Canadian Cricket

Spotlight on Bagai

2007-02-24T21:39:00.000-05:00

Mary Ormsby has written an excellent piece on Canadian wicketkeeper-batsman Ashish Bagai in today's Toronto Star. The young man is quickly becoming a star, and may well end up playing somewhere professionally in the near future if he asserts himself well at the World Cup next month. The lead of the article, along with a picture of Bagai, was on the front page of the Saturday Sports section, which may show a greater interest in cricket by the editorial staff of the Star.

The full text of the article can be found here - my favourite line appears as a caption to the photo, "I am an Indian person, but I'm a Canadian athlete." Really sums up the right attitude to have as an expat cricketer!!!

World Cricket League Report Card

2007-02-08T00:53:00.000-05:00

Considering everything that went on for Canada at the World Cricket League tournament in Nairobi, we basically got what we expected. We beat Bermuda, picked up another close win, and were reasonably competitive overall. We ended up missing the finals, but picking up some valuable experience heading into the World Cup in just over a month from now.

As a team, I've got to give Canada a B-: they did well, but not quite well enough to earn a top grade. A record of 2-3 over the tournament could just as well have been 4-1, with a few edges going the other way against Scotland, and a different situation against Kenya. That being said, they didn't, and we have to consider the results as they are. Now you'll see my evaluation of the individual players' performances.

Qaiser Ali - C - His high score of 60 against Ireland was an integral part of Canada's win, but he only managed 9 additional runs in 3 innings. He will be in the competition to stay in the lineup with the return of Barnett and Billcliff for the WC, and did nothing to distinguish himself here.

Ashish Bagai - A+ - It's pretty easy to evaluate a player when he is given the player of the tournament award at the closing banquet. He averaged 86.50 runs, with a high score of137, and was as good as ever whilst wearing the gloves. Hopefully he can continue with this form into the future, as he is becoming a star. Also a candidate for the captaincy in the future.

Umar Bhatti - B- - A difficult tour for Umar, he battled injury throughout and bowled decently when he had the chance. He could have been better, but could also have been much worse. I can't help but think he was hurt by the inclusion of Anderson Cummins as an opener, as his tandem with Osinde seemed unstoppable in the summer.

Desmond Chumney - D- - Only charity stopped me from giving an F here. When you are selected as a batsman, you cannot have a high score of 8. I have heard a lot about his potential, but he needs to show me (and the selectors) something if he wants to keep wearing Red and White.

George Codrington - B - Big George had a decent tour, doing his thing as an all-rounder. He bowled tight lines, made some runs, and served as a strong vice-captain to Davison. His years are likely coming to a close soon, but he is still able to produce an innings with the best of them.

Austin Codrington - C - This Codrington didn't get much playing time, only appearing in one match in the tournament. When he did, it was not memorable, as he went for plenty of runs and no wickets. It seems the powers that be favour the older Cummins, and that is bad news for Codrington, seeing as Bhatti and Osinde are shoo-ins.

Anderson Cummins - D - Eyebrows were raised when this man was named to the squad, and my eyebrows were on the back of my head when I noticed how many chances he was given. His bowling was erratic, he gave away heaps of extras, and he was just not good enough.

John Davison - B+ - Davison continues to do his thing as jack-of-all-trades for Canada. He captains well, he bats elegantly, and he bowls tightly. He also made a move many of us have been calling for for some time - moving himself down to the 4 spot in the order. Hopefully he will continue to have success from there; and give batsmen fits with his spinners.

Sunil Dhaniram - A - It was a great tournament for Dhani, especially with the ball. He was on fire, picking up 8 wickets at 15.38, and chipped in with the bat as well. Along with Davison, he will be the man to get us through the middle overs in ODIs without giving up runs.

Donovan Maxwell - D - Had trouble with bat and ball when he had the chance. He will have a tough time retaining his spot on the team at the World Cup with the readdition of the Killer B's.

Asif Mulla - B - Batted decently enough, averaging 23.80 and maintaining a run rate near 100. Also served as a decent backup for Bagai with the gloves, which could prove important as Bagai takes on a greater batting role. He may be better off batting at 5-6, as he can give the ball a mighty whack.

Henry Osinde - A- - He was Canada's leading wickettaker, grabbing 9 at 26.56. The only downfall of his game was that he was not as economical as he would have liked. Still, he is probably Canada's top strike bowler and a valuable commodity.

Abdool Samad - C+ - Batted well against Ireland and Scotland, poorly against the rest. Nothing more to be said here.

Kevin Sandher - B- - Got limited playing time as he had to split time with George Codrington. Really didn't get to see enough of him to give him a real rating here, but he did decently enough when given a chance.

In totally unrelated news, I'm starting a new blog which will be my discussion of all manner of sports. Cricket may creep on there at times, but I'm sure you'll all find my musings interesting. Check it out, and let me know what you think. Cheers!

WCL Division 1: Canada v Bermuda

2007-02-02T09:01:00.000-05:00

10:10 am EST
It. Is. OVER. The double-Ds of Davison and Dhaniram cleaned up the tail neatly. First Davison took Borden, caught and bowled with his first ball. Then Dhaniram picked up Mukuddem and Leverock lbw on consecutive balls. Bermuda 106 all out (15.5 overs) and Canada pick up a win by 56 runs. REally great bowling effort from Dhaniram finishing on figures of 2.5-1-10-4 and he should be MOTM in my books. THe only effort that could potentially trump him woudl be Davison's batting. In any case, Canada pick up their first win of the WCL!

