Over 40's Finals
The finals of the Over 40s tournament which was held at Upper Brockton on Wednesday, August 6, 2008, turned out to be an excellent evening of cricket. Over 300 runs were scored in an outstanding exhibition of entertaining and well played cricket between Ron Clauzel XI and Anil Khanna XI. The winners will play in the Inter-City Over 40s match against Victoria in late August. R. Clauzel XI: 160 for 6 wkts Pereira 32 n.o., Mann 31 n.o., Pitamber 29, Gilani 23. Anura 2 for 4; Guru 2 for 24. A. Khanna XI: 142 for 9 wkts Anura 41 n.o., Naideep 28, Hiran 21. Mann 3 for 24; Melder 2 for 9; Saqib 2 for 24. Thanks to John Hooker and Lloyd Edwards for umpiring the match and to all those who took part in making this a very successful finale to an enjoyable Over 40s season. Last but not least, many thanks to Cliff Cox for his interest and dedication in running the tournament for so many years.
Cricket's Comeback
History records 1867 not only as the time of Confederation but also the year cricket became our national sport. Sir John A. Macdonald, a visionary on matters both political and sporting, saw the future for the game of googlies and wickets born of the British Empire. Later generations of Canadians left cricket in the dust, seduced by North American passions for baseball, football and hockey; yet Sir John A. was clearly ahead of his time. Last month, the federal government granted formal recognition to cricket once again. To be sure, it will no longer be the sole national sport – merely one among many, with hockey and lacrosse now the undisputed winter and summer national sports, thanks to a 1994 Act of Parliament. But the decision at least clears the way for direct funding – a welcome, if belated, recognition that new waves of immigration from South Asia and the Caribbean, not to mention Australia, Britain and South Africa, have broadened the appeal of cricket far beyond its roots in empire. About 150 schools in the GTA now play cricket, and the Mayor's Youth Team, composed of 12 Toronto-area students from disadvantaged neighbourhoods, will fly to England this summer for a series of matches bankrolled by local donors. Federal funding for Cricket Canada, the recognized sporting body, will begin modestly – some $77,000 for the current season – and can't compare with the $1 million windfall memorably doled out by Queen's Park in 2006 to the Ontario Cricket Association. But that was politics, to put it mildly, and Ottawa's announcement seems more focused on sports, as it should be.
Canadian cricket wins recognition from Ottawa
Propelled by the avid enthusiasm of hundreds of thousands of recent immigrants, cricket has finally come of age in Canada — about 150 years after it was once regarded as the country’s national sport. The federal government announced today it was officially recognizing the sport, elevating its formal stature and making it eligible for much needed public funding. “It’s a tremendous day for cricket,” said Ben Sennik, president of Cricket Canada, the umbrella organization that speaks for the sport and is responsible for the Canadian national team. The recognition, which follows a decade of lobbying, means an immediate grant of $77,000 for 2007-2008. While it’s a modest sum, Sennik could barely contain his delight. “We need every dollar, the way we are developing,” he said. ``In the past, we have been scraping through.” Canada is no stranger to cricket, with reports of games played here as far back as the mid-18th century. The country’s first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, declared it Canada’s national sport in 1867 and Cricket Canada itself was established in 1892. However, the game was quickly overtaken by baseball in importance. In recent years, interest has risen to a new level with the influx of immigrants from cricket-crazy areas such as Pakistan, India and the Caribbean, as well as from other Commonwealth countries such as Australia, South Africa and the U.K. A happy Toronto taxi driver, Ahmad Choudhuri, began pontificating about Canada’s place in the cricket world immediately after hearing about Ottawa’s decision. “They have a lot of good players over here,” said Choudhuri, who played the “gentleman’s game” as a boy in India. “If they want, they can have a really good team. If they get funding, they can get a very good team.” About 40,000 people in Canada are registered as cricket players with their provincial associations — the best of them barely qualifying even as semi-professionals. As many as 50,000 others are estimated to play regularly and schools are increasingly getting in on the game as well. Secretary of State for Sport Helena Guergis welcomed cricket to the Sport Canada fold. “It is an exciting day for cricketers for Cricket Canada as a national sports organization to have the opportunity to be recognized by the federal government,” Guergis said. Cricket Canada used the opportunity to show off the national team’s natty new uniform — grey with a red stripe on the sides of the shirt and pants, with a splash of yellow on the sleeves. National teams from Scotland, Ireland and Bermuda, along with international powerhouse, the West Indies, are all due to visit for games this summer.
Loction:Unwin park 68/133 St. Surrey
Sullivan Heights 72/144 St. Surrey
