aug 7: Gladiators 140 for 9 wickets (20 overs; Abubakur Kalair 20; RIyazkhan Pathan 4 wickets for 27, Henry Osinde 3 wickets for 29) beat Chiefs 118 a/o (19.1 overs; Usman Limbada 44, Hiral Patel 25, Mohammad Shakir 3 wickets for 27) by 22 runs

MOM; Usman Limbada (Chiefs)

Aug 7: Titans 150 a/o (20 overs: Trevin Bastiampillai 34, Ruvindu Bastiampillai 32, Numan Aslam 32) beat Royals 105 a/o (18.5 overs; Rustum Bhatti 39, Anderson Bryce 3 wickets for 28) by 45 runs

MOM: Trevin Bastiampillai (Titans)

Aug 13: Warriors 158 for 6 (20 overs; Raffik Ali 53, Albert Gopie 44, Aiyub Matadar 28) beat Chiefs 118 for 9 (20 overs; Chris Manohar 27, Usman Limbada 25) by 40 runs

MOM: Albert Gopie (Warriors)

Note: Albert Gopie (Warriors) scored his 44 out of 77 for 2 wickets. Raffik Ali and Aiyub Matadar then added 77 for the 3rd wicket.

Aug 14: Gladiators v Titans – details to be provided (Gladiators beat Titans, based on published league standings)

Aug 14: Royals 140 a/o (19.5 overs; Junaid Siddiqui 46, Udhara Varna , Ramnarine Chattergoon 5 wickets for 19) beat Kings 123 for 9 (20 overs; Ramnarine Chattergoon 51 not out, Arsalan Qadir 24 not out, Sidhu Harjot 4 wickets for 10) by 17 runs

Note: The Royals openers, Junaid Siddiqui and Udhara Varna, added 80 for the first wicket before Ramnarine Chattergoon entered the attack and took his 5 wickets at a low cost. In the Kings innings, Ramnarine Chattergoon came in with the score on 30 for 7 wickets. The unbroken 10th wicket stand with Arslan Qadir added 68 runs.

Aug 20: Kings 110 a/o (19.4 overs; Zaheer Haniff 27) Titans 77 for 2 (12 overs; Iqbal Mohammad 44 not out) (Titans won, D/L?)

Aug 21: Royals 214 for 5 (20 overs; Imran Raja 78, Dhanuka Pathirana 70) beat Chiefs 104 a/o (14.4 overs) by 110 runs.

Note: Sadly, the fall of wickets not given in the scorebook for the Royals innings. It looks like Imran Raja and Dhanuka Pathirana came together with the Royals on 15 for 2 wickets in the second over and added ‘a lot of runs’ for the third wicket.

Aug 21: Gladiators v Warriors

Aug 27: Chiefs 110 a/o (20 overs; Hiral Patel 24) lost to Titans 116 for 2 (14.1 overs; Trevin Bastiampillai 66 not out, Abzal Dean 28 not out)

Note: In the Titans innings, Trevin Bastiampillai joined Abzal Dean with the score on 19 for 2 wickets. The pair added an unbeatent 97 runs for the 3rd wicket to win the game.

Aug 28: Gladiators v Kings
Aug 28: Royals v Warriors

Remaining Matches:

Sep 4: Chiefs v Kings
Sep 4: Titans v Warriors

Sep 11: Gladiators v Royals
Sep 11: Kings v Warriors

Playoffs

TBA: Semi-finals and Final.

Alberta Masters 2009- match reports -- Posted Friday, August 28 2009
Masters 2009, Riley Park, August 22/23:

As last year, the sky gods smiled again on the Masters weekend held in Calgary on August 22/23 which saw two entertaining contests, but particularly the second one. Under warm, blue skies, the proceedings got off to a fine start as the Spirit of the Game shone brightly through when the Edmonton skipper, Steve Dutchin, who won the toss, and in true sportsmanlike manner, enquired whether Calgary wanted to bat or field first. He was left to make the call.

Game One:

Steve then strategically opted to send Calgary in to bat in hope of chasing. But the hosts methodically amassed a respectable and defendable total of 230 in their allotted 45 overs at Riley Large, with Trevor DeFreitas top-scoring with a patient and purposeful 62, ably abetted by the reliable, timeless class-act, Paul St. Rose contributing a routine, swashbuckling 48. Another ageless wonder from the north, Charlie Green, and let’s not say what age he is, chipped in with a surprising 3 for 50 in a steady, tidy spell, along with Khallid Bacchus who collaborated to claim three scalps of his own for 46.

Replying to a getable target, Edmonton quickly found themselves down a man when the score was only 12 with the run-out of Eric Mahabir who was stranded several feet shy of his crease. Number three wicketkeeper/batsman Sammy Naicken was second man to go to a dubious caught-at-wicket decision. He was replaced by the Edmonton skipper who was circumspect throughout his innings and only unleashed his trade-mark straight-batted pulls to the boundary when the opportunity presented itself. Wickets fell all around him as he carried his bat through for an unbeaten 74 in vain. Calgary won by a convincing margin of 91 runs.

Match Summary: Calgary 230/7 in 45 overs…T. DeFreitas 62, Paul St Rose, 48, S. Bhandari, 23, Max Richard, 18. Bowling: C. Green, 3/50, K. Bacchus, 3/46. Edm 139 all out, S. Dutchin 74 not out.

Game Two:

The brilliant, late-summer sunshine continued into Sunday. This time, Calgary won the toss and sent the visitors in. As the previous afternoon, lefty Steve Dutchin showed his redoubtable class as he authoritatively and disdainfully pummeled a weakened Calgary attack with mammoth slogs all around the ground. In a reduced match of 35 overs, he understood the importance and urgency of compiling a hefty score, in a hurry, so as to put the match out of reach and thus claiming the inaugural Masters Cup, since all Edmonton needed, as the defending champs, was a solitary victory. He was 12 shy of 150 when he was niftily stumped by keeper DeFreitas off the bowling of seldom-used Mike Singh in the penultimate over. Sammy Naicken, too, previously, was similarly stumped by the cat-like Defreitas for a stylish 30.

Edmonton walked off into the luncheon interval feeling pretty confident of victory whilst a few of the Calgary veterans appeared visibly deflated. But yours truly never doubted Calgary’s ability to pull it off. Using a different strategy to overcome a monumental task, the big, sensible hitters were promoted to three of the top four spots in the batting order and they did not disappoint.

Playing in his first Masters, left-hander Shakil Surve replicated the brilliance of Steve Dutchin and launched maximums all around the field before he was finally caught by Ron Beepat deep on the mid-wicket boundary after he had eclipsed Steve’s score by just one run. Trevor DeFreitas continued from where he left off the previous day and carried his bat for a determined 58 not out. Raymond Singh produced a scintillating cameo of 32 in just two and half overs.

Calgary overtook the massive Edmonton score in the 26th over for the loss of only two wickets to capture the inaugural Masters Cup in a rather convincing and comprehensive fashion.

Match Summary: Edmonton 268 in 35 overs, Steve Dutchin, 138, S. Naicken, 30.

Calgary: 271/2 in 26 overs, S. Surve 139, T. DeFreitas 58 n o, Raymond Singh, 32 n o.

N.B.: Man-of-the match, Game One: Trevor DeFreitas; Man-of the-match, Day Two, Shakil Surve; and Man-of the series, Steve Dutchin.

Note: I wish to thank all the volunteers for a job well-done and a special thank-you to Chris James, Art Alfonso, Ivan Mahelal, Spencer Gooden and Gord Oakes for making it another successful event. Now, it’s until next time at beautiful Victoria Park.



Ron Saywack.

Canada v Kenya - ODI 3 abandoned without a ball being bowled -- Posted Sunday, August 23 2009
The rains from Saturday and the high water table mean there is still a lot of water on or near the surface of pitch and outffield, ao the third OID between Canada and Kenya has been called off without a bwll being bowled or the toss being made.

Camda wins the series for the Ben Sennik Trophy 1-0, with two games as no results.

Canada U15's win North Americas Tournament -- Posted Saturday, August 22 2009
Canada's Under-15 side beat the USA on Saturday by 3 wickets in Brooklyn, New York. Nitesh Kumar scored 68 not out in leading the side to victory.

Storm ends efforts to stage 2nd Canada-Kenya ODI -- Posted Saturday, August 22 2009

Summary Score: Canada 63 for 3 wickets (17.1 overs) v Kenya - match abandoned due to rain - No Result.

King City, Ont (August 22): A storm brought play to an end with Canada on 63 runs for 3 wickets after 17.1 overs against Kenya and forced the second ODI in a three match series to be abandoned as a no result. Thomas Odoyo put Canada on the rack when play eventually started at Maple Leaf CC on Saturday, taking three wickets as Canada struggled to post 14 runs on the board. Odoyo bowled Rizwan Cheema, had teenager Hiral Patel neatly caught by Lameck Onyango, then trapped Abdool Samad leg-before wicket.

Zubin Surkari (23 not out) and Sandeep Jyoti (19 not out) lead a recovery, but after the first ball of the 18th over, an imminent thunderstorm saw the umpires wave the players towards the pavilion, and the rains blasted down to end all prospect of play for the day. Indeed, the amount of water that began to flood large parts of the outfield might even threaten Sunday’s scheduled game 3 in this series for the Ben Sennik Trophy. Canada won the series opener on Wednesday.

The day began with a bizarre twist. Following all the efforts to remove Thursday’s downpour that resulted in no play on Friday, the sprinkler system had come on overnight, and required much work before play was possible on Saturday.

The groundstaff faced a daunting task after Saturday's storm.

2009 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier (GTA Sept 1 thru 13, 2009) -- Posted Saturday, August 22 2009


The 2009 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier takes place between September 1 and September 13, 2008 in the Greater Toronto. Ten countries, two from each of the five ICC (International Cricket Council) regions, are taking part to decide the five to advance to next year’s U19 CWC in New Zealand (January 16 to 30, 2009). The qualifiers are determined by positions in the round-robin standings.

The participants are: Canada and USA (ICC Americas); Uganda and Sierra Leone (ICC Africa); Afghanistan and Hong Kong (ICC Asia); Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu (ICC East Asia-Pacific); and Ireland and the Netherlands (ICC Europe).

Dave Richardson, ICC General Manager – Cricket, commented “The fact we now have regional and global qualifying stages for this event (the U19 CWC) shows how much cricket is developing at this age group level around the world.”

He added, “The ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup has traditionally been a stepping stone for the world’s top players and I expect this year’s event to be no different. There has alos been success for some of the Associate teams, so it will be interesting to see who emerges from the global qualifier.”

Four matches are scheduled for Maple Leaf Cricket Club, King City, in each of the scheduled daily match-ups. Malton Cricket Club hosts the other match in each round. The Maple Leaf grounds are at the north-east corner of Dufferin Street and 15th Sideroad, King City. Malton CC is in a park behind the Malton Arena, just off Goreway Drive south of its intersection with Derry Road East.

Malton match allocations are a slight change the originally released ICC schedule. Some matches were due at Toronto’s Sunnybrook Park, but a backlog of work at Sunnybrook, due to the recent strike, sees those games switched to Malton. This change was advised by a Cricket Canada official, and confirmed during a visit to Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation.

Schedule

Sept 1: Sierra Leone v Vanuatu; Uganda v Papua New Guinea (PNG); Ireland v USA; Hong Kong v Afghanistan (all at Maple Leaf CC); Canada v Netherlands (Malton)

Sept 2: Netherlands v Hong Kong; Afghanistan v Ireland; USA v Sierra Leone; Vanuatu v Uganda (all at Maple Leaf); PNG v Canada (Malton)

Sept 3: Rest/reserve day

Sept 4: Canada v Uganda; Vanuatu v USA; Hong Kong v PNG; Ireland v Netherlands (all at Maple Leaf); Sierra Leone v Afghanistan (Malton)

Sept 5: Afghanistan v Vanuatu; Uganda v USA; Canada v Hong Kong; PNG v Ireland (all at Maple Leaf CC); Netherlands v Sierra Leone (Malton)

Sept 6: Rest/reserve day

Sept 7: Vanuatu v Netherlands; USA v Afghanistan; Uganda v Hong Kong; Sierra Leone v PNG (all at Maple Leaf CC); Ireland v Canada (Malton)

Sept 8: Hong Kong v Ireland; Sierra Leone v Canada; Afghanistan v Uganda; Netherlands v USA (all at Maple Leaf CC); PNG v Vanuatu (Malton)

Sept 9: Rest/reserve day

Sept 10: USA v PNG; Vanuatu v Canada; Afghanistan v Netherlands; Ireland v Uganda (all at Maple Leaf CC); Sierra Leone v Hong Kong (Malton)

Sept 11: Ireland v Sierra Leone; Hong Kong v Vanuatu; Canada v USA; PNG v Afghanistan (all at Maple Leaf CC); Uganda v Netherlands (Malton)

Sept 12: Rest/reserve day

Sept 13: Uganda v Sierra Leone; Netherlands v PNG; Vanuatu v Ireland; Afghanistan v Canada (all at Maple Leaf CC); USA v Hong Kong (Malton)

Canada U-15s play USA for Championship -- Posted Saturday, August 22 2009
Canada Under-15's need to win on Saturday against the USA in order to take the ICC Americas Northern championship. On Friday, rain halted Canada's victory bid against Bermuda.

Stephan Rajasingham took 3 wickets for 12 runs as Bermuda made 155 for 9 wickets in 40 overs. Canada was well set at 61 for 1 wicket after 11 overs, but rain halted the game, which became a no result.

Canada captain Nitesh Kumar was 28 not out when rain stopped play; the highest individual score of the game.

The tournament concludes on Saturday with the match-up between the land of the Maple Leaf (Canada) and the land of the Free (USA) with Canada needing to win in order to overtake the USA.

DreamCricket report


ICC Americas Northern Division U-15 Cricket Day 5 - No result after rain halts Canada's chase
by DreamCricket USA
Aug 21, 2009


By Peter Della Penna

Canada appeared well on their way to victory chasing a target of 156 on day five of the ICC Americas Northern Division U-15 Tournament, but thunderstorms rolled over Erskine Cricket Ground in Brooklyn, N.Y., and the match was stopped with Canada 61 for 1 after 11 overs. Bermuda and Canada split points with no result from the match.

Bermuda won the toss and batted first, but a lackluster effort left them on the back foot all day long.

Stephan Rajasingam bowled an outstanding opening spell into the wind to leave Bermuda reeling at 12 for 3 after four overs. Rajasingam took the wickets of Jonte’ Smith, Tre’ Manders and Kamau Leverock as he devastated Bermuda’s top order with his probing left arm medium pace.

The rest of the lineup struggled to get through the innings but Bermuda was aided tremendously with extras given away by Canada’s bowlers. All the teams have had a tough time adjusting to the windy conditions at the ground during the week and today was no different. Canada conceded 39 wides, with 45 extras finishing as Bermuda’s top score in their total of 155 for 9, well ahead of Kamel Easton’s 27 runs.

In reply, Canada got a great start from Nitesh Kumar. After Rajasingam succumbed to a bouncer barrage from Leverock, Kumar continued with Talha Shaikh to take Canada to 61 before the weather intervened.

USA and Canada are scheduled to play the final match of the tournament on Saturday at 10:30 a.m., with the winner taking the title. More thunderstorms are forecast throughout the day and chances are not good that the winner will be decided on the field. If there is a washout, USA will become the tournament champions with Canada second and Bermuda third.


Official Scorecard

ICC Americas Northern Division U-15 Tournament – Bermuda vs. Canada
No result
Bermuda won the toss and batted

Bermuda Batting

Batsman Runs Balls 4s 6s Dismissal
J Smith 2 6 0 0 ct Shaikh bowled Rajasingam
S Jones 6 15 0 0 runout (Gillar/Rao+)
T Manders 2 10 0 0 ct Rao+ bowled Rajasingam
K Leverock 0 3 0 0 ct Ratnayake bowled Rajasingam
S Pitcher 24 33 2 1 ct Rajasingam bowled Manoosingh
C Burgess+ 1 17 0 0 ct Ratnayake bowled Kumar
K Easton 27 51 4 0 ct Gillar bowled Dutta
J Gilbert* 2 6 0 0 ct Shaikh bowled Ratnayake
K James 25 61 4 0 st Rao+ bowled Kumar
D Wellman 13 28 0 1 not out
W Woodley 8 12 1 0 not out
Total Extras 45 (2 no balls, 4 byes, 0 leg byes, 39 wides)
Team Total 155 for 9 in 40 overs

Fall of wicket: 6/1 (Smith), 10/2 (Manders) 12/3 (Leverock), 43/4 (Jones), 56/5 (Pitcher), 63/6 (Burgess), 77/7 (Gilbert), 108/8 (Easton), 141/9 (James).