9:56 am EST
SUNIL DHANIRAM! A double-wicket-maiden is great in any form of cricket, but in this super short game it is spectacular! After Irving Romaine was run out in the previous over, Dhaniram comes on and catches Tucker lbw and then gets Jones to edge one to Bagai - all of a sudden Bermuda are struggling at 89/7 after 12 overs, with a run rate over 8. Dont' count them out though, everyone in this Bermuda lineup can whack the ball! Seems the spinners are having better luck with the ball as Codrington just finished a 5 run over. Bermuda 94/7 after 13, RRR of 8.62

9:48 am EST
This one is getting interesting. The required run rate is still around 7 (actually, exactly 7), but another wicket is down as George Codrington comes through gettin David Hemp out stumped. JJ Tucker is their last real batsman, and he is in now. Looking like a similar innings to Canada's - quick early, slowed by wickets, the big question is if one of the early batsmen can go the distance like Davison did. Bermuda are 86/4 from 10 overs.

9:30 am EST
Henry Osinde just picked up a huge wicket, bowling Lionel Cann. He has been the cause of most of the destruction, scoring 41 of Bermuda's 64 runs thus far (off just 19 balls). Perhaps I have been too critical of Anderson Cummins, as he is bowling very well so far. Bermuda have now reached 70/3 after 7 overs, RRR = 6.64. Trouble for Canada

9:15 am EST
This is Twenty20 for you (technically Twentyone21). Bermuda pick up another heap of runs, Canada pick up a wicket. Smith caught by Dhaniram off Cummins, and after 4 overs Bermuda are 34/2. Still a very balanced match, with the RRR sitting on 7.64

9:05 am EST
Canada's third match of the WCL, against Bermuda is currently underway from the Nairobi Gymkhana. With heavy rain the previous night, the outfield was far too wet to permit any play until the afternoon. As such, the match has been reduced to a 21-over-a-side match rather than the usual 50. Eddie Norfolk, for one, believes the match should not have been played at all as there are still some puddles in the outfield, and the boundary had to be moved in at one point to exclude a "swamp" as he called it. Nonetheless, the match is being played.

Bermuda won the toss and put Canada in to bat first. Skipper John Davison did what this blogger has been saying he should do for a while - drop himself to third in the batting order. It worked, as he amassed 70 runs off just 49 balls. Nobody was really able to help him out, but he led Canada to a respectable total of 163/8 off the allotted overs. The best bowler was Malachi Jones who took 2/25 off 5 overs.

In reply Bermuda are 16/1 after 2 overs. They started with a bang, a 6 and a 4 in the first over, but then much-beleaguered Anderson Cummins induced a Minors edge to Bagai in the second. Stay right here for the latest.

WCL Division 1: Canada v Scotland

2007-01-31T01:07:00.000-05:00

Last night was extremely disappointing, both for me and for Canada. With the delay in coverage, I fell asleep, and then Canada layed the egg that they did, going down to an awful defeat to the Netherlands. Hopefully tonight against Scotland will go better. 20 minutes till game time, and hopefully there are no more technical issues from Kenya. Put up some comments, and if I manage to stay awake I'll put up some thoughts here.

Get rid of the geezers!

2007-01-30T11:22:00.000-05:00

That was just poor, time to rant.

It is not fair to pin all of Canada's recent ODI struggles on one man, but it is also impossible to ignore the typical odd manner in which the CCA's selection committee chooses the players for the side. I have tried to be patient, to not overly criticize them for the job they do, but this is the final straw.

When they named 40-year-old former West Indies bowler Anderson Cummins to the squad, eyebrows were raised. I tried to calm the other people I spoke with, hoping that they would be using him more like an additional coach than as a featured bowler - I couldn't have been more wrong. Cummins has become - for some reason - a fixture in the Canadian XI on their current African tour. He has taken a place in the lineup that could have been held by a much younger man, perhaps Austin Codrington, and has done nothing to deserve it. Some would blame the captain, or the coach, but it is already well-known that it is the selectors who choose the team for Canada.

What has the great Cummins done since his insertion? He has played in 4 matches. He has batted three times.......and scored a grand total of 1 run. Oh that's alright, he's not supposed to score, he's a gun bowler and that's where he wil make his contribution. Oops, not that either- 3 wickets at an average of 61.00, with an economy of 6.54 runs/over.

Not good enough.

Now I don't blame the man himself - if I were to get selected for a trip to Africa I would take it too. The blame rests on the selectors whose knowledge of cricket seems to be limited to a time ending about 10 years ago. There are other similar choices made - such as Desmond Chumney's 20.47 batting average being preferred to Don Maxwell's 37.25. I do not understand why Canada continues to handicap itself and not field it's best possible team...

All this having been said, it still would have been very difficult for Canada to beat the Netherlands on this day. Ryan ten Doeschate is a spectacular player with bat and ball, and his supporting cast makes them a formidable team on any day. My problem is with the fact that Canada does not give itself the best chance possible to win by playing players for political reasons rather than purely 'cricket' reasons as they should.

....well, that feels better. Let's go beat Scotland tonight!

WCL Round 1: Canada v Netherlands

2007-01-30T00:49:00.000-05:00

Well, it seems as though all the internet in Nairobi is down. Neither CricketEurope nor Cricinfo have any scores coming out, and we should be 20 minutes into play. I've got the coffee pot on, and I'm going to try my darndest to make it through at least the majority of this match, but if they don't get going soon I'm going to head off to bed. CricketEurope will have live scores, so head over there if you want to get those. Here you'll get a healthy dose of Canadian fandom (as opposed to more neutral pieces I publish on CE). The big question for Canada will be if they can get good contributions from BOTH the bowlers and batsmen on the same day. If they do, they can beat anyone. If they don't, they can lose to anyone. Stay tuned!

