Canadian 2008 Inter-Provincial Tournament Announced
At last, Canada will have an annual national championship, which will pit the best players in the country against one another.
Not only that but the smaller provinces such as Mamitoba and Saskatchewan have thankfully been included and two all-stars matches are also scheduled.
Full details are included in this PDF link from the CCA.
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Global Cricket
I thought it was about time I started my own blog. I have followed associate and affiliate cricket since 1998. Tony Munro’s BTTW column was a great inspiration. Global Cricket will specifically focus on the non-test playing cricket nations of the world. At present there are 91 countries that have associate or affiliate membership of The International Cricket Council. Most of these nations aspire to play at the highest level. How are they bridging the gap in standards? Do they have good facilities, strong development programs and sound administrative practices in place? There is a need for cricket to embrace a more diverse cultural outlook if it is to prosper in the future. The ICC’s global development program was first initiated in 1997 and began to really take shape after the 2001 ICC Trophy in Toronto, Canada. Although a new cricketing powerhouse is yet to emerge, it is clear that standards are improving dramatically and in time more nations will be able to compete with the 10 full members. I will be featuring newspaper articles of interest, opinion pieces and articles written by myself and some ideas about expanding the game. Please feel free to comment.-Ben Stinga
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Recent Comments
Yes, the Inter-provincials are back for the first time since 2005 and only the second time in about 12 years. It is good that Saskatchewan is included as well as the new National Cricket Academy team. However, the format is changed from 50 overs to T20 (or some other short format). Is this the best way for the selectors to see talent for the national team – 5 overs/bowler and the batsmen swinging away? Some of the larger leagues seem to be emphasizing T20 so perhaps the CCA sees the shorter format as the way of the future.
I don’t think it matters too much Ray.
I reckon 20/20 is more difficult to play than 50 over cricket. Many will disagree I know.
It’s a shame that no team from the Atlantic provinces is included. The CCA were keen to announce that Prince Edward Island had joined the CCA, so why no team from there? Even a combined Atlantic Canada team would be a good start.
Andrew, Canada’s Maritime region has a very small cricketing population. I am aware of only two clubs (one each for Nova Scotia and New Brunswick). I guess PEI would make three. An Atlantic team may be planned for the future but adding Saskatchewan at this time is something positive.
It also seems that Sri Lanka has “adopted” Canada in a similar way to how Australia “adopted” Bangladesh before it gained test status.
I like the idea of Development League matches for the losers of the quarterfinals and semifinals. This ensures that even the weaker teams play the same number of matches in the tournament as the stronger teams and therefore gain experience.
The Canadian interprovincials were played this past weekend (May 17-19) including the Victoria Day holiday. A major Canadian bank, Scotiabank, is the new CCA sponsor and backed the event financially. Seven provinces were represented: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec, Nova Scotia and two teams from Ontario. Ontario B won in the end after rain-affected semi-finals.
CCA seems to have invested considerable time and effort into the tournament. No information on the numbers of spectators but this was probably less than what was hoped for due to cool, wet weather. Will Canada’s immigrant population become fans of Canadian T20? Hard to say … maybe they will try again next year.
So what’s happened to the blog?
Hi Ben,
I see it has been sometimes since the last post.
But user comments are making your cricket blog up to date I sppose. Anyway, for a daily updated cricket questions, chats & discussion you can also try http://worldcricketchats.blogspot.com/
it is basically aggregating questions and answers about cricket user posted to yahooAnswers.
Canadian cricket is really on the up.