Canada Bowling Overs-Maidens-Runs-Wickets
V Ratnayake 8-1-38-1
S Rajasingam 3-0-12-3
A Gillar 7-1-34-0
N Kumar 8-0-26-2
T Manoosingh 4-0-15-1
S Ahmed 8-0-24-0
N Dutta 2-0-2-1

Canada Batting

Batsman Runs Balls 4s 6s Dismissal
N Kumar* 28 29 3 0 not out
S Rajasingam 6 22 0 0 ct Burgess+ bowled Leverock
T Shaikh 12 15 1 0 not out
Total Extras 15 (0 no balls, 0 byes, 0 leg byes, 15 wides)
Team Total 61 for 1 in 11.0 overs

Did not bat: T Manoosingh, Y Rao, N Dutta, S Ahmed, A Gillar, V Ratnayake, H Syed, U Weerasinghege.

Fall of wicket: 39/1 (Rajasingam).

Bermuda Bowling Overs-Maidens-Runs-Wickets
W Woodley 3-0-11-0
D Wellman 1-0-11-0
K Easton 1-0-11-0
J Gilbert 3-0-11-0
K Leverock 3-0-17-1

Second Canada- Kenya one day match rescheduled -- Posted Friday, August 21 2009
Although the ground was under sunny skies, heavy rain yesterday left Maple Leaf CC distinctly damp, and the second one-day international between Canada and Kenya is rescheduled for Saturday.
Cricket Europe coverage

Quebec Cricket Federation - Upcoming Matches -- Posted Friday, August 21 2009


The following matches in the Divisional Knockout Cup and playoffs are scheduled in the Montreal area by the Quebec Cricket Federation.


AUG 22 (T50) SAT.:

PREMIER KNOCKOUT CUP

C) CENTENNIAL C.C. VS GUJARAT C.C @ HENRI JULIEN CRICKET GROUND
E) MONTREAL BLUES SPORTS CLUB VS ST. VINCENT METS C.C. @ ATWATER-1
F) PAKISTAN C.C. VS INDIA SPORTS CLUB @ JARRY-2

"A"DIVISION DAVIDSON KNOCKOUT CUP

C) ADASTRIANS C.C VS PAKISTAN C.C. @ VERDUN -2
E) INDIA SPORTS CLUB VS GUJARAT C.C. @ JARRY-1
F) KVSCM VS ORIENT C.C @ VERDUN -1

"B" DIVISION RUBENSTEIN KNOCKOUT CUP

A) MCSO VS MONTREAL BLUES SPORTS CLUB @ RAYMOND PARK

AUGUST 23 (T50) SUN.:

PREMIER DIVISION KNOCKOUT CUP

A) AAT SPORTS CLUB VS WINNER (F) @ ATWATER - 2
B) ADASTRIANS CRICKET CLUB VS WINNER (E) @ VERDUN -2
D) MONTREALOVERSEAS C.C. VS MCSO @ JARRY-2

"A" DIVISION DAVIDSON KNOCKOUT CUP

A) JEAN TALON C.C VS WINNER (F) @ HENRI JULIEN
B) SHERE-E- PUNJAB CRICKET CLUB VS WINNER (E) @ RAYMOND PARK
D) NAVYUG C.C. VS NAVSARI C.C. @ JARRY-1

AUG 29 (T50) SAT.:

PREMIER KNOCKOUT CUP SEMI-FINALS

WINNER (A) VS WINNER (D) @ TBA
WINNER (B) VS WINNER (C) @ TBA

"A" DIVISION DAVIDSON KNOCKOUT CUP SEMI-FINALS

WINNER (A) VS WINNER (D) @ TBA
WINNER (B) VS WINNER (C) @ TBA

"B" DIVISION RUBENSTEIN KNOCKOUT CUP SEMI-FINALS

BENGAL UNITED C.C. VS WINNER (A) @ TBA
ADASTRIANS C.C. VS FRIENDSHIP C.C. @ TBA

AUG. 30(T50) SUN.:

DIVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES:

PREMIER DIVISION: ADASTRIANS CRICKET CLUB VS AAT SPORTS CLUB @ VERDUN-2

"A" DIVISION : SHERE-E-PUNJAB C.C. VS JEAN TALON C.C. @ RAYMOND PARK

RELEGATION GAMES:

PREMIER DIVISION: FRIENDSHIP C.C. VS CAVALIERS C.C. @ ATWATER-2

"A" DIVISION : PAK-CAN C.C. VS MAPLE LEAF C.C. @ JARRY-2

SEPT 5,6,7,: DIVISIONAL KNOCKOUT CUP FINALS

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE FOLLOWING CRETERIA IS USED TO DETERMINE THE STANDING WHEN A TIE IS IN PLACE :

1. HEAD TO HEAD RESULTS

2. IF STILL A TIE THEN "NET AVERAGE" IS USED TO DETERMINE THE STANDINGS.
NET AVERAGE=(TOTAL RUNS SCORED/TOTAL OVERS FACED)
MINUS (TOTAL RUNS ALLOWED/TOTAL OVERS BOWLED)

Canadian League standings - 19 August -- Posted Thursday, August 20 2009

Standings for : 2009.8.19

Thanks to Ramon Lachmansingh

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Americas U-15 Canada’s spirited effort leads to win over USA -- Posted Thursday, August 20 2009
ICC Americas Northern Division U-15 Day 3

Canada’s spirited effort leads to a 34 run win over USA

By Peter Della Penna

Winning the toss and batting first, Canada looked in deep trouble at 102 for 8 in the 31st over, but a tremendous fightback by Stephan Rajasingam and Amanpal Gillar produced an unbroken 69-run ninth wicket partnership in the final nine overs that turned out to be the difference today as Canada defeated USA by 34 runs on day three of the ICC Americas Northern Division U-15 Tournament at Erskine Cricket Ground in Brooklyn, N.Y. Nitesh Kumar was named Man of the Match after opening the match for Canada with 41 and then turned in eight overs of brilliant off-spin bowling to finish with 3 for 12.

Canada got off to a decent start and went to 40 without loss when the first of four runouts happened. Kumar and his opening partner Nikhil Dutta, along with number four Talha Shaikh and number six Vidura Ratnayake all perished needlessly as a result of poor communication between the batsmen. There could have been at least two more runouts had USA’s fielders done a better job of communicating which end to throw the ball to when more chances presented themselves. Canada’s running was diabolical all day long, a continuation of a problem that was evident Tuesday in their loss to Bermuda.

Krish Goel finished off a fantastic spell of off-spin by getting the wickets of Jeevan Sidhu and Trevor Manoosingh to finish with 2 for 20 and put Canada on the back foot at 102 for 8. But Rajasingam and Gillar played patiently and sensibly to rebuild the innings. After taking eight balls to get off the mark, Gillar started to play more confidently and freely while receiving excellent support from Rajasingam. The two did a great job of rotating the strike and dispatching any loose balls to the boundary. Gillar wound up on 37 not out with three 4s and two 6s off only 30 balls and Rajasingam walked off unbeaten with 26 off 38 balls to guide Canada to 189 for 8 in 40 overs.

USA was dealt an early blow when Arsh Goel was caught behind on the last ball of the first over off Ratnayake. Captain Steven Taylor came in to steady the ship with Vikram Valluri as they put on 41 for the second wicket, but Taylor fell when he tried to drive a delivery from Kumar that flew off the outside edge to Yug Rao at point. That turned out to be the biggest partnership of USA’s innings as Canada’s spin bowlers took control of the match. The combination of Kumar, Manoosingh, Dutta and Shayan Ahmed bowled 20 consecutive overs of spin from the 7th to the 26th over as five wickets fell in that time for only 51 runs.

Roshan Varadarajan put in a valiant effort coming in at number eight and top scored for the USA with 43 off 40 balls. While many of his teammates struggled and got tied down by the spinners of Canada, Varadarajan thrived on them. He routinely and confidently used his feet to get to the pitch of the ball, seemingly picking the length straight out of the bowler’s hand. He crushed three 4s and three 6s and took as much of the strike as possible while batting with the tail. But he started running out of partners and in due time he was forced to hit out, getting caught off Manoosingh by Dutta running in from the boundary to finish the match.

USA and Canada are both 1-1 with today’s result. Bermuda is also 1-1, producing a three-way tie at the halfway point of the tournament. Bermuda is back in action tomorrow as they look for revenge on USA after their devastating defeat by one run on Monday. Play is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. from Erskine Cricket Ground in Brooklyn.

Match report provided by USACA courtesy of Dreamcricket.com.

Official Scorecard

ICC Americas Northern Division U-15 Tournament – Canada vs. USA
Canada won by 34 runs
Canada won the toss and batted
Man of the Match: Nitesh Kumar

Canada Batting

Batsman Runs Balls 4s 6s Dismissal
N Kumar* 41 43 4 0 runout (Pradhan/Goel)
N Dutta 10 32 0 0 runout (Varadarajan/Singh)
Y Rao 0 4 0 0 LBW Ross
T Shaikh 6 12 0 0 runout (Nagaraja/Taylor+)
S Ahmed 6 24 0 0 ct Buch bowled Valluri
V Ratnayake 19 29 0 1 runout (Singh/Taylor+)
T Manoosingh 24 26 2 1 ct Taylor+ bowled Goel
J Sidhu 0 3 0 0 c & b Goel
S Rajasingam 26 38 2 0 not out
A Gillar 37 30 3 2 not out
Total Extras 20 (2 no balls, 1 bye, 1 leg bye, 16 wides)
Team Total 189 for 8 in 40 overs

Did not bat: A Ghosal+

Fall of wicket: 40/1 (Dutta), 50/2 (Rao), 65/3 (Kumar), 66/4 (Shaikh), 79/5 (Ahmed), 99/6 (Ratnayake), 100/7 (Sidhu), 120/8 (Manoosingh).

USA Bowling Overs-Maidens-Runs-Wickets
P Pradhan 4-0-23-0
A Buch 4-0-12-0
O Singh 4-0-31-0
A Nagaraja 1-0-6-0
T Ross 8-1-30-1
K Goel 8-3-20-2
V Valluri 3-0-10-1
R Patel 3-0-21-0
R Varadarajan 4-0-26-0
A Persaud 1-0-8-0

USA Batting

Batsman Runs Balls 4s 6s Dismissal
V Valluri 12 42 1 0 runout (Shaikh/Manoosingh)
A Buch 0 2 0 0 ct Ghosal+ bowled Ratnayake
S Taylor*+ 29 22 2 2 ct Rao bowled Kumar
T Ross 26 34 3 1 ct Ratnayake bowled Kumar
R Patel 1 4 0 0 bowled Ahmed
A Persaud 17 34 0 1 ct Manoosingh bowled Sidhu
K Goel 1 15 0 0 ct Ratnayake bowled Kumar
R Varadarajan 43 40 3 3 ct Dutta bowled Manoosingh
O Singh 0 3 0 0 bowled Ratnayake
A Nagaraja 6 16 0 0 st Ghosal+ bowled Manoosingh
P Pradhan 3 6 0 0 not out
Total Extras 17 (1 no ball, 0 byes, 1 leg bye, 15 wides)
Team Total 155 all out in 36.2 overs

Fall of wicket: 2/2 (Buch), 43/2 (Taylor), 61/3 (Valluri), 69/4 (Patel), 77/5 (Ross), 80/6 (Goel), 100/7 (Persaud), 109/8 (Singh), 142/9 (Nagaraja), 155/10 (Varadarajan).

Canada Bowling Overs-Maidens-Runs-Wickets
V Ratnayake 7-0-41-2
A Gillar 4-0-24-0
N Kumar 8-3-12-3
T Manoosingh 7.2-0-40-2
N Dutta 1-0-5-0
S Ahmed 5-1-14-1
J Sidhu 4-0-18-1

Canada crush Kenya in first one-day international -- Posted Wednesday, August 19 2009
A brilliant spell of bowling from Khurram Chohan dismissed the heart of the powerful batting line up that had made hay with the canadian bowling only days before, as Kenya slumped to 113 all out. Chohan took 4/26, and was well supported by Osinde, Baidwan and Cheema who each took two wickets. A typically aggressive innings from Cheema gave Canada a comprehensive win.

Canada won the toss and opted to field, hoping to take advantage of early movement from a slightly damp pitch. . The Canadian team was Rizwan Cheema, H Patel, S Jyoti, A Bagai*†, AM Samad, ZE Surkari, S Dhaniram, S Keshvani, Khurram Chohan, HS Baidwan, and H Osinde.

Osinde and Chohan started off with consecutive maidens, and Osinde made the first breakthrough in the 5th over, having Obuya lbw for 2. Chohan yorked Obanda in the next over, and two balls later bowled Tikolo - who had made 327 runs in the 4-day match - leaving Kenya reeling at 22/3. Waters, who had also made a big century in the 4-day match was next to go giving Chohan his 3rd wicket- all bowled; 26/4. The ball was moving off the seam, and in the air, and both opening bowlers were proving a handful. The fifth wicket went down on 37, when Chohan failed to hit the stumps- but only because the ball hit the pad first- Obuya lbw for 6, and Chohan 4/14. The first change of bowling brought immediate results as Baidwan won an lbw decision with his first ball, 6 wickets down for 48, all lbw or bowled. Baidwan hit the stumps again to dismiss Kamande, but Varaiya broke the sequence when he hit Cheema to mid-off for the 8th wicket (67/8). Odhiambo was dropped by Cheema, but when Osinde returned to the attack was bowled, after putting on 27 with Ouma (94/9). Ouma and Ongondo took the total past three figures before a fine catch by Bagai finished off the innings. Ouma remained unbeaten on 43, and the innings only lasted 33.1 overs.

Under 19 star Hiral Patel was sent out to open with Cheema and played out the first over without scoring. Cheema got off the mark from his first ball with a six smashed over mid-on, and followed that up with two more boundaries in the next over. A single took him to the other end, where the first two balls of the fourth over were deposited far over long on - 27 off 10 balls and the Kenyan total started to look less than adequate. Patel, perhaps trying to emulate his partner, tried to hit over mid-off and was caught- 39/1 in the 5th over. Cheema continued in his usual style and clubbed another four to reach 50 in just 24 balls- probably a Canadian record, based on CricInfo's list of fastest fifties. Canada failed in their attempt to win the match before the lunch break, going in at 73/1 off 10 overs, Cheema 56*. It took 6 more overs to pass the Kenyan total by which time Cheema had advanced to 76* from 38 balls, accompanied by Samad (30*). He finished the match with his fourth six.

Live coverage is provided by CricInfo (Scorecard) and CricketEurope Scorecard.

Bermuda beats Canada in Under 15 international -- Posted Wednesday, August 19 2009
In Tuesday's Under-15 international, Bermuda made 156 all out and then bowled out Canada for 84 runs at the Erskine Cricket Ground, Brooklyn, New York.

Bermuda had lost Monday's opening game of this ICC Americas U-15 Northern Region tournament with a tense 1 run loss to the USA.

Playing cricket can make you nicer: study (AFP) -- Posted Tuesday, August 18 2009
Cricket can make people better behaved and more cooperative, according to research in Britain published Tuesday, which might surprise fans following the current Ashes series (and those who read the Canada Cricket Online forum ed.).
The study from Loughborough University in central England looked at the impact of StreetChance, a scheme which encourages young people in tough inner city areas of London to play cricket.

It found that the game helped them to boost confidence, improve communication and negotiation skills and take responsibility for decision-making, as well as improving their maths and team work.

The StreetChance scheme has been running for a year and has involved around 7,000 young people. Report co-author Ruth Jeanes said it was having "positive benefits" and that the sessions had "motivated young people".

The final and deciding Test match in the Ashes series between England and Australia gets under way at London's Oval Thursday.

The Australians are traditionally renowned for their verbal aggression towards opposition batsmen, known as "sledging".

Recognition for Canadian Cricketers - forgotten awards -- Posted Tuesday, August 18 2009


While it is great that Cricket Canada is going to present a new trophy in honour of Ben Sennik, what about the trophies that have sat for years in neglect. If Cricket Canada fails to recognize the achievements of their own athletes, officials, administrators and volunteers, how can we expect the media and other institutions to recognize and support people from Canadian cricket.

The following are examples of neglected awards and trophies as listed in the Bylaws and Guidelines of the Cricket Canada website.

The Emu Award has not been handed out since 1998. This award recognizes significant contributions on or off the field by a person under 20 years of age. The award is to be made on an annual basis if there is a candidate of significant merit. Is it possible there is not a single person in Canada in the last 11 years that has made a significant contribution to the game?

The Lewis Gunn Trophy, for the most valuable player during a series of matches with a touring Canada Youth Team, has only been awarded once since 1999. What does this say about the future of Canadian cricket? Do we not have any outstanding young players worthy of this recognition?

The Donald King Memorial Junior Scholarship Award was awarded to TWO players in both 1998 and 1999. Yet from 2000 on, the award was not given to anyone. How does this fund support Canadian cricket if it is not awarded? Additionally, there are multiple spelling errors with regards to this award on the Cricket Canada website.