World Cricket League Division 1

2007-01-28T21:25:00.000-05:00

Sorry I haven't posted on here in awhile. We've been quite busy working on CricketEurope, and getting things up and running there with the Canada section. In any case, I'll hopefully be posting on here more often as we head through the WCL and up to the World Cup.

The World Cricket League Division 1 tournament kicks off in about 4 hours in Nairobi, Kenya and it promises to be a very exciting time. All six of the top associates are there and will play a single round-robin, before the top two teams play the finals for the trophy. Both finalists will also earn a spot along with the Test teams in next year's Twenty20 world cup. Canada come into the tournament just rounding into form, having won the last game of the tri-series over Kenya and also a warm-up match against Uganda. They also have seen the return of Umar Bhatti from injury, and hopefully he and Henry Osinde can wreak some havoc with the opposing batsmen!

CricketEurope will be covering the tournament comprehensively, and will be covering the majority of the matches LIVE. Feel free to post any comments here and I'll respond to them as best I can. Here's Canada's match schedule:

January 30 - Canada v Netherlands
January 31 - Canada v Scotland
February 2 - Canada v Bermuda
February 4 - Ireland v Canada
February 5 - Kenya v Canada
February 7 - FINALS?

CricketEurope Canada Launch

2006-09-25T00:23:00.000-04:00

If you've noticed I haven't updated in a while, the reason is twofold. Firstly, there is not much going on presently in Canadian National cricket, as the summer season has concluded. The second reason though is that I have been working on the new Canada section on CricketEurope. This expansion is seeking to make CE the best coverage of associate cricket in the world. It also includes a section on Kenya, edited by our friend Nick Deverell and a section on Bermuda which is being run by Andrew Nixon. Our pages include both international and domestic coverage, and I will be covering the Premier and First divisions of the Toronto & District, BC Mainland, and Calgary & District Leagues. Hopefully this will be a successful venture and lead to much more available information on non-Test cricket.

As for this blog, I will keep it going but it will become more of an opinion page with the information side moving to CricketEurope. When there is live coverage, for example, that will take place on CE, but then my personal thoughts as to who played well and how the crowd could have been better would appear here. So keep popping by here, and head over to CricketEurope and read all the great writing and coverage there.

Canada fall to Bermuda

2006-09-08T21:43:00.000-04:00

For the second time in as many matches, the Canadian Women's team failed to chase a reachable target and lost to Bermuda. This loss means that Bermuda win the series 2-1 and proceed to the World Cup Qualifying Tournament, while Canada will be left pondering what went wrong for them.

Bermuda won the toss and chose to bat, and you had to think it was advantage Canada throughout their innings. Opener Britney Marshall made only 19 runs today, and the highest score posted was Terry-Lynn Paynter with 21 runs. Canada bowled out Bermuda for just 127 runs and had to feel the game was intheir grasp at that point. The total could have been much lower but for some inaccurate bowling by the home side as a whopping 45 extras were gifted to Bermuda.

Again, as the only source I have is Islandstats there are no details available about the Canadian innings. Needless to say, they had a disappointing innings and were bowled out just 3 runs shy of the target. Canada will have to be bitterly disappointed in the result of this series. They won the first match and then failed to chase low targets of 160 and 128 in the subsequent contests.

More details on the Canadian innings whenever they are available. Last time they were posted 2 days later.

Bermuda even the series in Victoria

2006-09-05T23:38:00.000-04:00

On Monday, the Bermudian women's team bounced back to even the series with Canada at a game each. The series, the winner of which goes to the final World Cup qualifiers, will be decided on Friday September 8th in Victoria when the third and final one-day match is played.

Bermuda won the toss and chose to bat first. It looked for a while like a disastrous choice as Canada's bowlers came out like gangbusters. Bermuda was reeling at 41-6 and it was looking like an early day for the home side. But opener Britney Marshall was stubborn and would not go down. She marshalled the tail masterfully and added an unbeaten 86 runs in taking Bermuda to 159 all out in 41 overs. Not a great total, but one which could be defended by the visitors.

Canada's innings also started poorly and, though I wasn't there, I assume it was a bowler's pitch. After 32 overs Canada were 75-6. From there it was an uphill battle to get to the target. Wickets continued to fall and the last one was a simple run out. Canada finished 135 all out from 45.4 overs. Reuna Richardson led the bowlers taking 3 wickets for 24 runs. Chevonne Furbert and Terry-Lynn Paynter each contributed 2-19.

So it all comes down to the 3rd match on Friday. Hopefully it is a good one, and hopefully more information is available. The reason I have more information about Bermuda's batting and bowling is because that is all Islandstats publishes. Again, if anyone is around Victoria and could somehow get scores and information to me, it would be much appreciated.

Canada beat Bermuda in World Cup Qualifier

2006-09-03T15:31:00.000-04:00

On the women's side, that is. Yesterday in Victoria, BC, Canada took the first of three one-day matches and have already done better than their male counterparts did against the Bermudians. Bermuda won the toss and chose to bat first. They started well, but Canada's bowlers made a strong comeback to bowl out the visitors for 201 runs off of just 41.1 overs. Claire Abbott led the Canadian attack taking 4 wickets for 32 runs. Reuna Richardson was the best bat for Bermuda scoring 61 not out.

Canada's reply was a patient one, and they reached their target, scoring 203 for 5 wickets from 46.1 overs. A very balanced batting innings from Canada, as their top scorer was Kim Coulter with 31 runs. Ave Mogan and Helene Gaffney both contributed 27 to the cause.

This result is a welcome one, and it's nice to hear some news about the women's team. As with the men's team, there seems to be little recognition of this event outside the cricket community. Also, as I am quite a distance from Victoria, I am unable to find anything out beyond the pieces posted on Canada Cricket's website. If there is anyone out there who is reading this, feel free to fire up a comment about what the crowds were like. The next match goes tomorrow, September 4th. The winner of this three-match series will go to the 2009 Women's World Cup

The good news from the Americas Championships

2006-08-30T12:21:00.000-04:00

I mentioned in my previous entry that there were some positives to be taken out of the largely disappointing performance from the Canadian side in the Americas Championships of last week. I'll take some time now to elaborate on them.

Canada has located a fine batsman in Sandeep Jyoti. This young man opened the batting along with John Davison in each of the matches of the tournament and did so very well. He batted with style and tact, and put up good scores while avoiding early wickets. It is unknown whether he will remain an opener heading into the world cup with the possibility of Geoff Barnett rejoining the team, but he should surely be a top-order batsman moving forward.

Canada have found two new pace options. While we surely missed Umar Bhatti and Henry Osinde during this tournament, Steve Welsh and Austin Codrington performed admirably, and have both thrown their names into the hat for being the third (and maybe fourth?) pacers included on the world cup squad. Both for the most part - that is, not including the Bermuda match - bowled economically and took a few wickets as well. Having one of them come in as the third man after Bhatti and Osinde open should make for a lethal combination.

Finally, Canada have found some new wicketkeeping options. Not to say that Ashish Bagai is not and should not be our number one, but it is nice to have some other options in case he is unable to go for some reason. Kendon Ottley and Surendra Seeraj both did well behind the stumps, even if they weren't at their best in front of them. As I say, I still believe Bagai is the top man for the job - a good keeper who bats third is hard to come by - but taking one of these other young men along is a neceesity in case of injury.

So we can see that even though Canada finished disappointed in the tournament, it served the purpose selectors were using it for. They tried out some new bodies and identified some new talents to use in the forthcoming winter campaign. Canada have some time off now, with their next matches coming in an ODI triseries with Bermuda and The Netherlands in South Africa beginning in late November. They then have the Intercontinental Cup match against The Neteherlands before they participate in WCL Division 1 in Kenya early next year. I'll keep my ear to the ground for any news and will put it - and my opinions - right here.

Canada beat USA in finale

2006-08-26T17:17:00.000-04:00

On a much warmer, sunnier day in King City, Canada pummeled the United States to stifle any hopes of a title. The USA's top order was never doing well, and their bottom-order did nothing to bail them out. When the dust had settled it was a comprehensive 10 wicket victory for the home side.

Canada won the toss and captain John Davison decided to field first. Things started well for Canada as Nadkarni's wicket fell for just 4 total runs when Jyoti took an easy catch. The USA looked as though they had stabilized, but then Davison called his own number. He dislodged Roopnarine by bowlig him with a glorious armball, and the collapse was imminent. Two balls later, American captain Steve Massiah was run out on a miscommunication between the two batsmen. A little later, Steven Welsh took two wickets on consecutive balls and they were into the tail. Kevin Sandher helped clean it up taking 3 wickets leg before on identical balls, moving in and catching the knee after the batsman had given up on it. Steve Pitter was the last of these, and the USA were all out for a paltry 116. John Davison led the bowling attack, taking 3-21 from 8 overs. Sandher was not far behind with 3-24 off 8.4 overs.

Canada came right in to start the chase, and chased famously. John Davison and Sandeep Jyoti made a great start and kept it coming, as they raced towards the target. The only thing that could interrupt them was the lunch interval as they competed to get to 50 first. Davison won the race, ending up on 62 runs off 54 balls including six 4s and a 6. For the second day in a row, Jyoti was stranded just short of a 50, as he made 44 off 50 balls including 7 boundaries. He won't be too upset though, as he helped Canada make their target in just 16.3 overs. That SHOULD give Canada enough run rate to pass Cayman Islands and finish 3rd in this tournament. It's not what they wanted, but there are a lot of positives to take out of the week. I'll write about them tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed the live coverage on BigCricket and CricketEurope, I'll be continuing with that next year whenever there are matches near me.

Canada WIN A GAME!!!

2006-08-25T23:59:00.000-04:00

Canada 140-1 (21.3 overs) (Davison 53, Jyoti 46*, Lord 1-36) defeat Argentina 182-8 (50 overs) (A Ferguson 52*, Forrester 43, Welsh 2-18, A Codrington 2-33) by 9 wickets (D/L)

Canada finally broke their one-day drought today as they battled the elements and Argentina at King City. Canada put Argentina in to bat first and restricted them to 182 runs from their 50 overs. Steven Welsh was the pick of Canada's bowlers, taking 2 wickets for just 18 runs from 10 overs of work. There was a 45 minute rain delay during Argentina's innings, but no time was lost as lunch was taken early.

Canada's innings was shortened by rain, and after the delay at 6.4 overs, they were set a revised target of 138 runs to win from 33 overs. Canada made this target easily, cruising to 140-1 from just 21.3 overs. John Davison made a rapid 53 off just 34 balls before he was caught smartly at point by MacDermott. Sandeep Jyoti and Ashish Bagai both made good contributions of 46 and 26 respectively, both not out.