Speaking of spelling errors, this is the best one. The Jack Kyle Development Award is a "plague" to be kept by the recipient(s) for outstanding achievement in fostering the growth and development of cricket in Canada. Excluding Frederick Heather, who is to receive this award in 2009, it has not been awarded in 15 YEARS, when three individuals were selected and honoured in 1994. Hopefully the "plague" will get changed to plaque and interest in this award will resume.

If these awards have been made recently, then Cricket Canada should update their website and honour these individuals properly.

In closing, I hope the Ben Sennik Trophy does not suffer the same fate as the above awards. My goal in writing this article is to generate interest in these awards so they are once again handed out to the worthy individuals that make cricket great in Canada.



Chris Redford

Canada looks for win in ODI series with Kenya -- Posted Tuesday, August 18 2009
Speaking on Monday night, National Coach Pubudu Dassanayake admitted Kenya had outplayed Canada during the ICC Intercontinental Cup match, headed by some fine individual performances, but was upbeat and looking to his players to follow the example of Kenya’s 2006 tour of Canada. That summer, a Canadian side in which Dassanayake played won the Intercontinental Cup match at Maple Leaf CC, but Kenya struck back to take the ODI series 2-0 at Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club.

The first match in that series was Canada’s first ever home ODI match and Kenya’s extra experience as a team in playing ODI’s and matches against leading cricketing countries national teams and A teams proved a deciding factor. As was scoring runs under pressure, but the likes of Abdool Samad, who scored 87 in Canada’s second innings, will be hoping to ensure Canada posts good scores at Maple Leaf CC in the 2009 three ODI series that begins on Wednesday (10.30 am).

Acting Cricket Canada Ingleton Liburd will also be looking forward to saying “we won” than the “we lost” as he walked past me after Monday’s game with Kenya, that followed his answer about the starting time of the ODI’s.

In 2006, Canada was short of players with ODI experience. Something I felt was highlighted at CWC 2007 against Kenya when Geoff Barnett struck five fours in one over during the early going. Those 20 runs were more than the highest personal ODI score of most of the 13 player squad of Canadian-based players that went to South Africa for an Associates Tri-Series with the Netherlands and Bermuda.

“We won”, said Andy Pick with delight and relief after Canada beat Bermuda in Potchefstrom. A success repeated a few days later in Benoni. The two games with the Dutch might also have been won, but it didn’t quite happen. Sandeep Jyoti recently notched his first ODI century. He was going well in the opening game against the Dutch in Potchefstrom, but the transition from Canadian winter conditions to summer heat on the high veldt hit not just only Jyoti, who had to retire hurt but returned to bat later in the Canadian innings.

Sunil Dhaniram came through with the bat in that series, as did Ashish Bagai. What the Canadian players now need is for spectators to turn out in reasonable numbers for home games to add support. That could make all the difference.

It’s hard work behind the scenes

The players had been working hard at indoor nets at Qasra Sports before the 2006 South Africa tour. They showed fight, and battled back to post a good second innings total against the Dutch, after a notable first innings collapse around lunch time on the opening day.

I feel certain that Ingleton Liburd’s “we” means Canada and Canadian cricket as a whole, beyond the ‘we’ of the playing squad, coach and the small support team. I feel certain progress beyond the boundary can help Canadian cricket move forward.

In 2006, some of the Canadian players went back to their homes and work in between the IC Cup match with Kenya and the following weekend’s ODI games with Kenya. As a touring side, Kenya remained together, refocused and practiced. One or two of the Canadian squad returned on a Friday night to Toronto for a series that began next morning. This time, Canada remains together as a squad.

Surely a few more cricket fans in the GTA could find their way to the Maple Leaf grouns on Wednesday or Friday. The York Regional Transit bus 88 runs from Finch subway station in Toronto to the Seneca College King Campus, with a stop at the corner of Dufferin Street and 15th Sideroad.

The VIVA Blue express bus service runs up and down Yonge Street between Finch Subway station and Newmarket GO Terminal. It stops at the intersection with Bloomington Road (on request) and the YRT number 22 bus can be used for the phase of the journey along Bloomington Road, that becomes 15th Sideroad, to the stop at the intersection with Dufferin Street.

Now when it comes to Sunday transit…..especially early morning…..it is a tougher trip that few would opt to try. The VIVA Blue service doesn’t have an early start, so a real enthusiast could advance up Yonge Street using a YRT Yonge Street South service to Bernard Terminal, Elgin Mills, then wait for the YRT Yonge North service that goes up to Newmarket from Elgin Mills.

The stretch from Yonge St to Dufferin St is a walk, a run, or a much earlier planning decision that it might be too hard for some folks to attempt. Hopefully something can be done for future years home international Sunday cricket at Maple Leaf CC, or even to allow people to reach Toronto and District Elite Sunday regular season and playoff games at that ground.

It is certainly possible to get to the ground by bus from Monday thru Saturday. See you there? Or is it, see you there! But bring a hat, put on your sunscreen, and probably bring a folding chair. It’s been pretty hot and there are not too many places to hide from the sun.

The players, coaches and support team have to work hard behind the scenes and show great commitment to the cause of Canadian cricket. It would be great to see more spectators at the ground. It could make a big difference. There is a niche of Kenyan supporters who turned out in 2006, particularly for the ODIs. In soccer, Canada sometimes plays internationals in front of a ‘home crowd’ with more people supporting the visiting team. Surely we can find more Canadian supporters at the ground than Kenyan fans for this ODI series?


Eddie Norfolk

Young Associates vie for remaining places in ICC U19 Cricket World Cup (ICC) -- Posted Monday, August 17 2009

Squads and final schedule confirmed as six spots on offer at global qualifier

The final step on the road to qualification for the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup will be taken next month as the global qualifying event takes place in Canada from 1 to 13 September.

This intensive 10-team event involves each side playing nine matches in 13 days with the top six making it through to the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2010 which will take place in New Zealand from 16 to 30 January.

In all there will be six grounds used in and around Toronto with Maple Leaf Cricket Club in King City providing four of them. The other venues being used are Malton and Sunnybrook with five matches taking place in total per day.

Of course, the 10 hopeful teams have already enjoyed some success having made it through their respective regional qualifiers earlier in the year. The competing teams are: Afghanistan, Hong Kong (Asia), Canada, USA (Americas), Ireland, Netherlands (Europe), Sierra Leone, Uganda (Africa), Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu (East Asia-Pacific).

“The fact we now have regional and global qualifying stages for this event shows how much cricket is developing at age-group level around the world,” said David Richardson, ICC General Manager – Cricket.

“This is a great opportunity for these young players to experience tournament cricket and pitch their skills against teams from other parts of the world and against styles of play that they might not be familiar with.

“The ICC U19 Cricket World Cup has traditionally been a stepping stone for the world’s top players and I expect this year’s event to be no different. There has also been success for some of the Associate teams against Full Members so it will be interesting to see who emerges from the global qualifier to claim their places in New Zealand,” said Mr Richardson.

The full match schedule is attached.

The event website goes live tomorrow (Tuesday) at www.iccevents.yahoo.com. On the site during the tournament there will be regular score updates from around the grounds.

The 10 squads are:

AFGHANISTAN: Shir Mohammad Shirzai (captain), Noor ul Haq Malekzai, Mahbob Shah Ayan Aminzai, Zard Ali, Iqbal Maliki, Ayoub Ahmadzai, Ayoub Khan, Asgar Hussain Hotak, Khoshal Rasuli, Aimal Wafa, Afsar Zazai, Zakiullah Zaki, Izatullah Dawlatzai, Jawid Ahmadi.

CANADA: Rustum Bhatti (captain), Hiral Patel, Usman Limbada, Riyazkhan Pathan, Darius D’Souza, Arsalan Qadir, Asif Manjira, Abishek Krishnamoorthy, Ruvindhu Gunasekara, Nitesh Kumar, Hamza Tariq, Zain Mahmood, Maninder Jill Singh Aulakh, Hardik Kotak.

HONG KONG: James Atkinson (captain), Irfan Ahmed, Niaz Ali, Mohammad Aizaz Khan, Zuiad Khan, Ashish Gadhia, Aditya Kanthan, Nizakat Khan Mohammad, Waqas Barkat, Shivang Baid, Vikash Vaswani Vinod Gope, Gurjant Singh, Asif Khan, Shakeel.

IRELAND: Andrew Balbirnie (captain), Ben Ackland, Adrian D’Arcy, George Dockrell, Shane Getkate, Graeme McCarter, Graham McDonnell, Lee Nelson, Stuart Poynter, Eddie Richardson, James Shannon, Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson, Craig Young.

NETHERLANDS: Alexei Kervezee (captain), Floris Kingma, Timothy Gruijters, Quirijn Gunning, Lucas Brouwers, Philip van den Brandeler, Paul van Meekeren, Okke Olivier Klaus, Ferdi Vink, Vinoo Baldewpersad Tewarie, Gagandeep Singh, Thomas Sebastiaan Braat, Dennis Coster, Tobias Visee.

PNG: Tony Pala Ura (captain), Vagi Oala, Charles Amini, John Boge Reva, Steven Eno, Raymond Charles Haoda, Rogeauka Benjamin Roge, Jonathan Diho, Heni Siaka, Jason Kila, Mea Daniel Ao, Lega Tau, Sese Bau, Toua Tom.

SIERRA LEONE: Abubakar Kamara (captain), Ibrahim Kamara, Ibrahim Mansaray, Emmanuel Pessima, Jacob Mansaray, Balowa Mansaray, Mohamed Alie Bangura, Ibrahim Kabia, Julius Quee, Bami Williams, Osman Kamara, Edward Marrah, Brima Ansumana, Musa Ganda.

UGANDA: Ahmed Yakub (captain), Daniel Batuwa, Hamu Kayondo Bagenda, Andrew Ochan, Emmanuel Nakana, Dennis Tabby, Ahmad Sangau, Moses Okwera, Geoffrey Nyero, Henry Ssenyondo, Brian Masaba, Abraham Oduch, Suliman Abdul Hamid, Deusdedit Muhumuza.

USA: Shiva Vashishat (captain), Abhijit Joshi, Muhammad Asad Ghous, Saami Muneeb Siddiqui, Salman Rashid Ahmad, Henry Wardley, Naseer Jamali, Regis Burton, Azurdeen Mohammed, Ryan Corns, Talha Zamir, Yash Dipak Shah, Kavishwar Bridgepaul, Hammad Shahid.

VANUATU: Simpson Obed (captain), MacDonald Obed, Karl Laau, Trevor Langa, Patrick Matautaava, Tommy Tastuki, Jelany Chilia, Lazaro Carlot, Nalin Nipiko, Samson Worford Kalworai, Niko Unavalu, Steven Lynch, Kendy Kenneth, Kenny Tari.

Kenya swamps Canada in Intercontinental Cup -- Posted Monday, August 17 2009


ICC Intercontinental Cup : (4-day match played at Maple Leaf CC, King City, Ontario from August 14 thru 17)

Kenya 317 all out (86.1 overs; Steve Tikolo 158; Henry Osinde 3 wickets for 28) and 362 for 3 wickets declared (85 overs; Steve Tikolo 169, Seren Waters 157 not out)

Canada 234 all out (92.4 overs; Zameer Zahir 57) and 198 all out (65.3 overs; Abdool Samad 87, Hiren Varaiya 6 wickets for 45)

Result: Kenya (20 points) beat Canada (0 points) by 247 runs.

Kenya swamps Canada in Intercontinental Cup

Kenya completed a comprehensive 247 run win over Canada thanks to some “excellent individual performances”, as Man-of-the-Match Steve Tikolo said after the game. Tikolo, who lead the way with individual scores of 158 and 169 runs, mentioned his own efforts plus those by Seren Waters (157 not out in the Kenyan second innings) and slow-left arm bowler Hiren Varaiya (6 wickets for 45 runs in Canada’s second innings). “Winning is good for us, coming from the wrong end of a losing draw with Ireland,” said Tikolo.

Canada went into the final day of this ICC Intercontinental Cup match on 61 for 2 wickets, needing to score 345 more runs to win. A daunting task, and one that soon deepened as Zameer Zahir was bowled for 1 by Thomas Odoyo and Varaiya removed Canadian captain Ashish Bagai and 15-year old Nitesh Kumar in consecutive balls to make it 63 for 5 wickets. Neither Bagai nor Kumar scored a run.

There were some brief stands, based around opening bat Abdool Samad’s eventual 87, but the lights went out on Canada’s efforts as some thunder and some gusting winds culminated in a flash of lightning just as David Obuya held a slick catch last batsman Henry Osinde to complete Varaiya’s 6 wicket haul.

Canada and Kenya meet again on Wednesday at Maple Leaf CC in the first of three ODI matches. Tikolo remarked “This will be a tough series, but we have got the momentum.”

Canada has just one day to re-focus after this defeat. A real disappointment after an historic 25 run win over Kenya in this competition in summer 2006.

Eddie Norfolk

Canada slump to defeat in IC match -- Posted Monday, August 17 2009
Canada started the final day with two wickets down, and a full day of play to survive for a draw- unless rain intervened. With the forecast changed from rain to late afternoon showers, and no sign of precipitation on the radar, that proved a forlorn hope, as the spin of Varaiya resulted in a comprehensive defeat with a good part of the day remaining.

Zahir was unable to repeat his first-innings heroics, being bowled off an inside edge in the second over of the day. Canada's hopes of at least putting up a fight were dealt a body-blow in the next over as Varaiya bowled Bagai and had Nitish Kumar caught first ball - both for ducks. Canada were 63/5, and Varaiya had taken 3 for 3. Samad, the one bright spot in Canada's second innings, reached his fifty with his 11th boundary. Dhaniram contributed 24 before a bat-pad catch gave Varaiya his fourth wicket. Hansra avoided a pair on debut with a single off his first ball, and struck a couple of nice boundaries. He made 17 before being bowled by a ball that kept low - 146/7. At lunch Canada were 157/7, with Samad on 83, and Bhatti yet to score.

Samad added just four more after lunch, when he seemed unfortunate to be given out lbw; he had batted over three hours for his 87 runs, with seventeen boundaries. Varaiya then took the final two wickets to return the impressive figures of 20.3 9 45 6, and Kenya won by 246 runs. Canada in their two innings had managed to outscore Tikolo who made 327 in the match by over 100, but overall were outclassed.


Live coverage is provided by CricInfo (Scorecard) and CricketEurope Scorecard.

Canada Under 15 squad- opinion piece - Eddie Norfolk -- Posted Monday, August 17 2009
The Canadian Under-15 Squad for the ICC America’s Northern Division Championship in New York City being played from August 17 thru August 22, 2009 comprises: Nitesh Kumar (Captain); Trevor Manoosingh (Vice-Captain); Shayan Ahmed; Nikhil Dutta; Ajay Ghosal; Amanpal Gillar; Michael Jansz; Stephan Rajasingham; Vidura Ratnayake; Talha Shaikh; Vasu Shah; Jeevan Sidhu; Minhaz Uddin; and Hassan Syed Yahya.

Tournament Schedule:

August 17 - Bermuda v USA
August 18 – Canada v Bermuda
August 19 – USA v Canada
August 20 – Bermuda v USA
August 21 – Canada v Bermuda
August 22 – Canada v USA

Who, what, where and when? (Or does it matter?)

The above information is as posted on the Cricket Canada website with a date of August 13, 2009. However, I ended up, by a certain amount of accident, at the Under-15’s practice session that night due to being at Toronto’s Ross Lord Park. The team had yet to be confirmed, and some of the parents also wanted to know details of where the ground is in New York City. I followed up with Cricket Canada and obtained an acknowledgement, but we still seem to be short of the details of the ground.

It is, of course, equally fascinating, how Canadian teams are just lists of names with no information on batting, bowling or specialist fielding abilities, main club and league where each player appears (or even provincial representative honours), or any background info, including the city or town where each player currently lives. This type of information is standard in how many other sports in Canada name their squads.

But, the official web site does have pretty flags against each country in its version of the schedule. However, without the proper structure and thinking, pretty logos and buzz words do not of themselves guarantee success. I once attended a grand champagne reception when an information technology group was being re-branded. All I said to the senior person sitting next to me was “but where’s the change in management thinking to make this name change into a realistic better operation.”

Well, it proved to be missing. Sadly, rather like the missing infrastructure (indoors and outdoors) that is needed to move Canadian cricket forward.

In the August 13 issue of “South Asian Generation Next” is an article titled “Canadian Cricket Finally Moving in the Right Direction.” Reading between the lines you realize there are still quite a few things to be sorted out. The other missing piece is that there is no mention of either the current Canada- Kenya series of matches, nor the ICC World Cup Qualifying event to be held between September 1 and 13 in the Greater Toronto Area.

It was notable how there was no signage around the ground for Cricket Canada’s national sponsor with the deepest potential pocket, Scotiabank, during the current ICC Intercontinental Cup match. But Scotiabank - and RBC who are also trying to put some money into cricket development - have picked up some publicity in the current round of ethnic newspapers (and doubtless on related websites). Both banks had teams in a recent Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce cricket tournament in Brampton, Ontario.

Infrastructure Needs for cricket development

This coming week, one source indicates a meeting is taking place about the future of cricket, and presumably the cricket playing infrastructure, in Brampton. “The Flower City’. Well, several of the grounds in Brampton have been rapidly put together, often an artificial wicket in between two soccer fields, in order to cater for a rapidly expanding population. You might not want to play soccer on some of the grounds, as someone told me recently, but it is a matter of putting together proper plans to develop facilities, working out the required financial costs, and obtaining proper funding. And if funds come in, then there needs to be proper recognition of such support.

One of the leading lights of Canadian cricket arrived during Nitesh Kumar’s innings against Kenya on Saturday, but did not seem to stop and take a good look. Some of the elected folks in Canadian cricket are quite good at sitting around, but lack the skills to move Canadian cricket forward with any substance. How many of them could write a proper business case that might be attractive to serious sponsorship interest.

Of course, with Canada in a sticky position against Kenya going into Monday’s play, there might be a few hangers on turning up to press for their specific hero or friend to be included in the Canadian national team.

It is not a laughing matter that the grass wickets at Ross Lord have been killed off. It is not funny that outfields are bad at many grounds across the country or that most players play on some rather horrible artificial surfaces, some of which are slow or even dangerous. The change of name to Cricket Canada, and a new logo, has so far been pretty meaningless. Very little has changed in reality. Opportunities are being missed all over the place. But, by heck, there is a pile of relatively useless information and advice that some of the leading lights (in their own minds) provide to people who know a ton more about cricket, sport, business and finance than those who are offering the advice.

I might have played to a bigger voluntary audience on Sunday morning than there were for day three of Canada v Kenya in the Intercontinental Cup. Yet in 2006 there were going to be up to 10,000 per day, according to a leading CCA official, for the IC Cup match between Canada and Kenya. So the game could not go ahead at Toronto’s Sunnybrook Park. It was switched to Maple Leaf CC, and we were generally about 9,700 short of the target crowd according to an independent source.

The game of cricket is played on the pitch and outfield. It’s about ‘what happens at the white line’ as someone said on Saturday. A couple of discussions I have had this week have revolved around the issue that there are needs for some of the dinners, and events away from the cricket pitch that should be used to attract people to want to see Canadian cricket, then put money into it. But what attractiveness was there in being at the first couple of days of Canada-Kenya. What would make people want to come back to see a future match involving Canada?

Unchanged issues on the field after 150 years

This is the 150th Anniversary of the first overseas tour by English Professionals. The team played its first overseas game in Montreal and also played in Hamilton, Ontario. The advice on the need to improve outfields, and the need to focus on better line and length rather than bowling too fast remain a need in Canadian cricket in 2009.

It might stun some of the know-it-alls that around 4am on Tuesday, I noticed that Canada’s national coach was alive and kicking on the internet, as was the team manager. A lot of work is put in by far too few people behind the scenes. I did some preparation at Maple Leaf CC on Thursday morning.



It might be more productive to focus on plans for improving cricketing infrastructure, including at Maple Leaf CC. Given some of the damage done to the drainage as a result of the Al Barakah T20 tournament, it is amazing how some of those who have passed by the ground on Friday and Saturday had the nerve to do so.

It just underlines how little they understand about cricket, cricket facilities or a host of social issues of the day, including people and communications. They certainly know little or nothing about development or marketing. It’s time for a major change. Time to think and speak via the brain, not through the backside.

To return to the latest Canada Under-15 squad. We have some names, most of which are not household names (believe it or not), we do not have a specific ground location nor any starting time for play. Which means anyone interested in Canadian cricket who is based in the New York City area would struggle to know how to go and support Canada’s young cricketers.

It’s a disgrace. A systematic disgrace. The theory is that welcoming evenings – bonding sessions, no less – are staged during Annual General Meetings of the CCA/Cricket Canada. When was the last one of those evening gatherings that bring in the local cricketing community actually held? But it remains in the Bylaws and Guidelines. As does quite a lot of useful ideas and requirements that are not being met.

Which might beg a question, or two over, about the validity of election of various CCA/Cricket Canada officials.

The lack of information in national team lists tends to result in limited pre-event publicity for Canadian cricket. But what would I know about that, compared with certain others?

A heck of a lot more than most.

Last year, I became a key volunteer publicity person for the CLICO Under-15 Championship, staged in the West Indies. All due to trying to obtain a copy of the scorecard in mid-game after the West Indies had batted against Malaysia. Cricket Canada did not even seem to bother publicizing the activities of its own players in that tournament.

Other people do the work. What a lousy philosophy.


Some people are still trying to build a Canadian cricket culture. Others....just do not get it. Some major education is needed.

Twin 150s for Tikolo as Kenya in total control on Day 3 -- Posted Sunday, August 16 2009
Canada needed early wicket to stand a chance of pegging Kenya back on the 3rd day of the Intercontinental Cup match at Maple Leaf CC. Osinde made the breakthrough when Cheema had trouble holding an edge at slip, but Bagai was on hand to snag the rebound. Bhatti had Obanda caught in the next over and Canada were in with a chance at 32/2. That however was a false dawn as the 38 year-old Steve Tikolo and the 19 year old Seren Walters put together a huge partnership. Tikolo was the first to his hundred (his 10th in first class cricket) with a cut for four, and his young partner completed his maiden first-class hundred with a lofted drive through mid-on's hands. Tikolo opened up, and attained his second 150 of the match; the lead extended past 400 and the partnership to nearly 300, leaving Canada with little more than a draw to play for. The partnership reached 330 before Tikolo holed out at long-on - he mad made 169, Waters 157*. Kenya declared, setting Canada 446.

Samad opened with Cheema this time around, but Cheema failed again, lbw to a big inswinger with the score on 14. Jyoti came in and with Samad batted positively to take Canada past 50 with no further loss. Jyoti made 19 before being bowled and at the close Canada were 61/2, Samad on 37, and Zahir 0. Tomorrow's forecast is for ran later in the day, so Canada may yet escape defeat, despite being comprehensively outplayed.

Live coverage is provided by CricInfo (scorecard) and CricketEuropeScorecard.

Canada-Kenya 2nd day report from Eddie Norfolk -- Posted Sunday, August 16 2009
Kenya on top after two days at Maple Leaf

Toronto’s fifteen year old Nitish Kumar showed his pedigree in a 85 ball innings that produced 7 runs on a day when Canada’s night watchman proved top scorer but Kenya took an 83 run first innings and survived the day without losing a second innings wicket. It was a nearly day for Canada, which will keep some folks content, but in reality it could be tough for the home side to battle back. But resilience is part of the package if you want to play cricket in the land of the Maple Leaf, and it was another hot stove day out on the field on Saturday.

The cabaret continued off the field as the day wore on, but, following a minute’s silence before play began, there was the occasional announcement. However this was due to the wind wafting bits of news of whatever event was taking place at the nearby Seneca College King campus. I gather that the Canadian Under-15 squad to travel by bus to New York City today (Sunday) for an ICC Americas tournament has been named on the official Cricket Canada website. Video highlights from day one of the match with Kenya might also be there. But why has it taken since 2006 to take a relatively minor step, given the technology passed on by the ICC, to achieve what it is barely appropriate to call progress?

For an hour or so on day 1, two cameras in line with the popping creases were in action. A third camera could have been hoisted to a position directly looking down the pitch from the 15th Sideroad end, but it stayed next to the sightscreen at an angle. Now putting in power cables and linking the pictures from all cameras onto a central screen for the home viewer and the match referee would have been progress. Cricket Canada’s progress was more like days when the sun comes out from behind dark clouds at 5pm, or even later.

But with Malton CC playing Yorkshire CC on the adjacent south-east ground on Saturday, one of the ‘popping crease’ cameras stayed unused. Perhaps it might return to use on Monday, or even for the three ODIs on the north-west pitch that follow the current Intercontinental Cup match. At least the current leadership of the Maple Leaf ground has added internet connectivity in the last couple of weeks. Hopefully some of the progressive ideas discussed recently will occur over the winter.


I wonder if some of the parade of cricketing administrative visitors to the ground over the last couple of days noticed the lack of signage around the ground for the national sponsor with the deepest pockets? Or, indeed, the damage at the southern end of the ground caused by allowing cars to enter at that end on wet ground during last year’s Al Barakah T20 Canadian Thanksgiving tournament?

The boundary at the southern end had to be brought in due to the damp and muddy ground. But I feel confident the ground authorities will re-seed the damaged area before the onset of winter. Repairs to damaged drainage would depend on the availability of funds, as would enhancements to the pavilion buildings that could remove some of the needs to hire various bits and bobs each time there is a feature game at the ground.

Saturday was really quite an interesting day’s play. Solid resistance started to take Canada towards a much better position, a ball that lifted and took a wicket just as lunch approached reversed the trend and brought questions of whether other balls might turn or lift. Sandeep Jyoti was going well, but fell for 39. In cricket, just the once mistake or piece of misfortune can end an innings. Not this three strikes and your out concept of baseball. Ashish Bagai was looking good, but was lured into a drive by a veteran offspinner.

But if England’s leading batsmen need more time in the middle – or even a chance to workout if the current game is T20, a 50 over ODI, a 5-day game or even to work out where the game is taking place in the never ending rounders of the modern international game – then someone who has had limited time to play cricket due to work commitments knows he could do with more innings against decent bowling attacks.

After Bagai’s dismissal came a call for a quick single that saw the end of Zaheer’s fine innings. This might have gone to a review, if there was a proper setup in place, and if there was appropriate training for umpires in using such facilities. But, it was, in playing terms, one of the unfortunately usual aspects of Canadian international cricket that sees people paired together in the middle who might not have batted together very often, if at all, in the past.

At one level, Zaheer had more than done his job as a nightwatchman arriving at the crease in a crisis. He scored 57 runs from 131 balls, and had been opening out with some fine shots, including a beautifully struck six to the pavilion end. He, and some of the inner sanctum present to see this innings, might be wondering if this was a chance to have registered a first class century.

Sunil Dhaniram was going well and looking confident. Possibly too well, and after a fine boundary shot, went for a drive and was neatly caught at second slip by Steve Tikolo. But it was interesting to see him and Nitesh Kumar together in the middle. The top and tail of the ages in the Canadian team. The Kenyans tried to put pressure on young Nitesh, but he remained calm and showed his technique and ability to create time to play his shots before edging a ball from Peter Ongondo to Kenya wicketkeeper/captain Morris Ouma.

Nitesh made 7 more than Graham Gooch did in two test innings on his debut for England, but struck three less boundaries than a young Gooch did on his debut for Essex during the last half hour of a championship match at Westcliff against Northants.

Khurram Chohan and Umar Bhatti also joined the ranks of those who were going well with the bat. Chohan fell for 31 runs from 39 balls, and Bhatti was last out with the total on 234. His opening bowling partner, Henry Osinde, battled it out with the bat for a while and was 3 not out when the innings ended.

Osinde then bowled with hostility and good concentration in the dying overs of the day. He had one of the batsman moving across to meet a consistent line of bowling around the offstump. Leaving potential for a yorker on the leg peg that, perhaps, might see the timber flying early on Sunday. Canada certainly needs some early wickets to get back in the game.

Cricket is an amazing game. Perhaps someone at the helm should try to attract people to come and watch the national team play, sometime soon. Or even find some money to buy some netting for use in pre-match warm-up exercises. An old sightscreen was used as a backdrop for one pre-game batting exercise. One ball went through a small gap – one upright plank was missing – but fortunately it went through low enough not to go onto the road and hit a passing car.

Kenya on top after Day 2 -- Posted Saturday, August 15 2009
Canada faced a tough task on the 2nd day of the Intercontinental Cup match against Kenya as they had already lost 2 wickets in their attempt to overtake Kenya's first-innings total of 317. A half century from night watchman Zahir and a contribution from the lower order allowed them to reach 234, but still conceding a substantial first innings lead.

The start was delayed for an hour due to a damp outfield. The overnight bats Jyoti and nightwatchman Zahir made a promising start, with Zahir taking two boundaries from Odoyo, one guided through the slips, the second smashed through the covers. They brought up the 50 in the 19th over. Odhiambo received a formal warning for following-through on the pitch. /they ut on 66 before Jyoti was caught at silly-point for a patient 39. It looked like a successful morning for the Canadians as Samad and Zahir saw out the remaining overs to lunch- until Tikolo had Samad well caught at slip with only 1 ball remaining - 81/4 at lunch.

Bagai joined Zahir after the break and they took Canada into three figures in the 40th over- slow going but understandable in the circumstances. Bagai made 13 before giving an easy catch to mid-on off Tikolo- whose bowling was proving nearly as effective as his batting. Shortly afterwards Zahir reached an invaluable maiden first-class fifty (off 120 balls) by lifting a six over long-on. He hit another lofted drive for four, but then failed to gain his ground when Dhaniram called him for a quick single - he had made 57 and Canada were 128/6. This brought in 15 year old Nitish Kumar to play his first senior international innings in partnership with Sunil Dhaniram- 25 years his senior! Dhaniram chose an aggressive approach, hitting four boundaries but then perished for 22, trying for a fifth. Kumar was looking confident, and was receiving strong support from the crowd. At tea Canada were 180/7.

Kumar hasd trouble scoring but lasted 83 balls before edging a catch to the keeper- he made 12. Bhatti (30) and Chohan (31) both made useful contributions. Kenya were perhaps fortunate to bat out 7 overs without losing a wicket.

Perhaps the play is being enjoyed by a few more spectators today- yesterday's play was watched by less than 20- as one correspondent wrote
" I had thought that there might be more attention at home, but when the coach and the match referee man the scoreboard and spectators can chat with the scorers and umpires to find out what is going on - or check with cricinfo on their blackberries, which is what I did - this is cricket still in its infancy. Hopefully, cricket in Canada will catch on more - but it was nice to relax in the sun and hear the bat on ball and the player's chatter without all sorts of other interruptions. Cricket as it used to be on the village green - but with international quality!"

Live coverage is provided by CricInfo (scorecard) and CricketEuropeScorecard.

Tikolo stars with bat (Eddie Norfolk) -- Posted Saturday, August 15 2009
Tikolo stars with bat;
but little change off the field for a Canadian international bread and butter match.

The winds of change might be blowing within Canadian cricket with some central player contracts, but there was little change in the normal way of hosting the senior national men’s team cricketing bread-and-butter business. A silent movie played out, without periodic subtitles or short passages of on-screen text, between Canada and Kenya on Friday. Not a single announcement and it seems the attempt to produce photocopies of the two nominated squads was also unsuccessful. Most of the sounds came from the players.

Insiders knew that Kenya won the toss and elected to bat, but realization and word got out that the Kenyan batsman who later reached a century and kept on going was Steve Tikolo. His efforts saw Kenya to a total of 317 all out after two early successes for Canada saw the visitors with 2 out and just 27 on the board. Canada then lost two wickets in seeing out the last six overs of the day. Hardly what the coach would have wanted, but it kept the Kenyans bubbling on what proved a hot day with precious little cover.

Good start for Canada, but Tikolo takes control

Canada began well as Umar Bhatti trapped David Obuya for 2 and Rizwan Cheema caught Seren Waters off Henry Osinde’s bowling for 10. Alex Obanda was then joined by Tikolo and the score began to increase. But with 80 on the board, Obanda was bowled by leg-spinner Zameer Zahir for 36.

Obanda’s departure brought Kenyan captain Morris Ouma to the crease. There were some oohs and some unsuccessful appeals, but progressively the tide turned as sensible batting brought a stand of 119 runs. Slow-left armer Sunil Dhaniram removed Ouma, lbw for 28. Dhaniram soon had the potentially dangerous Collins Obuya caught at the wicket by Canadian captain Ashish Bagai. Half the visitors were out for 208.

Thomas Odoyo scored 19, including a six into the crops growing in the farmer’s field south of 15th Sideroad. But Odoyo did not stick around long, which was good for Canada. This brought in Jimmy Kamande who made 28 in a stand of 47, with Tikolo, for the seventh wicket. Kamande became Jimmy Hansra’s first wicket at this level of cricket.

Tikolo is one of the best players outside the test playing nations. What a pity that so few people were present to witness his efforts, and those of the bowlers who at times poised questions that Tikolo mostly answered in thwarting good deliveries. He moved to his century by steering the ball behind square on the offside for a boundary. He waved to the Kenyan players, and returned to focus on scoring more runs.

Soon after reaching 150, he edged a ball to Bagai off Osinde and a classy, 194 ball innings came to an end for 158. He stroked his way to 22 boundaries. Many going safely along the ground, rather than sailing into the air like pop flies or home run attempts.

Kenya’s innings was ended by a low slip catch taken by Sandeep Jyoti that ended Hiren Varaiya’s efforts. Varaiya made 11 and Kenya was all out for 317. Henry Osinde claimed 3 wickets for 28 runs from 12.1 overs. Sunil Dhaniram took 2 wickets for 42 from 12 overs, with Khurram Chohan being the workhorse on the bowling front with 1 wicket for 73 from 20 overs.