So Canada moves on with some positive momentum to the USA match tomorrow. It is an important one for the Americans as a win by a large margin would give them the trophy. But it's always an important match when Canada and the USA meet up. I will be there once again covering the match ball-by-ball, commentary and scores can be found at www.cricketeurope.com . Also, find the discussion thread on gameday at www.bigcricket.com . The weather looks alright, variable cloudiness until around 3:00, followed by overcast skies. The showers look as though they will hold off until the evening. See you there tomorrow!

Canada v Argentina LIVE SCORES

2006-08-24T13:58:00.000-04:00

I will be continuing the LIVE scores from all Canada's matches at the ICC Americas Championships on Friday when Canada take on Argentina. My coverage is moving again, this time to Cricket Europe. The good people there have offered me the use of their scoring and commentary software which will make it easier for me and will get more information across. Just click the link and find the box in the corner with the Canada score, and click the link there.

Argentina are coming off some solid batting performances, and have to be reasonably satisfied with their performances so far. Canada, on the other hand, have to be disappointed with their recent one-day results having lost all the matches in their home season so far. This is the best chance Canada have to actually win one, as their final match of this tournament is Saturday against a USA team that has looked very good.

The weather doesn't look the greatest, as there are showers forecast on and off throughout the day. Hopefully they hold off though and we can at least get a reasonable amount of play in. Play begins at 10:30 EDT - I'll see you there.

Canada continue to wallow at the crease

2006-08-22T20:27:00.000-04:00

It was going to be different today. Canada were clear favourites heading in, having seen the Cayman Islands get walloped by the Americans yesterday. When John Davison and Sandeep Jyoti strode to the wicket, it was going to be a big session for them, and Canada would put up a formidable total.

It wasn't.

Canada once again struggled mightily in their batting and failed to break 200 runs for the fourth time in five home one-day matches this season. Canada was lazy with the bat, and that resulted in a series of edges and clean bowlings seeing them reduced to 46-5 when captain Davison was retired. The wickets continued to fall, and it was only a wonderful, strong innings by George Codrington that allowed Canada to post any kind of score. Granted, the pitch was green, and quite wet in the morning, which lead to a lot of movement off the seam. However Canada had to realize this after seeing a couple of men taken out, and should have been more vigilant in their defending. Say what you will about Codrington, but this man is a solid batsman and a gutsy man! He was treated for a knock on the hand about midway through his innings but continued to rack up runs and try to save Canada. At lunch, he made a trip to the hospital and came back with tape on the fingers - a fracture and possibly ruptured tendons - a good old Canadian boy, playing through the pain!!! Eventually though, he ran out of partners and Canada was all out for 187. Another note here, Canada have yet to make it through 50 overs of batting in a one-day during this home season.

The pitch started changing around the 35th over of Canada's innings, and continued to do so through lunch. The wetness went away as the sun came up and quite strong winds began to blow. By the time the Caymans came to bat, it was a much more batsman-friendly place to be. The openers took advantage avoiding the early wicket Canada was looking for and got to 56 runs for the first wicket. The second wicket fell quickly thereafter, and Canada thought a collapse was imminent!!! But it wasn't, as the Caymans didn't lose another wicket all day and knocked off the total in just over 40 overs. Canada's bowling was not great, aside from Kevin Welsh who bowled very well. The problem for Canada is that they have left out their top two pace bowlers from this tournament. For some reason unknown to me (and I HOPE it isn't just 'because') both Umar Bhatti and Henry Osinde are not playing this week. Can you imagine an attack where Welsh is the third paceman rather than the first? Looks pretty unstoppable to me...

In any case, high marks to Cayman for doing what they needed to do, starting with winning the toss and having Canada bat first. High marks also to Kevin Welsh and George Codrington for their performances, with ball and bat respectively. The rest of the Canadian side have some work to do. They have time to do it, as Canada has the bye tomorrow and Thursday is a rest day for the tournament. Canada's next action is Friday against Argentina and they have to prepare adequately for it. The Argentine batting proved more than capable as they put up 260-4 against Bermuda today. If Canada's batting comes up lame again they may be fighting for the wooden spoon rather than the trophy.

A valiant effort falls just shy

2006-08-21T19:42:00.000-04:00

On a day with runs being scored by everyone, Canada fell just 12 runs shy when the final wicket had fallen. Bermuda batted well throughout the morning session to put up a formidable 272 runs, leaving Canada to chase that in that total in the afternoon. Canada started wonderfully with captain John Davison and debutant Sundeep Jyoti who put up the first 50 runs in under 10 overs. Davison lost Jyoti there, but kept going with Bagai and they had Canada at 91 runs when Davison popped on up and was caught. At this point, Canada slowed down in their run rate dramatically, perhaps fearing another collapse like they have suffered in ODIs recently. However, they would need to crank it up if they wanted to win this one.

Abdool Samad and Ian Billcliff built a strong partnership of 70 runs for the fourth wicket, and Canada were in it. Billcliff was joined by George Codrington, and they had both found their stroke and looked as though they would see Canada to their total with time to spare. However, what would have been another boundary landed in the hands of Cann off the bat of Billcliff, and a couple of bad running decisions by the Canadians resulted in 2 runouts. The second of these, Steven Welsh was extremely close, and from my vantage point looked safe. But the umpire gave it out, and that was a huge 9th wicket. It came down to the final over with Canada's 10 and 11 batsmen looking to score 12 runs. With Bermudans all around the boundary, Kevin Sandher came close, his big slog came up about 10 feet short and was easily caught by Lionel Cann at the long-on boundary. Canada were lead by Billcliff (59) and Davison (55), Bermuda's top bowlers were Hasan Durham (4-45) and George O'Brien (3-62). Bermuda's bats were lead by Iriving Romaine's 101, the pick of Canada's bowlers was Austin Codrington who took 3-31 in 9 overs. Steven Welsh was a little disappointing in his debut, 68 runs from 8 overs (no wickets) and only 2 runs with the bat.