Hansra’s success with a wicket from his only over, was not repeated when he opened the batting for Canada. He was caught at slip by Tikolo off Odoyo for a duck. Odoyo then circled in the covers to hold a well judged catch that saw Cheema out for just 6. Zameer Zahir came in as night watchman, and saw out the final over. The Kenyan opening bowlers now have a night of rest and will be refreshed on Saturday morning when play resumes. The pace bowlers will be fired up, and the slips will be keen to seize whatever chance comes their way.

Canada’s experienced batsmen will need to battle to secure a first innings lead, and seek an outright victory over the four days. Fifteen year old Nitesh Kumar made his debut at senior level for Canada in this match. Coach Pubudu Dassanayake was seen at one point updating the scoreboard. A move which fans at the southern end of the ground appreciated.

A tremendous amount of work had been put in by the groundstaff at Maple Leaf CC to get this match going, following a heavy storm in the King City area.

Bagai on board - signs contract (CricInfo) -- Posted Friday, August 14 2009


It is the bane of ICC Associate cricket that for various reasons countries often struggle to field their best eleven players. Canada has suffered from this malaise for years. Some of its best players used to be oceans away, in Australia, New Zealand and England, only sporadically coming together to play if the cricket on offer was important or attractive enough to justify taking time off from the concerns of earning a livelihood. That still remains the case for some, but significantly, Canada has managed to entice its captain into signing a contract from now through to the 2011 World Cup. Ashish Bagai is finally home and he couldn't be happier. "This is a dream come true to finally be able to play cricket for a living. It's something I've wanted for as long as I can remember".

Bagai began playing the game as a child while in school in India. At age 11 he moved to Canada with his family, and by the time he was 15 he was playing representative cricket in Canada. He duly made it to the under-19 team before graduating to the senior side. His debut ODI remains his favourite match - Canada's upset win over Bangladesh in the 2003 World Cup.

While still in university, Bagai continued to play for Canada, but sometimes his studies prevented him from participating in overseas tournaments, a trend that continued when he began work in the banking industry after graduation. While Bagai was happy with his job, he was disappointed at missing important tournaments like the 2005 World Cup Qualifiers and, most recently, the four-nation Twenty20 tournament that Canada hosted last year. It is an uncomfortable choice, which most players on the team have had to make from time to time - balancing the demands of earning a living while trying to play cricket at a high level.

For Bagai, being pulled in two different directions was no longer acceptable and a decision had to be made between choosing to devote himself to his banking career in the UK or focusing on cricket in Canada. His parents helped, reviewing the pros and cons of his options, and Bagai appears satisfied that cricket won out. "I enjoyed my career at UBS in London and was doing relatively well. It is difficult to give that up, but I'm taking a chance on something that hasn't been tried before. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to start the era of professionalising cricket in Canada and building a team that can have an impact at the World Cup."

Though Canadian cricket has become accustomed to life with only fleeting glimpses of Bagai, his worth to the team is immense. A versatile wicketkeeper-batsman, and still only 27 years old, he has scored more ODI runs for Canada than anyone else. He makes the team for his glovework alone, freeing up a spot for an additional batsman, which every Associate team desires due to long tails and a shortage of allrounders.

At the moment, considering he is available year-round, and with a view to the 2011 World Cup, it is difficult to imagine anyone other than Bagai leading Canada. Intelligent and thoughtful, with a good sense of the frailties of the local cricket scene, he is the country's most experienced international. A product of the system rather than an overseas import, he can relate to the newer players as well as he can to the more experienced campaigners like the former captain Sunil Dhaniram.

Cricket Canada is over the moon to finally have a commitment from their captain. Six players had already signed contracts by the end of June, but a deal with Bagai was not formalised until August 1 due to compensation issues. It is clear that Cricket Canada is relieved to have not lost Bagai to his career outside cricket. While all concerned are loath to discuss the financial aspects of the contracts, there is no doubt that Bagai's banking career was a more lucrative proposition than playing cricket in Canada. He is philosophical, though: "Years ago I had promised myself that if the opportunity ever came up to play cricket for a living, I would take it. That opportunity has arrived."

In Canada there is little understanding of what it really means for national cricketers to have signed contracts. The game does not make money. There is no television revenue or income from gate receipts. Sponsorship is still nascent and the bulk of the funding continues to come from the ICC. For other streams of revenue to emerge, Canada has to become a better team and a more attractive commodity for sponsors. Having a core group of players and a settled captain to work with will go some way in achieving that, by building a team rather than a ragtag collection of players.

Bagai has admitted there have been times in the past when he has gone into tournaments without having met some of his players. Though he downplays the impact of such uncertainty, the results on the field have sometimes been gruesome, with unsure body language and no team chemistry. Thirty-odd players took the field for Canada last year, which, coupled with the constant captaincy changes made the side look decidedly amateurish. National team coach Pubudu Dassanayake in an interview to Cricinfo, expressed his own frustrations that came from not having a set group of players at his disposal. With Bagai and the likes of Rizwan Cheema and Dhaniram sewn up, there is now reason for optimism where consistency is concerned.

Lack of consistent cricket because of work commitments meant that Bagai himself was often rusty when he would join the team after months away. He's now looking forward to better days with the bat. "My purple-patch was during the World Cricket League in Kenya in 2007 (Bagai was the Man of the Tournament, scoring 345 runs at 86.25), and that only came as a result of spending six months in South Africa at the academy, focused on cricket. I feel that I have more to offer than what I've been doing for the past couple of years. That's why I've come back to cricket full-time."

Bagai however is clear that being a contracted player does not guarantee selection for anyone, including himself. And while representing his country remains uppermost in all his talk about what the contracts mean to him, the former investment banker is not naïve about the financial incentives. "As a captain, I wanted to see match fees given more weight in the contracts. It places real importance on every player getting fit and ready for every game, otherwise they won't get picked or paid. It means players taking care of themselves. It ensures that players are working towards playing games for Canada and doing well for Canada."

The road to the game becoming professional in Canada is a long one, but the first steps have been taken. Importantly, the right man is leading the way.

International cricketers to come to Toronto (South Asia Focus)? -- Posted Friday, August 14 2009
Cricketfest at Diwali Mahautsav
Wednesday August 12 2009
By NOUMAN KHALIL

This year's mega Diwali festival is set to break previous records of longest non-stop celebratory programs.
Attracting more than 100,000 visitors in just two days Diwali, the Festival of Lights, will be a compact of multi-dimensional celebration at the prestigious Rogers Centre, Toronto.

Launching the official Mahaustav campaign in Mississauga last week, the organizers announced the mega event will take place in Sky Dome on the Thanksgiving long weekend, Oct 9-10.

The grand festival will have record 30-hour of non-stop entertainment, which is likely to be recorded by the Guinness Book of World Records.

Harpreet Sethi, president of Radisson Hotels and Resorts, is the primary sponsor whereas the event is funded by the community.

"I am very proud of our heritage and strength of the community," said Sethi. "I am looking forward to all other communities to come and join us to make it most successful and memorable celebration."

In addition to 30-minute long glittering fireworks, the festivities are ranging from recreation and sports to music to dance to films and illuminated bazaars.

Kicking off Cricket Champions League, a dazzling Twenty20 exhibition match will be part of the 30-hour extravaganza.

Numerous international cricket stars are likely to entertain the audience with bat and ball.

"This is going to be terrific for all cricket lovers as we are hoping many cricket stars to come and play their typical game live at the Rogers Centre," Atul Ahuja told SA Focus. He said Sachin Teldulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Saurav Ganguly from India, Younas Khan, Shahid Afridi, Umer Gul, Saqlain Mushtaq, Inzamamul Haq from Pakistan, and Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan from West Indies are expected to participate.

"We hope this will be a turning point in Canadian cricket history, where our professionals will have the chance to play with international players to showcase the latent of Canada," said Ahuja.

He said from all the players, two teams will be picked for the historic Twenty20 match. "From the match, we want to encourage our younger generation players to develop the talent further and look at cricket as a career," said Ahuja.

Entry fee to the festival is $5.

Nitish Kumar joins national squad vs. Kenya (Share) -- Posted Friday, August 14 2009
http://www.sharenews.com/

By RON FANFAIR

Nitish Kumar was just five years old and running around cricket fields in short pants when Canadian captain Ashish Bagai made his first appearance for the national senior side a decade ago.

Now the 15-year-old cub will rub shoulders and share the dressing room with Bagai after being named in the national squad to oppose Kenya in a four-day Intercontinental Cup match at King City, starting tomorrow, and three One-Day International contests at the same venue next week.

Both Toronto Cricket Club players are Toronto Cricket Academy (TCA) graduates.

"Nitish might be just a kid, but his game is way ahead of most young players his age," said TCA director Brian Hale, a former Guyana Under-23 and Canadian batsman. "He came to us at age four and he missed just nine days practice in the 11 years he spent with us. That tells you how committed he is to the game that he has played almost all of his life.

"When I took him to England a few years ago to be assessed, we were told that his game was close to where young players six years older than him in England would be at. The guy has enormous talent and I think he's ready to step into the national senior side. He also has the temperament and quick bat speed and he picks up the ball very early. Right now, he bats in the middle, but I firmly believe he has all the qualities to be an opener."

Kumar was exposed to a cruel tragedy four years ago while on tour in England with the TCA. The car in which he and his father, Vikal Kumar, were traveling in was involved in a serious accident, resulting in Vikal's death. Nitish was also injured in the crash.

"Of course, he was deeply affected by his father's death because he was there," said Hale. "It took him about two years to get back on track. However, when he was on the cricket field, he was still very focused on the game and what he was doing."

Two weeks ago, the right-handed batsman scored 91 off 89 balls against Gujarat in a Toronto & District Cricket Association (TDCA) Elite league match at King City. That was Bagai's first match with the club this season since he quit his job in England to accept a contract with Cricket Canada.

"I was very impressed with what I saw," said Bagai. "I don't quite know where he is at mentally but the coaches think he and some of the other young players are ready to be part of the senior squad."

Kumar is one of three youth players who were part of the national side that captured the Under-19 Americas title last month to be included in Canada's four and one-day squads for the forthcoming matches against the East Africans.

The others are youth skipper Rustum Bhatti and all-rounder Hiral Patel who was the youth series' Most Valuable Player after scoring a tournament-high 305 runs (av. 101.67).

"They are the future of Canadian cricket and this is the time to blood them," said manager Mike Henry. "I saw Nitish eight years ago and knew immediately that he would be an exceptional player. Rustum is an accomplished batsman, quality wicketkeeper and an outstanding fielder when he's not behind the stumps."

British Columbia batsmen Jimmy Hansara and Jawad Dawood are the other newcomers in the national teams.

The Intercontinental Cup squad is Ashish Bagai (capt.), Umar Bhatti, Qaiser Ali, Rustum Bhatti, Rizwan Cheema, Khurram Chohan, Sunil Dhaniram, Jimmy Hansara, Sandeep Jyoti, Shaheed Keshvani, Nitish Kumar, Hiral Patel, Abdool Samad, Henry Osinde and Zameer Zahir.

The ODI squad is Ashish Bagai (capt.), Umar Bhatti, Harvir Baidwan, Khurram Chohan, Sunil Dhaniram, Jawad Dawood, Sandeep Jyoti, Shaheed Keshvani, Nitish Kumar, Hiral Patel, Abdool Samad, Zubin Surkari, Henry Osinde and Zameer Zahir.

The Kenyan squad is Maurice Ouma (capt.), Jimmy Kamande, Alex Obanda, Steve Tikolo, Collins Obuya, Thomas Odoyo, Nehemiah Odhiambo, Lameck Onyango, Peter Ongondo, Hiren Varaiya, Rakep Patel, Elijah Otieno, Seren Waters, David Obuya and Alfred Luseno.

The four-day match runs from August 14 to 17 while the three 50-over matches take place on August 19, 21 and 23.

Tikolo's hits century as Kenya on top after first day -- Posted Friday, August 14 2009
Canada took Kenya at King City in the 4-day Intercontinental Cup fixture. A magnificent innings of 158 from veteran batsman Steve Tikolo put the Kenyans in a good position, despite a strong bowling effort from Canada. Canada's hopes of matching the Kenyan total took a blow as they lost two wickets before stumps.

Play was scheduled to start at 10 am local time, but a damp field has resulted in a one hour delay. 15 year-old Nitish Kumar made his first class debut for Canada. Kenya won the toss and chose to bat.

Bhatti and Osinde both bowled well, taking advantage of a fairly helpful pitch. Bhatti in particular was getting the ball to move off the seam, and cut one back into Oboya, who was leg-before not playing a shot- 3-1. Waters, who had struggled from the start, was next to go, with late seam movement catching the edge resulting in a catrch for Cheema at slip - 27/2. Tikolo, still a top-class bat as he approaches his forties, took advantage of a tiring opening attack and an easing wicket, and with Obanda put together a useful half-century partnership. Bhatti bowled 10 overs in his opening spell, and then somewhat surprisingly leg-spinner Zahir was asked to replace him - and with his first ball bowled Obanda (36) with a lovely flighted leg break. At lunch Kenya were 105/3, with Tikolo on 45.

Tikolo reached his fifty from 54 balls with a pulled boundary shortly after lunch, and settled in for a big score. The odd ball was keeping low, and Zahir was getting some turn but overall the pitch looked good for runs as Tikolo and Ouma put together a big partnership. Ouma played the sheet anchor role as tikol advanced to a superb century at just short of a run per ball. Ouma had made just 28 of a 116 run partnership when Dhaniram had him leg before with an arm ball. Dhaniram took a second wicket when he induced a leading edge catch from Obuya. Tikolo was still there however, and at tea Kenya were 237/5. Chohan had bowled well in his first spell without reward, and so deserved the wicket of Odoyo plumb lbw. Kamande made an aggressive 26 before he became Hansra's first wicket for Canada. Odhiambo fell to Cheema, and then Tikolo finally fell, caught behind off Osinde. He had made 158 from 194 balls with 22 balls contributing more than half the total. Osinde wrapped up the innings with his 3rd wicket, as Kenya totaled 317. The Kenyan wickets fell to 7 different bowlers.

Canada were left to bat out 7 overs before the close of play and needed not to lose wickets. Hansra survived a big appeal for lbw first ball, but edged the second ball of the innings to slip and Canada had lost their first wicket without a run on the board. Cheema only plays one way, and tried to hit Odhiambo over the covers in the penultimate over of the day, only to be caught- 14/2. Nightwatchman Zahir saw out the last over, but Canada have a difficult task ahead of therm.


Canada team: Ashish Bagai, Rizwan Cheema, Sandeep Jyoti, Abdool Samad, Nitish Kumar, Sunil Dhaniram, Amarbir Hansra, Khurram Chohan, Umar Bhatti, Henry Osinde, and Zameer Zahir
Kenya team: Morris Ouma, James Kamande, Seren Waters, David Obuya, Alex Obanda, Stephen Tikolo, Collins Obuya, Thomas Migai, Nehemiah Ngoche, Peter Ongondo, and Hiren Varaiya.

Live coverage is provided by CricInfo (scorecard) and CricketEuropeScorecard.

Gopie blast sets Warriors on victory course in TJT NCL -- Posted Friday, August 14 2009

Eddie Norfolk

Albert Gopie blasted 44 runs from 19-balls to set the Warriors on a victory course over the Chiefs in the TJT National Cricket League on Thursday (August 13). Gopie used his feet to fire consecutive boundaries and then loft a six over long-off at the start of the fourth over. But young spinner Riazkhan Pathan battled back with three dot balls to complete the over. Gopie hit three more sixes until dismissed with the total on 77. Raffik Ali was then joined by Aiyub Matadar in a partnership that doubled the score to 154 before the third wicket fell as the twenty overs were coming to an end. Warriors closed on 158 for 6 wickets. Raffik Ali struck 53 and Aiyub Matadar 28. Riazkhan Pathan took 2 wickets for 33 from his four overs.

Canadian Under-19 internationals Chris Manohar and Usman Limbada made a promising start for the Chiefs, who were missing number one draft pick Hiral Patel due to his inclusion in the Canada squad to face Kenya on Friday. Limbada contributed 25 of an opening stand of 44, but the Chiefs began to lose wickets in the chase for 159 runs. However the rest of the batsmen, excluding Manohar who made 27, were unable to play innings of any substance, so the Chiefs allotted twenty overs closed with them on 118 for 9 wickets. Thus, the Warriors secured a win by 40 runs.

Gopie was named Man-of-the-Match. He thanked the league sponsors, TJT, the players participating in the league and the spectators who had turned out to watch the game. Canadian cricket could certainly do with more spectators. Especially spectators from those beyond the inner sanctum of the domestic league circuit in the Toronto area.

On Friday at Ross Lord Park, Toronto, the TJT NCL continues with the Kings, headed by Ugandan international Kenneth Kamyuka, entering the fray against Royals, while the Titans face the Gladiators. Matches begin at 5pm, and the need for prompt starts was being stressed on Thursday night.

Cricket Canada comment on "private" cricket events -- Posted Thursday, August 13 2009
From the Cricket Canada web site:-

"Cricket Canada wishes to clarify the position of the organization and the International Cricket Council with respect to the sanction of international cricket in Canada.
Cricket Canada is supportive of the spreading of the game across the country and invites private entrepreneurs to conduct events within Canada but only with the approval and sanctioning of such events by Cricket Canada. Sanction of any event by any other body (including those affiliated with Cricket Canada) will be in default of the above regulations and classified the matches as "Disapproved Cricket"
In addition to having the event(s) sanctioned by Cricket Canada, all foreign based players belonging to members of the ICC must provide a "No Objection Certificate" from their home board citing the boards support for playing in the event(s). Any event, league or match does not feature or include a team under the jurisdiction of an ICC Full member country would also require the organizer to garner the approval of the ICC in addition to the approval of Cricket Canada.
These regulations are put in place and applicable to all players whether they are under contract with member boards or not.
As of today, Cricket Canada has received an application for sanction for one event, which it is currently considering, and an announcement is expected to be made in the coming days.
Cricket Canada thanks all of the involved parties and looks forward to a good working relationship with private entrepreneurs in the future."

This suggests that an international event of some sort, probably not involving the national team is in the works..

Saturday travels around the Toronto & District Elite Division -- Posted Thursday, August 13 2009
by Eddie Norfolk

Last Saturday (August 8), saw me venture up to Maple Leaf Cricket Club (aka The Sparking St Edmunds Cricket Club on certain published maps of the area) where Overseas CC batted first against Popeyes (aka PCB) in the Elite Division of the Toronto and District Cricket Association. Overseas were progressing quite well when I left. Opener Ruvindu Gunasekera notched 53 and Usman Limbada went on to an exact unbeaten century that helped Overseas to 257 for 6 wickets after 50 overs.

Popeyes responded well with the bat, eventually winning by 3 wickets with 13 balls to spare. Mohammad Riaz top-scored with 76, Hiral Patel scored 73 and Simon Pervez 64. Rizwan Cheema had some ankle troubles from Friday night’s opening win for his TJT National Cricket League team, so did not play.

At Ross Lord Park, Brampton Masters Parkdale had made 157 all out from 49 overs, but Centurions early batting on a slow wicket was not very good. Forcing drives resulted in chances being given, and some catches were made. Centurions were in a mess at 27 for 4 (two wickets each to Henry Osinde and Umar Bhatti), but were in the process of recovery when a storm fell and brought the match to an early end. Centurions 70 for 4 wickets was below the required rate, leaving Brampton Masters Parkdale winners by 10 runs.

Bhatti had top-scored with 29 of the 157 total, batting low in the order. The only other players to reach the twenties were Ugandan internationals Joel Olweny (26) and Kenneth Kamyuka (21). Vadhara Varna took 3 wickets for 28.

The clouds had opened when I arrived at the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club. Ashish Bagai was smiling in the rain, Toronto CC had posted a good score and West Indians CC were watching the storm and chatting, rather than batting.

Toronto made 284, headed by 85 from Akshay Bagai, elder brother of Ashish. Eion Katchay had taken 3 wickets for 54 runs from his ten overs for West Indians, who were on 55 for 1 wicket when play was halted after 13.1 overs.

Some time during the week, scores from these matches began to appear on the TDCA website. But one of my main reasons for going to Maple Leaf CC had been to check that certain portable internet connections worked from the ground, ahead of Friday’s Canada-Kenya ICC Intercontinental Cup match, and the subsequent ODI series. The grass was looking good on the square for the north-west ground at Maple Leaf, where all the games involving Kenya are due to take place.

At some point, the required wickets will be mowed, probably in the “Caribbean style” that sees very little grass left on the surface. Just like the last time Kenya came here. Although, this year it has been much wetter than what many found the sweltering heat of the late July and early August Canada-Kenya games in 2006. Hopefully, the weather will be welcoming and a reasonable crowd will wend their way to these matches.

Canada-Kenya preview; Kumar to debut? (Sports Campus) -- Posted Thursday, August 13 2009
Canada to face Kenya in ICC Cup
WEDNESDAY, 12 AUGUST 2009 23:50 SUHAIL NARAIN

http://www.thesportscampus.com/200908121677/news-bytes/canada-take-on-kenya

Having been thwarted by a combination of rain and some resilient Netherlands batting, the Canada team feels it is time to put the record straight and register its first win of the ICC Intercontinental Cup 2009-10 campaign. The four-day game against Kenya begins in King City on Friday and there is an air of expectancy around the 2007 finalist that it can overcome the men from east Africa.


Last month, Canada coach Pubudu Dassanayake took his men to Rotterdam and although it was a game he feels it should have won, there is encouragement to be taken from the fact that some of his key players are in good form. Veteran left-hander Sunil Dhaniram hit a second-innings 144 in that match to make sure the Dutch were set an unlikely target. On a final day severely shortened by rain, the home team survived with just two wickets remaining thanks to a marathon 294-ball innings by Daan van Bunge, who finished unbeaten on 98. Left-arm swing bowler Umar Bhatti also performed well in Rotterdam while there were wickets, too, for Sandeep Jyoti and Khurram Chohan.

"It was disappointing not to come away with full points from that game and certainly there were areas we could have done better but what it did was give us confidence," said Dassanayake. "We now go into the Kenya game knowing we can win and we will be going all out to do just that. Last year the team was a bit unsettled but now there is a good feeling of stability about us. There are still areas for improvement but we are definitely heading in the right direction," he continued.

Canada stalwarts John Davison, Geoff Barnett and Ian Billcliff are not available which makes way for three members of the under-19 team that won the Americas Championship. Under-19 captain Rustam Bhatti has been picked in the squad as the understudy wicketkeeper in a side captained by Ashish Bagai. But there may be a starting place for the best player of that under-19 series, opening batsman Hiral Patel, and also the exciting prospect Nitesh Kumar who is just 15 years old. Dassanayake describes Kumar as "one of the best batsmen I have ever seen at that age" and so expect the teenager from Toronto to make his senior debut batting at six or seven. The experience of those youngsters being involved at senior level will also be good preparation for the ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier which takes place in Ontario next month.

Meanwhile, the Kenya squad is full of familiar faces with Steve Tikolo, Collins Obuya, Thomas Odoyo and Hiren Varaiya all still available. 19-year-old Seren Waters will more than likely open the batting and there is also a recall for right-arm seamer Alfred Luseno. But there is no place for wicketkeeper-batsman Kennedy Otieno. Maurice Ouma will lead the team and, almost certainly will take the gloves as well in the absence of Otieno.

Canada (squad): Ashish Bagai (captain), Umar Bhatti, Qaiser Ali, Rustam Bhatti, Rizwan Cheema, Khurram Chohan, Sunil Dhaniram, Jimmy Hansara, Sandeep Jyoti, Shaheed Keshvani, Nitesh Kumar, Hiral Patel, Abdool Samad, Henry Osinde, Zameer Zahir.


Kenya (squad): Maurice Ouma (captain), Jimmy Kamande, Alex Obanda, Steve Tikolo, Collins Obuya, Thomas Odoyo, Nehemiah Odhiambo, Lameck Onyango, Peter Ongondo, Hiren Varaiya, Rakep Patel, Elijah Otieno, Seren Waters, David Obuya, Alfred Luseno.


The ICC Intercontinental Cup has quickly grown in stature and profile since its inception five years ago and now the ICC's premier first-class tournament is an integral part of the Associate Members' cricket schedule.
Having previously been designed around a two-group, three-day format, the event then evolved into an eight-team, round-robin and truly global tournament featuring four-day cricket which gives those teams who do not play Test cricket the chance to experience the longer form of the game.


This year's format will include seven teams (Afghanistan, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, the Netherlands, Scotland and Zimbabwe XI) while a new competition, the ICC Intercontinental Shield will involve four teams below that, namely Bermuda, Namibia, Uganda and the United Arab Emirates.


Scotland won the first ICC Intercontinental Cup in 2004, beating Canada in the final, while Ireland has been victorious in all three events since then, beating Kenya in the 2005 decider, Canada in the 2006-07 event and Namibia in 2007-08.

Faisal Khan "bowled over" at selection- Toronto Star -- Posted Thursday, August 13 2009
He's simply bowled over

Student discovers that second time's the charm: `I get to go and play for Canada'
Aug 12, 2009 04:30 AM
DAVID GROSSMAN SPORTS REPORTER
Faisal Khan is quick to forgive and forget.

Last year around this time, Khan had just missed out on being picked to the inaugural Mayor's Youth Cricket team – a group of players from difficult parts of the city put together by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) to tour the United Kingdom, play some games and return as role models for others.

Khan thought he was good enough to make the team, but others had a different viewpoint.

Now an 18-year old graduate of Toronto's Central Commerce Collegiate, Khan put his name forward one more time.

Again he was picked from among 100 players for an interview. This time, he was told to pack his bags.

"I remember how upset I was a year ago and now – the complete opposite," said Khan, who came to Canada with his family six years ago from his native Pakistan.

"The last time I was in London was for two hours, a change in planes, and now I get to go and play for Canada," he said. "This is a wonderful thing."

Khan is one of 14 college and high school players introduced yesterday at city hall by Toronto Mayor David Miller. They will make the 10-day trip starting tomorrow to compete against various club teams and visit sites such as Lord's Cricket Ground in London, known as "The Home of Cricket."

Organizer Ranil Mendis said players were chosen from Toronto's priority neighbourhoods with CIMA and corporate sponsors picking up the tab for the event called "Cricket Across the Pond."

However, of the 14, three are from schools in Mississauga and Markham and two more from private schools in Toronto and Port Hope. Mendis said the private school students will either pay their own way or have their schools pitch in.

Canada inter-squad game ends in a draw -- Posted Thursday, August 13 2009
Eddie Norfolk

The two-day Canadian inter-squad game at Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club ended in a draw. Team B’s first innings was declared at 261 for 8 wickets (75 overs). On Wednesday, Team A was bowled out for 234 (63.4 overs), leaving Team B to play out time. The score stood at 61 for 3 wickets (17 overs).

The main contributions with the bat for Team A were opener Rizwan Cheema with 65 - second out with 102 on the board - Sandeep Jyoti 42 and Abdool Samad 51.

These three helped the total to 184 when Jyoti fell lbw to Arslan Qadir, who then bowled Samad. The innings stumbled as Sunil Dhaniram became Qadir’s third dismissal to make it 189 for 5. Captain Ashish Bagai was caught at the wicket by Rustam Bhatti off Harvir Badiwan after adding 20 runs with Nitesh Kumar. Nitesh went on to make 26. Young opener Hiral Patel, with 13 of the first 22 runs, was the only other Team A batsman to reach double figures.

Qadir ended with 3 wickets for 47 runs from 13 overs. Baidwan also took 3 wickets, bowling 17 overs and conceding 74 runs. Anthony Pratt had opened the bowling and returned to polish off last two wickets. His 9.4 overs were quite tidy, costing 22 runs. Virander bowled 5 overs for an economic 11 runs.

National coach Pubudu Dassanayake fielded at first slip during Team B’s second innings. He showed his experience in trying to ensure the players stayed focused during a closing session where there was little prospect of a positive result for this warm-up game. Chris Manohar fell lbw to Khurram Chohan after making 18 (32-1). Right-hand bat Jimmy Hansra was caught at the wicket by Bagai off Chohan for 14 (58-2). Qadir was then run out without facing a ball. He was down the wicket, backing up as a drive by left-hander Ruvindu Gunsasekera was touched onto the stumps by the bowler. The non-striker was nowhere near being safe, as they would say in baseball.

On Tuesday, play had continued after an interruption due to a storm. Jawad Dawood, whose innings began slowly, had gone on to make 94 before being caught by Abdool Samad off slow-left armer Hiral Patel. Jimmy Hansra scored 46, and helped Dawood carry the score from 95 for 4 wickets to 217 for 5. Hansra fell three runs after Dawood, also caught by Samad, this time off Henry Osinde’s bowling. Opener Anthony Pratt had made 26, and Usman Limbada, batting third, 36.

The Team A bowling saw Osinde take 3 wickets for 25 off 17 overs. Opening bowling partner, Umar Bhatti took 1 for 32 from 14 overs. Khurram Chohan bowled 20 overs, taking 2 for 62. Rizwan Cheema bowled 7 overs for 34 runs. On the spinning front, Hiral Patel took 1 for 30 in 6.4 overs. Shaheed Keshvani bowled 6 overs for 41 runs, and leg-spinner Zameer Zahir bowled 4 overs for 14 runs.

Canada is having a day of team bonding activities on Thursday, ahead of Friday’s four-day ICC Intercontinental Cup match with Kenya at Maple Leaf Cricket Club, King City, Ontario. Play in the Canada-Kenya match is due to start at 10 am.

Thanks should be given to the Toronto CSCC for hosting Canada for this warm-up match.

Squad named for 2009 CIMA Toronto Mayor’s “Cricket Across the Pond” Tour -- Posted Tuesday, August 11 2009


The CIMA Canada Toronto Mayor’s XI for the second ‘Cricket Across the Pond’ tour to England was named on Tuesday morning at a City Hall reception. “Cricket across the Pond gives youth an opportunity to participate in a sport that is becoming increasingly popular in Toronto, and to travel and gain new experiences and knowledge that will last them for a lifetime, ” said Toronto Mayor David Miller.

This venture, as noted by the various keynote speakers, brings together the public and private sectors. .Key roles are played by the Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation division, which includes the Access and Diversity unit that addresses multi-cultural demands and interests, CIMA Canada, RBC and Bell Canada. Many media groups and other corporate companies support both the Cricket Across the Pond initiative, and the annual CIMA Canada Toronto Mayor’s Trophy, that began in 2005.

Building leadership skills among young cricketers is seen as one of the goals of this tour, in addition to fostering relationships and providing physical activity in a sport traditionally based on strong values of sportsmanship.

The players selected for this year’s tour to Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, are:
Malin Aidkari (19, Victoria Park Collegiate Institute), Ahmed Bhaktiar (20, C.W. Jefferys High School), Aftab Bhullar (17, Upper Canada College), Parth Desai (18, Woburn CI), Quinn Flaherty (18, Trinity College School), Kesavan Juvarajan (16, Westhill CI), Faisal Khan (18, Central Commerce Collegiate), Hardik Kotak (18, Markville Secondary School), Rayyankhan Pathan (17, York Memorial CI), Abidur Rahman (19, William Lyon MacKenzie CI), Warren Rajroop (19, Father Michael McGivney Catholic Academy), Darren Ramsammy (19, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Secondary School), Jay Shah (16, Northview Heights Secondary School), Ali Syed (19, Central Commerce Collegiate)

The squad leaves for England on August 14 and returns on August 23. Peter Karunaratne of the Toronto Transit Commission is team manager. Derek Perera is the coach.

Ontario win 2009 Atholstan Trophy -- Posted Tuesday, August 11 2009
The annual Atholstan Trophy game between Ontario and Quebec was played at the picturesque grounds of Rideau Hall in Ottawa on August 8 & 9. The Ontario team was lead by Tauseef Shahid of Ottawa and the Quebec team was lead by Raheem Gilani. The game was attended by cricket dignitaries from both Ontario and Quebec. OVCC was the host region of Ontario for this game.

Quebec won the toss and elected to bat first. Quebec scored 168 runs in their allotted 50 overs. The main scorers for Quebec were Qaiser Ali (31) Masood Zaidi (30) and Vinod Thakur (28). The pick of Ontario bowlers were Samad Sheikh (10-1-20-2) Veerinder Singh (10-1-26-4) and Karun Jethi (10-0-26-1). The Quebec score was not a big total for Ontario, however, things did not go well for Ontario and they were bowled out for a low score of 92 with only Tauseef Shahid (22) and Bilal Awan (19) making any contribution with the bat. The successful bowlers for Quebec were Adnan Suleman (7-2-9-2), Edison Williams (7.3-1-14-2), Sohail Tandon (10-1-40-3) and Suresh Rammkisson (10-3-21-3). Quebec carried a lead of 76 runs into their 2nd innings. Ontario’s position was not very favourable at this time.

On day two of the game Ontario struck early with Umer Arshad taking 3 quick wickets before Quebec reached a score of 20. This was the turning point of the match. The pick of the Quebec batsmen were Vinod Thakur and Suresh Rammkisson who struck some mighty blows. However, Ontario bowlers kept taking wickets at regular intervals with Umer Arshad, Veerinder Singh, Karun Jethi, Majid Khan and Samad Sheikh taking wickets before Quebec batsmen could establish them selves at the crease. Karun Jethi pulled two superb catches in the slip area. In the end Quebec was bowled out for 116 runs and set Onatrio a target of 193 in 50 overs to win the game.