Canada need to forget about this result, but remember their batting performances moving into their second game of the tournament against Cayman Islands tomorrow. I will once again have live scores, whether here on this blog or on BigCricket (the link is in the sidebar).

Bermuda on top at lunch

2006-08-21T14:03:00.000-04:00

At lunch, Bermuda finish their innings at 272-7. Irving Romaine led them with 101 off 111 balls. Canada's attack was led by Austin Codrington who took 3-31 in 9 overs. Canada need to get a solid batting innings to have any chance at winning this one. Live updates and scores at BigCricket.

Bermuda Innings

Outerbridge c Seeraj b A Codrington ..23 (37b 3x4, 0x6)
O'Brien c Seeraj b A Codrington ..........0 (6b, 0x4, 0x6)
Tucker c Davison b A Codrington .......14 (21b, 3x4, 0x6)
Romaine c Welsh b Samad ..............101 (111b, 12x4, 5x6)
Mukuddem c sub b Sandher...............18 (47b, 3x4, 0x6)
Tucker lbw b G Codrington................12 (16b, 1x4, 0x6)
Smith c Billcliff b Davison..................38 (38b, 5x4, 0x6)
Cann not out.................................26 (18b, 3x4, 2x6)
Durham not out..............................10 (8b, 0x4, 1x6)
Extras...........................................20
TOTAL (for 7 wickets; 50 overs).......272

Bowling
A Codrington....9-0-31-3
Welsh.............8-0-68-0
Samad............4-0-26-1
Sandher..........10-0-40-1
Davison...........8-0-56-1
G Codrington....10-2-35-1

Canada v Bermuda - 1st ODI Report

2006-08-19T18:15:00.000-04:00

Canada struggled mightily at the crease AGAIN today and lost by 6 wickets to Bermuda. My full match report can be found here and I was posting live scores there as well. Once again Canada made some silly shots early, and were forced to pay for it. The only thing that kept the game respectable was some very good bowling from Umar Bhatti, John Davison, and Don Maxwell. Canada need to find their batting form earlier on Monday if they are to avoid another series sweep at home. Monday's game is also arguably the most important match in the ICC Americas Championship, as Bermuda and Canada are co-favourites going in. The full scorecard for the match can be found here

On Monday I will once again be posting over-by-over commentary and scores LIVE on BigCricket, feel free to comment in the threads over there, but also here on my own blog. Hopefully I will be happier and more inspired to write after Monday's match.

Canada v Bermuda - 1st ODI Live Scores

2006-08-18T17:26:00.000-04:00

The first ODI - the one that isn't part of the Americas Championship - goes tomorrow at the Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club. A final tuneup for both of these teams, and both have something to work on. Bermuda will want to work on their bowling attack which struggled mightily against Canada in the Intercontinental Cup match. Canada, however, will try to continue their strong batting from the 4-dayer and carry it into the ODI arena, avoiding another embarassment like the ones against Kenya. It will be interesting to see which Canada team shows up tomorrow.

As for the LIVE Scores (as far as I know, the only ones in the world) here is the scoop. Jeff at Big Cricket has arranged for a phone line to allow me to dial in to the internet and provide more frequent and more detailed updates. These updates will appear on the Big Cricket website at www.bigcricket.com. I'll be posting them in this thread and hopefully all the technical stuff will work out well. If for some reason there are technical issues, I will revert to posting here with my mobile, so if it is lunch and there are no posts up on BC, check back here. Looking forward to an exciting day!

Canada v Bermuda Wrap-Up

2006-08-16T08:30:00.000-04:00

As much of a battle as it was for us to find live scores from the game yesterday, it was an even greater battle won by the Canadian side at Maple Leaf CC as they took a commanding lead in Group B of the Intercontinental Cup. Bermuda looked to be headed to a draw, but after a flurry of wickets, Canada were left with 16 overs to chase 57 runs - a total they easily acheived losing just one wicket.

Bermuda's powerful batting duo of Irving Romaine and Clay Smith looked unbeatable at the crease, as they played very safe, patient cricket in an attempt to make the end of the match. After they scored 109 runs for the third wicket, the breakthrough came when Romaine was caught off an Umar Bhatti delivery. Smith would last a while longer, but his partners would have shorter innings as they moved down the order. On a pitch which favoured the batsman on the first day - and didn't change a bit - John Davison tried many things with his bowlers. 8 of the 11 Canadian players had a chance with the ball. The strangest of all: wicketkeeper Ashish Bagai bowled 2 overs - the first two overs he has bowled internationally! After all the different bowlers, it was the stalwarts that took the wickets. After Davison dislodged Smith, Umar Bhatti took the final three wickets for just 19 runs (he was 6-104 in the innings). When the dust had settled, Canada were left 16 overs to score 57 runs for the win.

Canada's chase began with a surprise, captain John Davison stayed in the pavilion. Geoff Barnett and Stewart Heaney strode to the wicket to get the chase underway. It took Canada 54 minutes (12.2 overs) to get to the total. They lost just one wicket, as Heaney's frustrating National Team campaign continued when he edged a Saleem Mukuddem ball to Dwayne Leverock in the slips. Barnett's 33 lead the Canadian team and Ian Billcliff helped him get it home for the victory.

Umar Bhatti was no surprise as he took his second man of the match honours in as many matches in the Intercontinental Cup. His 10 wicket haul included several crucial ones, and his 50 runs were scored in a partnership with Abdool Samad as they took Canada to a massive lead in the first innings. With the 20 points scored from this match, Canada stand in a dominant position in the standings. They now need only first-innings points in the match against the Netherlands in South Africa to guarantee themselves a spot in the final. They may not even need that, depending on what happens in other matches leading up to it.

We now look forward to the ODIs this weekend, leading in to the Americas Championship next week. I will be at all of Canada's games with coverage, and will see what I can do about covering other matches. We're working on an agreement to get my internet hooked up so I can provide totally live coverage (as well as more details in-game). More on that as details are firmed up.

Canada v Bermuda - Day 4 Scores

2006-08-15T09:50:00.000-04:00

LIVE SCORES - (6:00 p.m.)
Match Over
Bermuda 334 & 310
Canada 588 & 60/1

Canada win by 9 wickets

Last Wickets:

L Cann out 30
R Steede out 12
D Leverock out 1

No confirmation as to who batted for Canada, more to come on that tonight. But the result is in, Canada, victorious, by nine wickets. Huge win for Canada, top of the table by far. I'm off to dinner, see you all tonight!

Captain Romaine and former captain Smith have stabilized the Bermudans and are digging in for a long session of defence at the wicket, as the visitors attempt to bat out the day and end this match in a draw. It seems that Romaine is keeping the majority of the strike, perhaps Smith is not feeling comfortable? Still a long way for them to go, and if Canada could pick up a few wickets quickly after lunch it could be a very interesting conclusion. The only wicket to have fallen in the extended morning session was that of Stephen Outerbridge who was caught by Maxwell off the bowling of Osinde.

It will be an exciting day at Maple Leaf CC in King City today as Canada attempt to secure a second outright victory in the 2006 Intercontinental Cup. Yesterday the Canadians built a 254 run first innings lead, but Bermuda gave themselves a fighting chance scoring 67 runs for just one wicket before rain washed out most of the third session. Realistically, Bermuda are likely playing for a draw as even if they can reach the Canadian total, Canada has another innings to come back. The home side will hope that a fourth day pitch makes it difficult for the batsmen and that the combination of pace from Bhatti and Osinde and spin from Davison and Dhaniram will be enough to earn th victory.

The weather looks very good - not a cloud in the sky and no rain forecast for the rest of the day. Play will begin half an hour earlier (10:00 EDT) than usual to attept to make up for lost play yesterday. This, coupled with a possible extra half hour in the evening if a result is nearing means we may see a whopping 112 overs bowled today - a long time for Bermuda to defend! Our man Dhushy will be on the ground again today, and supplying scoring updates which will be posted right here. Stay tuned!!!

Canada v Bermuda - Day 3 Scores and Report

2006-08-14T11:01:00.000-04:00

Stumps - Day 3
Bermuda 334 & 67/1
Canada 588 all out (136 overs)
Bermuda trail by 187 runs with 9 wickets in hand.

Batsmen:

S Outerbridge not out 37
D Borden c Bagai b Bhatti 19
I Romaine not out 6

The majority of today's play belonged to Canada without a doubt. The tail-enders of the Canadian order would not go down quietly, and Abdool Samad put up Canada's third century of the innings (119). Umar Bhatti added 50 runs to go with his 4 wickets and then picked up a fifth wicket for the match after Bermuda started their second innings. Canada ended up with 588 runs all out, giving them a 254 first innings lead. In reply Bermuda reached 67-1 before rain washed out the last 2 hours of play.

Canada are looking in good shape heading into the final day, and if they are forced to chase a target it will likely not be a large one. The only fear for Canada now is that with the two hours lost the Bermudans will attempt to bat out the day and play for the draw. There is the potential, however, for 104 overs of play yesterday. 96 overs are scheduled, and either captain can request an extra half hour (8 overs) of play if they believe it will lead to a result. That is a long time for Bermuda to be able to survive on a fourth day pitch. The weather forecast looks promising. The only bad news is a 30% chance of a light shower between 11 and 1. Even if it materializes, we should only lose an hour or so, as lunch occurs during this interval.

Finally I must thank Dhushy for the great score updates he sent me today. I appreciate it, and I am sure anyone else checking for scores does as well. For the rest of your information, he has volunteered to send scores again tomorrow, so this will still be your place to come for scores.

Canada 1st Innings (overnight 386-7)

J Davison c Outerbridge b Borden....165
G Barnett lbw b Steede.......................9
S Heaney c Romaine b Hurdle...........10
I Billcliff b Steede.................................126
A Bagai c & b Steede............................2
Q Ali run out.........................................35
S Dhaniram c Minors b Steede...........11
A Samad c Minors b Hurdle................119
U Bhatti b Leverock.............................50
H Osinde not out..................................18
P Ravishankar b Leverock..................0
Extras.....................................................43
Total (all out; 136 overs)...................588

Canada lead by 254 runs after the first innings.

Captain Carries Canadians

2006-08-13T18:54:00.000-04:00

Canadian captain John Davison showed today why he is one of Canada's opening batsmen and why he strikes fear in the hearts of opposing bowlers. His 169, along with 126 contributed by Ian Billcliff led Canada to a first innings lead over Bermuda, with 3 wickets still in hand for tomorrow morning.

The reports I had heard last night of Bermuda declaring on 333/9 were apparently incorrect, as the Bermudan tail-enders were at the crease as play opened this morning. They were not there for long, however. After Dwayne Leverock scored a single, Henry Osinde took his 3rd wicket of the innings as he clean bowled Kevin Hurdle to end Bermuda's innings on 334.