The opening pair for Ontario, Samad Sheikh (62) and Inderjit Dhaliwal (45) put on 125 runs for the opening wicket in 26 overs. This partnership basically sealed the victory for Ontario. The skipper Tauseef Shahid batted well again to score 30 runs and in the end Ontario cruised home to victory with 8 overs to spare for the loss of 5 wickets. This was a good come from behind victory for Ontario considering the failure of its batting in the first innings.

Samad Sheikh was declared the Man of the Match for his superb all round performance.

A lot of positives came out of this game. A lot of young talent was exposed in this game. Players like Samad Sheikh, Umer Arshad, Veerinder Singh, Zaeem Ghanfarzar, Tauseef Shahid, Karandeep Singh, Majid Khan were the find of the game for Ontario. This is very positive news for Ontario cricket.

Quebec displayed some very fine young cricketers amongst its ranks, particularly youngsters like Vinod Thakur, Suresh Rammkisson, Masood Zaidi and Edison Williams who will definitely develop into a very fine fast bowler as he possess genuine pace.
The OCA President Mike Kendall congratulated both the teams on a game played with true athletic spirit. He presented the Atholstan Trophy to the winning captain and team. The president thanked the host region and said he looks forward to visiting Quebec for the 2010 edition of the game.

A more detailed scorecard will follow very shortly.

Submitted By:
OVCC
OCA Host Region

Canada warm-up match report -- Posted Tuesday, August 11 2009
Eddie Norfolk
Canadian inter-squad match hit by storm

Canada is playing an inter-squad warm-up game at the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club as part of the preparations for the upcoming series with Kenya. Team B won the toss and batted against Team A.

Rustam Bhatti was caught at slip by Shaheed Keshvani for 1 off Henry Osinde for 1 (7 for 1 wicket). Toronto CC's Australian assistant coach, Anthony Pratt was going quite well until bowled by Khurram Chohan for 26. Brent Lezama followed a couple of balls later, caught by wicketkeeper Ashish Bagai, also off Chohan for a duck.

At lunch, Usman Limbada was 21 not out and Jawad Dawood 0 not out, with Team B on 58 for 3 wickets (26 overs). Rizwan Cheema, who missed Popeyes Toronto & District league match on Saturday, against Overseas, due to ankle trouble, is fit and has been bowling.

An afternoon thunderstorm took the players off the field with Team B 137 for 4 wickets. Limbada was run out for 36 with the total on 95. Dawood had made 42 and Jimmy Hansra was on 16. Discussions were going on about a possible resumption of play, but there was some rain when I left the ground. Heavy rain was coming down a couple of subway stops south of the ground.

Play is due to continue on Wednesday. It is due to be sunny and around 27 C.

Kenya is expected to practice at Sunnybrook Park from mid-morning on Wednesday.

Heavy rain in Toronto brought Toronto CC's match with West Indians CC to a premature end on Saturday. It rained on Sunday and a scheduled warm-up match for the CIMA Toronto Mayor's Cricket Across the Pond squad, who leave for a cricket tour to Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, England, was called off due to wet conditions on Monday.


Eddie Norfolk

Making a pitch for cricket (Globe and Mail -- Posted Tuesday, August 11 2009
As world cup host, city must do more to foster sport, critics say

Brodie Fenlon
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

A first-of-its kind program to teach cricket skills to children in Toronto's city-run day camps will be announced Tuesday as Mayor David Miller hosts breakfast for a group of young players leaving on an all-expenses paid trip to the United Kingdom.

But with a junior world cup event bearing down in 2012, too few fields and no indoor facilities, the city needs to do much more to foster the growing sport, critics say.

The day-camp program, called Operation Cricket 2009, will begin within a week at eight sites and aims, in part, to get more girls involved in the male-dominated sport.

Four instructors have been hired, including one young player who was chosen last year for the city's inaugural Cricket Across the Pond program, which sends 14 teenagers to Britain for a week of training and matches.

The trip is organized by Toronto's parks department and paid for by corporate sponsors, including the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. Two players are sent by private schools.

This year's team, officially known as the CIMA Toronto Mayor's Team XI, will be feted today by Mayor David Miller at a breakfast sendoff. The players were chosen from more than 100 applicants.

Among them is all-rounder Malin Adikari, 19, a Sri Lankan immigrant who spent five years in Canada before realizing his beloved cricket was played here, albeit with less fanfare than hockey.

“I had no idea that the sport existed here. It was a shock for me to find out,” he said.

Cricket Grounds in the City of Toronto

Mr. Adikari's revelation came in Grade 9, when he joined the school team at Scarborough's Victoria Park Collegiate Institute. He spent the rest of high school playing senior level cricket in one of Toronto's premier leagues and has kept his sights on a future spot with Canada's national team, even as he balances full-time studies at McMaster University.

“He's a naturally gifted player. It's in his genes,” said his coach, Farooq Kirmani, a former captain of the semi-pro national team.

Mr. Kirmani, who has five players from his own club going on the U.K. trip, said gifted athletes are being let down by the City of Toronto, which has no indoor facilities for winter practice and too few fields that meet international standards.

At issue is the pitch, often called the “wicket,” the central strip of a cricket field where balls are bowled and batted. Regulation cricket is played on a turf pitch made of clay, silt and closely shorn grass. It requires constant care and regular rolling.

Toronto has more than two dozen cricket pitches, but only four turf wickets, which are difficult to maintain, said Ken Jeffers, manager of access and diversity for Toronto parks, forestry and recreation. He said the department is trying to get a turf specialist to train its staff, but plans for a visit by one expert fell through during the municipal strike. Most city fields have an artificial surface – usually matting on a flat, shale or concrete surface.

“Our facilities are 20 years behind,” said Mr. Kirmani. “You develop players on the turf because they get more skills. So when they go from Canada to international competition, they have all the same skills as the opposition.”

Turf pitches are also mandatory for the International Cricket Council, the sport's governing body, which invited Canada to host the 2012 Under-19 World Cup. Sixteen teams will play and 16 regulation pitches are required. Most will be in the GTA.

“That's a problem for the tournament and it's an issue the city's going to have to come to terms with pretty quickly because it takes a couple of years to grow a wicket,” said Councillor Adam Vaughan, who wants to build up a cricket club system in Toronto in collaboration with the school boards and parks department.

Stratford hosts cricket match, revives piece of Island heritage (PEI Guardian) -- Posted Saturday, August 8 2009

The P.E.I. Cricket Association will welcome New Brunswick for its provincial team’s inaugural competitive match at the new cricket grounds Sunday in Tea Hill Park in Stratford.
First bowl is 10:30 a.m.
Richard Raiswell, of the PEICA, said the contest is the beginning of the revival of a piece of Island heritage, which can trace its roots to the 19th century when games were played against visiting sailors from around the world.
“Some Islanders may not be familiar with the ins and outs of the game, but there’ll be lots of people there who can help and it’s always great to watch a skilled batsman thwack the ball over the boundary,’’ said Raiswell of the four- to five-hour game. “Bring a lawn chair, some cool refreshments and enjoy the fun. Our P.E.I. team is a great bunch of lads. Come and see them knock those New Brunswickers for six.”
The field is a joint project between the Town of Stratford, the True Sport Federation and Cricket Canada.
Cricket is played competitively at every level across the nations of the Commonwealth, including Canada. Raiswell said he hopes the facility will play host to local, regional, national and international matches.
Founded in Stratford in 2007, the PEICA is a co-operative venture dedicated to the promotion of cricket at all levels from beginner to expert across P.E.I.

Gladiators and Titans winners as TJT NCL opens in Toronto -- Posted Saturday, August 8 2009

TJT National Cricket League opening day results (August 7) from G. Ross Lord Park, Toronto: TJT Gladiators 140 for 9 wickets (20 overs) beat TJT Chiefs 118 all out (19.1 overs) by 22 runs; TJT Titans 150 (20 overs) beat TJT Royals 105 all out (18.5 overs) by 45 runs.

The Titans clinched the first win of the new TJT National Cricket League with a 45 run win against the Royals. The Gladiators followed with a win over the Chiefs by 22 runs as the competition opened on Friday August 7 at Toronto’s G. Ross Lord Park. A reasonable crowd, including players from the other two teams, some regular cricket followers and some girlfriends and wives turned out for these openers.

Gladiators-Chiefs Snapshot

The Gladiators-Chiefs encounter saw the first and second overall picks in the league draft in opposition. Top draft pick, Hiral Patel, opening bat and captain for the Chiefs, made 25 runs, which was more than Rizwan Cheema’s 10. But Cheema was the captain who went away with the victory and left a determined message that the Gladiators were looking to win the TJT NCL.

Cheema won the toss and elected to bat. The top six batsmen each made double figures, ranging from opener Cheema’s 10 to number five bat Abubaker Kalair’s 20. This enabled the Gladiators to reach 140 for 9 wickets when the 20 over limit had been reached. Riaz Khan Pathan took 4 wickets for 27 runs from his four overs.

Hiral Patel made 25 and Abdool Samad 18 for the Chiefs. Usman Limbada played the main innings of the match. His 44 included four sixes, two struck over deep mid-wicket in the same over, but runs from the last seven Chiefs batsmen were a rarity on the day. Mohammed Shaikh took 3 wickets for 27 in 4 overs and the Chiefs stumbled to 118 all out and a 22 run loss at the beginning of the 20th over.

Titans-Royals

Ruvindu Gunasekera provided the base for the Titans innings of 150 from 20 overs. The left-handed opening bat made 32 before being fifth out at 97. The fifth wicket stand with Trevin Bastiampillai had seen 54 runs added. Bastiampillai made a bright 34, before falling with the score on 129. Numan Aslan chipped in with a breezy 32. Three Royals bowlers each took 2 wickets; Junaid Siddiqui (2-18), Harvir Baidwan (2-22) and Udhara Varna (2-32).

The Royals innings never really got going. Captain Rustam Bhatti tried hard, posting 39 runs batting third, with the next best score being Harvir Baidwan’s 21, batting eighth. Number ten, Harjot Sidhu who made 11, was just the third Royals player to reach double-figures in a total of 105 all out. Anderson Bryce mopped up the end of the Royals innings with 3 wickets for 28 from 3.5 overs.

Schedule includes Thursday Play

The schedule released by the TJT NCL includes play on three Thursday evenings, in a bid to complete the competition earlier than the original October 7th. The longer daylight hours of the summer are progressively replaced by earlier darkness as the fall (autumn) closes in. The round-robin phase of the competition is now due to complete on September 11, followed by the top four meeting in semi-final action with the winners meeting in the TJT NCL Championship Final.

Next Thursday (Aug 13 at 5pm) sees the Warriors, lead by Kenneth Wong, enter the fray with a match against the Chiefs, and on Friday the Kings, spearheaded by Ugandan all-rounder Kenneth Kamyuka, take on the Royals. The Titans and Gladiators also meet next Friday.

Clearly, for next year, the expectation would be for the competition to operate during the prime days of the summer. But, the show is up and running for this year.


Footnote: Sad Aspect

The sad aspect of the tournament is that it is not able to be played on grass wickets at Ross Lord Park. Grass wickets were in place for the 2001 ICC Trophy and were restored, by volunteer efforts, during 2006 to try and help Canada’s national team prepare for matches on grass. The former grass wicket areas are now mostly weeds and bare patches. Only one of the former grass strips is anywhere close to having grass, but it has one missing patch of almost two metres where one wicket would be set.

Otherwise, a line of trees between the upper (east) playing area and the lower (west) area provides a nice spot where cricket fans can switch between watching two matches. A slight gap in start times between the two opening TJT NCL games allowed the fans to see a continuous cricket, while one game stopped for the mid-innings break.

Development of cricket depends not only on players, but on other aspects of playing infrastructure, including pitches, outfields, practice facilities, umpires and scorers. Several bases for turf wickets exist at grounds in the Greater Toronto Area, but proper funding, including initial preparation and ongoing maintenance costs are needed to advance the game.

Enhancement needs for the Ross Lord Park nets were raised during a 2006 AGM of the Toronto and District Cricket Association. But there has been no real progress on that front, either.

What did the cricketing bodies who supported, with words, the TJT NCL at the draft, do in the way of setting up promotional backdrops for the sport in the GTA on Friday night? But this is par for the course, even at home matches involving Canada’s national team; senior men, juniors or women.

Last weekend, I passed by the national Under-16 Field Hockey Championships in nearby Mississauga. A program was produced that had lists of players and team photos for most of the participating male and female provincial teams. Cricket Canada did not do that for the 2008 Scotiabank National T20 Cricket Championships, the 2008 Scotiabank Series, the Al Barakah T20 tournament nor for the recent Under-19 ICC Americas Championships. The program also provided written thanks to sponsors; not just words during some post-event throwaway speech. It’s well past time to deliver.

Support your CCA, provincial cricket association and/or local league was the cry in the program for the first Sahara Cup event in the mid-1990’s. But there was no contact information for the CCA, the provinces or the leagues. Canadian cricket remains too much of a ‘do-it-yourself’ show. Perhaps the cricketing powers might come up with two scorers for each of next week’s TJT NCL games. "We are", after all, "playing to all the ICC rules", as at least one of the draft speeches from one of Canadian cricket’s officials proclaimed at the TJT draft.

When was the last time the official CCA/Cricket Canada website pushed for people to come forward to umpiring or scoring courses across the country?

"There are some people who are dispensable in cricket, even though they might be delightful, but the scorer is indispensable, " wrote Richie Benaud in the Epilogue to his book "My Spin on Cricket".

But, in a local context, what would this highly respected former Aussie captain, all-rounder and broadcaster/journalist know compared to some of the self-praising icons found in various parts of the cricket administration and leadership fraternity? And sadly, from my experiences, not just in a GTA or Canadian context.

The details contained in my report of the opening TJT NCL games are based on digital photos of the scorecards at close of innings for both matches. Thanks to the scorers for their efforts.

End on a happy note !

A former federal minister, who remains a Federal MP from the GTA was on hand to present the MOM awards to Trevin Bastiampillai and Usman Limbada. He also recalled playing cricket in the 70’s when at Cambridge. One of the throws that produced a run out in the Gladiators-Chiefs match impressed the visitor, who pointed out his own cricket playing had been at a lower level within Cambridge University circles.

Titans captain Damoudar Daesrath thanked the sponsors, TJT Realty, for making this league possible.


Eddie Norfolk

Cricket alive and well in Montreal (Westmount Examiner) -- Posted Friday, August 7 2009
by Robert N. Wilkins
View all articles from Robert N. Wilkins

A cricket match in what is now downtown Montreal, between the local team and Australia, as reported in the Canadian Illustrated News in October 1878.
Few people are aware that the sport of cricket was once a major diversion in 19th-century Montreal. In fact, at the time, the expansive Ste. Catherine Street Cricket Grounds encircled the Church of St. James the Apostle on Bishop Street. From Sherbrooke to Ste. Catherine, Mackay to Mountain, this Victorian quadrangle accommodated cricket and lacrosse enthusiasts from all over.
With the rapid commercial development of Ste. Catherine Street in the early 20th century, the sports field quietly disappeared from the local landscape. By 1907, it was no longer found in atlases of the city. Its historic influence, however, was felt for many years as the Bishop Street Anglican church was for long afterwards affectionately known as St. Cricket’s in the Field. Indeed, a steel grill protecting a stained glass ecclesiastic window from possible wayward cricket balls was only removed in September 2003 — and with it went much of the story of cricket in Montreal.

Well not quite!

Pirates of the St Lawrence Cricket Club was formed in Montreal in the wake of the 2007 World Cup of Cricket. Indoor cricket in Westmount Park School was the spark. Nowadays, navigating the winter snow banks surrounding the school, Montrealers of many different origins seek out the opportunity to play their favourite sport. When the milder weather arrives, the team moves outdoors, usually gathering at various locations on the South Shore.

The fastest-growing cricket club in North America, the Pirates have more than 100 men and women of 36 different nationalities participating on a regular basis — the most multi-cultural cricket club in the world. Several players have even played for their country’s national team before coming to Montreal.
Pirates carry the tradition
In a slight twist of irony, with its annual snow cricket tournament, the Pirates of the St. Lawrence Cricket Club has even resurrected the sport on St. Helen’s Island, site of the first recorded cricket match in Canada in 1787. In point of fact, the Pirates engage in their beloved pastime whenever and wherever the opportunity presents itself. Beach cricket, corridor cricket, park cricket, and even quickly improvised games at nearby metro stations have all been locations used by the resourceful bat-and-ball club.

Westmount Park School, spurred on by the Pirates’ activities, has decided to incorporate cricket in their gym program. Countless of the school’s pupils are from south Asia, and, for many, this is the first opportunity they've had to play their treasured national sport here in Canada.

In summer, the Pirates of the St. Lawrence team hosts friendly matches on the South Shore against associations from Boston, New York, Hartford, Toronto, Ottawa, Burlington, and Montreal.

The gritty club is trying to make cricket available to Canadians, and help it flourish in Quebec, particularly Montreal. It's the second most popular sport in the world — one billion Indian fans can't be wrong!

Anyone interested in learning more about the sport and this Montreal - Westmount club should contact Angus Bell on contactme@angusjjbell.com, or go to Montreal Social Cricket on Facebook.

• Robert N. Wilkins is a researcher and writer with the Quebec Family History Society. He can be reached at montreal_1900@hotmail.com and his “BLOG” is found at www.forgoodmeasure.tk

Cheema looks forward to TJT league matches (South Asian Focus) -- Posted Thursday, August 6 2009

Wednesday August 5 2009
By NOUMAN KHALIL

Canadian master-blaster Rizwan Cheema is delighted at being picked by the Gladiator for the TJT National Cricket League and confident the league will help him prepare for the international competitions.
The Gladiator picked Cheema and national skipper Umar Bhatti during the first draft of TJT League in Mississauga last week.

"I'm glad to join a national league where I can play professional cricket, practice and prepare for international matches," Cheema, Canada's top run-getter, told SA Focus in an interview.

Born and raised Pakistan, the 31-year-old master-blaster said he hoped the league would be fruitful for the future of cricket in Canada.

"I can't say, but I think it's just the beginning and this league will help national selectors hunt the budding talent," said Cheema.

Team managers of six teams - Gladiators, Warriors, Titans, Royals, Chiefs and Kings -Â had a challenging time picking cricketers from over 400 players during the TJT NCL Draft 2009.

The league is a joint venture of TJT Reality and Toronto District Cricket Association with support from Cricket Canada and Ontario Cricket Association. Surprisingly, Cheema was the second pick of the draft after under-19 all-rounder Hiral Patel.

Apart from Cheema, Patel and Bhatti, other players selected in the first round were Kenneth Kumyuka (Kings), Kenneth Wong (Warriors), Damoudar Daesrath, (Titans) and Dhanuka Pathirana (Royals).

The night continued with lots of ecstatic players overjoyed they were selected for the league.

After 15 player-selecting rounds and another two rounds for reserves, the gathering concluded when all the six teams chose full roster of best players in Canada.

Cheema, whose T20 best is 68 off 43 balls with the help of six 6s and four 4s at Maple Leaf against Sri Lanka last year, said: "Not only I will try to put up my best performance for Gladiators, but also practice for international matches."

Cricket matches draw young, old (London Free Press) -- Posted Thursday, August 6 2009

Tue, August 4, 2009
Sixteen teams from across southern Ontario participate

By JOHN MINER

When Nandana Ranatunga immigrated with his family to Canada from Sri Lanka four months ago, he thought he might have left his favourite sport behind.

This weekend, as he jogged off the cricket pitch to applause and cheers, fresh from bowling out the opposing batsmen -- he hit the wicket -- the plant scientist was beaming.

"I didn't expect there would be cricket here, but I found it," he said.

Ranatunga was on one of 16 teams that played Saturday on converted soccer and football fields at A.B. Lucas secondary school in London's first multicultural cricket tournament.

The all-day event -- some cricket matches go for six days -- included competitors from Toronto and Windsor, ranging in age from 11 to 65.


Ethnic associations represented in the tournament included India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago and the West Indies.

Organizer Deepal Peiris said he thinks cricket will increase in popularity in Canada, but won't challenge hockey and baseball.

"I don't think it will be the mainstream sport," said Peiris, who loves the discipline of cricket but is also a big hockey fan.

Saturday's event was more about bringing people together than the competition, said Peiris, vice-president of Cyberteks Design in London.

Instead of using the regular hard cricket ball that's caught with bare hands, the teams used softer tennis balls.

And it was the short version of the game, six on each side, with batsmen facing five overs, a maximum of 30 balls.

Nimal Weeratunga, a player from Windsor, said followers are passionate about the game.

"Some people get a heart attack if the game is lost," he said.

When his family's home country of Sri Lanka was in the world championship, he had to buy a satellite dish so they could watch the game.

"I had no choice," he said.

Dressed in white uniforms, Saturday's players attracted some first-time fans. One youth even said his father spotted the players and told him to go watch the matches.

Peiris said in future years he might add a soccer tournament to broaden the ethnic appeal of the event.

Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best opened the tournament, which was followed at night with a dinner and dance.

Canadian League Standings for August 4th -- Posted Wednesday, August 5 2009

Standings for : 2009.8.5

compiled by Ramon Lachmansingh

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Scotiabank XI beats ICCC XI to win Cricket Festival -- Posted Tuesday, August 4 2009
Eddie Norfolk

The Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce's 8th Annual Cricket Festival was won by a Scotiabank XI on Brampton's north-west frontier on the Civic Day holiday (August 3rd). The cricket ended at Creditview Park after some twelve hours of action, just in time for the local women's soccer league to kick-off at 7 pm.

Six teams, two select XI's representing the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC), three from the banking and finance world, and a public accounting form provided the backbone of the day's entertainment. An RBC (Royal Bank of Canada) XI and a Deloitte XI (the public accountants) advanced to the semi-finals from one group. But, both finalists emerged from the run-scoring mayhem of the other group; a Scotiabank XI and the ICCC Young Professionals. This left the ICCC President's XI and the State Bank of India in third place in the respective groups.

The ICCC Young Professionals, business professionals as opposed to cricket pros, thumped 179 for 3 wickets in 13 overs, then limited the RBC side to 101 for 3 wickets. This game took place on the southern ground, which had longer boundaries. All the bowling was from one end, which proved to be against a strong wind that developed during the course of the morning and stayed for the rest of the day. The outfields were fast and bumpy on both grounds.

The bowling on the northern ground, except for the day's opening game, was conducted into the wind. The ground dropped away behind the wicketkeeper, the boundaries were shorter and it was tough going trying to stop edges and wides sizzling away to the boundary. Scotiabank's front four batsmen hammered 204 for 2 from 13 overs in the semi-final on this ground. The Deloitte side made 73 for 2 wickets.

In the final, the ICCC Young Professionals hoped for a repeat of a five-wicket group match win, with an over to spare against the bankers. But a total of 163 for 6 wickets in 15 overs on the larger boundaries of the southern pitch proved insufficient. Left-hander Eraj Sirisena struck his 5th six to reach victory for the Scotiabank XI with four balls to spare. It took him to 76 not out, leaving partner Faseeh Qayyum on 70 not out in an unbroken opening first-wicket partnership of 173 runs.

S. Grewal top-scored for the Young Professionals with 57. He then bowled a good looking opening over. But a clear chance of a catch in the outfield was transformed into a boundary, the first of some escapes for the Scotia batsmen.

Asian TV was on hand to film the final, and Toronto City Councillor Adam Vaughan completed a long-day at the ground with a playing stint for the Young Professionals, after beginning the day as with the President's XI. He also brought a junior cricket set, and son Salvador, who helped run the promotion of cricket during the day, gaining several friends.

Acting Cricket Canada President, Ranjit Saini, was present for part of the day. And former Cricket Canada CEO, Atul Ahuja, kept wicket for the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals.

Cricket on the GTA's growth borderline

On the way to the ground from the Mount Pleasant GO Transit station, there was a notice that the lands to the west of Creditview Road were to be developed for housing, and would include community service provisions and parks. Closer to the ground were some more signs, noting students from the housing already developed to the east of the road, would be '˜bussed' to nearby schools pending availability of funds to develop schools in the immediate neighbourhood.

These were signs of the expansion of housing, especially in certain suburban parts of the Greater Toronto Area. In visiting some other Brampton area cricket grounds on Saturday , most of which were shared as soccer fields, and some served schools, I noticed the schools had various temporary buildings to accommodate expanding population. The land for the next phase of Brampton development around Mount Pleasant will have been farming land. The Civic Day holiday meant a holiday schedule was in effect. There was no choice in my outward journey to the ground, but the way home was much quicker as two different city bus companies routes took me close to home.

A lot of the development in Brampton is due to new immigrants to Canada, many but not far all from countries with cricketing roots. The soccer games that flourished after the cricket ended were a multi-cultural testimony to that. In recent years, the leading Canadian banks, and other leading public corporations, have been taking a greater interest in the diverse populations they can serve, as well as good causes. There are different needs and demands, even from people seemingly, to others, with the same background.

There was background music and some dancers during the cricket. Someone who was playing a game made a quiet comment about some of the words in certain songs not being appropriate. Others might have been rapping along with the same sounds.

It's a pity there were not more people at the event, but behind the scenes various people can work towards future events to promote multi-culturalism and tolerance for our diversities, and similarities, through sport and cricket. Behind the scenes work that would involve on quantifying infrastructure costs for cricket and other sports so there are better facilities for playing, watching and even for reporting on events like this tournament.

A new look at artificial grass

On Sunday, I spent part of the day in Mississauga at the Canadian Under-16 National Field Hockey Championships. They played on artificial grass, but it was a much improved version from some of the original types of unforgiving artificial surfaces used for soccer. There was '˜give' in the ground. It can be used for soccer as well as field hockey in the configuration at the Iceland Complex. And it potentially would provide a much better outfield for cricket than most, if not, all the surfaces I saw used this weekend. It is fairly expensive, but I was told the cost is coming down as more fields make use of the particular type of artificial grass.

It would also support multi-use, and perhaps a configuration might be created with two rectangular fields (for soccer, rugby, football, field hockey) with a cricket square in between.

Another Tournament with trappings Canadian cricket should embrace.

Monday's 8th Annual ICCC event infrastructure was supported by some tents '“ RBC and Scotia brought their own branded tents, both played in coloured shirts '“ there was a generator to create some power used to keep food hot, keep the music and announcements going, and for the one scorer who brought his own computer and printer. Overall there are still photos and DVD footage for a range of games, plus plenty of ideas on how to use them.

BUT'¦it takes time, effort and planning to bring things together. However, there is a will and a way can be found.




Eddie Norfolk

How cricket can conquer the world (Independent, UK) -- Posted Monday, August 3 2009
Dom Joly
One of the problems with being married to a Canadian is that I so often have to defend the sport of cricket. "What is the deal?" asks my ice hockey loving brother-in-law.

"You're seriously telling me that you can watch a match that lasts five days and ends in a draw?" I attempt to fight my corner but it's a difficult thing to do when faced with complete ignorance. So imagine my surprise as I was cycling around Stanley Park in Vancouver and came across a game of cricket.

The fact that I was cycling was a big enough surprise – Vancouver has that effect on you. Everyone is rollerblading or jogging or cycling – on their way to a hike or a 10-mile swim or a touch of zip-lining. Anyway, I cycle round a corner admiring the city skyline over the bay when I come across the surreal scene of a cricket match. This isn't some weird one-off set up by gung-ho tourists. It's a proper pitch with two proper teams playing a proper match. I make some enquiries and it turns out that Vancouver has a huge community from the subcontinent and they are all mad keen on the game.

Full article

Morning Cricket Warriors Soldier to Victories in the Flower City -- Posted Sunday, August 2 2009
Eddie Norfolk

The sun made an appearance over the grounds surrounding the Powerade Centre in the ‘Flower City’, Brampton, Ontario on Saturday morning. This made a change from the recent deluges which dented the previous weekend’s cricket in the Toronto area, as well as during the week. A couple of hours earlier, I printed off schedules for the various GTA cricket leagues, some notes on ground locations and took off to see some of the local action.

The Warriors and the Gladiators were on the new Brampton League’s junior schedule for the Powerade Centre grounds, also signposted and described on various maps as the Brampton Sports Grounds. The Powerade tag was originally given to the arena the Bramptons Battalion of Ontario Hockey League call home. As do the Brampton Excelsiors who play indoor senior lacrosse in the arena.

Brampton Rugby Club makes its home on some of the fields to the north of the arena. It also has a clubhouse which those following the direction signs inside the ground pass before reaching the three cricket fields.

On arrival, a match was in progress on the lower ground between the Oakville Soldiers and the Toronto Warriors. This was in the Canadian Professional Cricket Inter-City Cup. The Soldiers were batting, a wicket fell soon after my arrival and a score of 47 was shouted out to those on the field.

I setup camp at one end of the ground, then moved up the hill on a mowed passage between the natural vegetation where a coaching and training camp was being conducted on one field and the match between the Warriors and the Gladiators was in progress on the other.

There were already some other players at the grounds, and more continued to arrive as the morning progressed. In addition to a Brampton-Etobicoke & District Cricket League match between the Mississagua Wolves and the Mississagua Crease, I found out that a six-a-side tournament was being staged.

On the lower pitch, a drive to long-on saw a Toronto fielder have the agony of a missed catch bounce over the boundary for six. It was followed by a couple more powerful drives for four and then six (over the long-off fielder) as the Oakville side moved on to a total of 141 for 9 from 20 overs.

Toronto Warriors began batting around 10.15 am. An early wicket fell, so it was time to get a closer look at some of the training and drills up the hill, as well as a progress check on the Warriors-Gladiators junior match. The Gladiators had scored 159 in 20 overs. A score made for the loss of 1 wicket, but at certain stages batsmen are retired not out in order to ensure other players get the chance to bat. A clear developmental philosophy.

Training came to an end for the other set of youngsters. Preparations began for the six-a-side tournament, while the juniors coach, Balbir Mataharoo, had discussions with the youngsters. He was looking at the bats each of the players had been using. It might be a tough sell to persuade some of the kids that using a full-size bat named after a cricketing hero might not be the right bat to use.

Down the hill, the Toronto Warriors were 45 for seven wickets. One wicket had fallen to a “really good catch” by a close fielder, but three others had been run outs and a couple of others were “up-and-unders” that pretty much went straight up and were comfortably caught when they came down. Perhaps some might blame the rugby posts to the west of this ground for swatting the ball up into the air.

Up the hill, the scorer shouted out, to any listening, “that’s the hundred” for the Warriors of the Brampton League. Well on the way, it seemed, to reaching a target of 160 from 20 overs. Just one batsman had been out. So back to the Toronto Warriors where a wicket fell. The end must be nigh, I thought.

One batsman decided not to go for an easy single, perhaps thinking victory depended on him keeping the strike and scoring almost all the runs. But it did not seem likely he would polish off these runs, and he might have been caught in the slip cordon, but the ball skimmed just above and between second and third slips.

Obviously the Oakville Soldiers captain thought dismissing either of what proved the last wicket pair should not be difficult. He set a field more common in first class cricket; three or four slips, a gulley (or two gulleys), and point. The cut/steer over the slips brought a couple of runs, but next over, one of the batsman looked inquisitively behind his bat. Yes, the ball had gone by. It had hit the stumps. End of game. Toronto Warriors all out for 54. Oakville Soldiers 141 for 9 brought victory by 87 runs.

Opening bat Harjit Sidhu made 43 for the Soldiers, but Preet Singh’s 42 and a wicket gave him the Man-of-the-Match award. Warriors Samul took 3 wickets for 12 runs from his 4 overs. Naved made 18 of the losing total of 54. And as the scoring highlights were gathered, the Soldiers took off to play wherever, and several of the Warriors headed out, around 11.30 am, for action in the Scarborough League, in Toronto’s eastern side from the Brampton/Mississagua boundary, to Toronto’s west.

The Brampton League Warriors had a better day than their CPC Inter-City League namesakes. The young Warriors reached a winning 162 for 2 after 19 overs. So some good scoring and batting in this game.

In the Gladiators innings of 159 for 1 wicket (20 overs), Arpit lead with 67 not out. Aniker made 20 not out before being retired, which gave Kamal the chance to make 22 not out. Manny lead the Warriors response with 66, before being run out. Sarhil also reached 22 not out and Shawn helped wrap-up the win with 30 not out.

A pre-tournament meeting of all the players was held before the first game of the six-a-side event began, and when I left the ground, the Mississauga Wolves and Mississauga Crease were about to start a scheduled Brampton-Etobicoke & District Cricket League match.

The sun had come out, and I was feeling pretty cooked. But it was time to move on to a different ground or two. I was even more cooked, and tired, when passing the Powerade Centre some time after 5pm. I dozed off on the Brampton bus which became the deciding factor in not going to see how the Wolves-Crease game and the Six-a-side tournament were progressing, or to stop off at a couple of other cricket grounds, or even the National Under-16 field hockey championships, in Mississauga on the way home.

The Brampton League junior game brought me into contact with the Sandeep and Sanjay who have been advertising the Australian Cricket Academy. I settled for just seeing one ‘new’ (to me) ground in Brampton and a ‘family’ cricket event, as someone described it to me. But the softball cricket event had lots of trophies, some spectators and I will try and track down the outcome. It looked like the ‘family’ was the family of human kind, getting together to enjoy sport, music and food together on a sunny day in peace and harmony.

The favoured place for the spectators was under the canopy on the east side of the ground. It provided some shade. A cheer went up as the announcer advised the next batch of water and soft drinks had arrived for players and spectators.

In the league game on the other ground at Springdale (ignoring the technicality that the two cricket grounds are alternatively used as four soccer grounds), a score of 118 for 4 wickets after 40 overs had seen an implosion to 127 all out.

Some visiting seagulls stopped by to watch that game from the cross-bar of one set of goalposts. It just goes to prove that cricket can be for all in the mysterious Great White North.