Davison and Barnett came out to open the batting for Canada, and did well to start. They met the opening onslaught from Hurdle and Steede well, and amassed 36 runs before Barnett was caught in front by Ryan Steede. The call was quite possibly a poor one, as (very unofficial) replays seemed to confirm my opinion that the ball was headed over the wicket. But there is no video replay here, and Barnett was gone for just 9 runs. Stewart Heaney lasted all of 14 minutes at bat until he edged to the captain Romaine in the slips off Hurdle's bowling. The Canadian innings was threatening to collapse in the early morning sun - then on strode Ian Billcliff.

Billcliff started slowly, with a couple of scary moments in his first few overs. He grew in confidence and shared the strike with his captain as they began to build the foundation for a very strong partnership. Davison reached 50 off 71 balls, and on the very next ball edged a ball to wicketkeeper Minors - who dropped it! It was not an easy catch, but it is one Minors will replay in his head tonight, especially considering what was to come. Billcliff and Davison stroked boundaries effortlessly as Dwayne Leverock and Delyone Borden could get no movement off the still slightly green pitch. Leverock bowled an astounding 33 of the 92.1 overs - including the entire afternoon session - but came up empty. The 233 run 3rd wicket partnership was finally ended when what would have been Davisons 25th boundary was caught spectacularly by Stephen Outerbridge who sprinted 25 metres along the rope to take the ball at long on. 169 for the captain.

The next wicket fell quickly, as Ashish Bagai was in and out for 2, and Bermuda was again full of confidence and thinking they may be able to preserve the innings. But Qaiser Ali had different thoughts. He stabilized the Canadian ship and worked well with Billcliff who made his century shortly thereafter. What could have been another massive partnership was stalled when Ali called for a second run on a ball that should have been a single. A good throw came in from midwicket and Minors took off the bails to run out Ali for 34 runs. Sunil Dhaniram who bowled well for Canada yesterday also batted well, leaving most of the strike to Billcliff and scoring himself when he could. In the 91st over of the innings, Dhaniram edged a ball clumsily to Minors and was gone. The Bermudan captain Romaine chose to take the new ball, and 2 overs later Steede took his 4th wicket - a big one - bowling Ian Billcliff who was dismissed for 126. Steede's 4-75 were a bright spot in an innings marked by frustration for Bermuda's bowlers. Stumps were drawn at that point, saving Canada from a full collapse and leaving questions as to how big a lead Canada can build. Canada 386-7 at close.

What is important, however, is that Canada have claimed the first innings points (6 of them) and that mathematically eliminates Kenya from qualifying for the finals. Canada's coach Andy Pick was overheard saying that Canada will hope to build at least 100 runs lead for the first innings, perhaps trying to bat 120 overs in this first innings. It appears Mother Nature is going to play ball, at least for the most part. Tomorrow there is still a good chance of rain, but it seems it will begin around 5 pm, hence not cutting out too much time from play. Also Tuesday the forecast has changed and now calls for sunny skies all day. All this appears to be leading us to a result in this match, and currently it seems that Canada have the upper hand.

Unfortunately I will probably not be attending the play tomorrow or Tuesday (unless I can skip off work early and head up). So there will be no live updates here UNLESS(!!!) somebody else comes forward saying they will be there and can phone (or text) in scores to me. Otherwise we will need to rely on other, less efficient, sources.

Canada v Bermuda - Day 2 Scorecard

2006-08-13T17:39:00.000-04:00

Canada lead by 52 runs with 3 1st innings wickets in hand

Bermuda 1st Innings (Overnight 333-9)

SD Outerbridge c Bagai b Bhatti.......3
DC Borden c Heaney b Bhatti............4
IH Romaine c Bagai b Osinde............69
CJ Smith c Bagai b Bhatti...................33
JJ Tucker lbw b Dhaniram................68
DA Minors c Billcliff b Davison..........3
S Mukuddem lbw b Bhatti.................51
LO Cann b Davison.............................48
RD Steede b Osinde............................13
DM Leverock not out..........................6
K Hurdle b Osinde..................................6
Extras (lb 6, w 9, nb 7).......................22
Total (all out ; 96.4 overs)...............334

Fall of wickets: 1-9(Outerbridge), 2-21(Borden), 3-120(Romaine), 4-120(Smith), 5-135(Minors), 6-218(Tucker), 7-283(Cann), 8-311(Steede), 9-327(Mukuddem), 10-334 (Hurdle)

Bowling
Osinde..................................24.4-8-88-3 (7 w, 1 nb)
Bhatti....................................28-4-90-4 (6 nb)
Samad...................................8-1-35-0 (2 w)
Ravishankar........................18-4-62-0
Davison................................9-2-42-2
Dhaniram............................9-5-11-1

Canada 1st Innings

J Davison c Outerbridge b Borden.....169
G Barnett lbw b Steede........................9
S Heaney c Romaine b Hurdle............10
I Billcliff b Steede..................................126
A Bagai c & b Steede.............................2
Q Ali run out..........................................34
S Dhaniram c Minors b Steede...........11
A Samad not out...................................1
Extras (b 8, lb 7, w 1, nb 8)...............24
Total (7 wickets; 92.1 overs)..........386

Still to bat: P Ravishankar, H Osinde, U Bhatti

Fall of Wickets: 1-36 (Barnett), 2-53 (Heaney), 3-286 (Davison), 4-289 (Bagai), 5-356 (Ali), 6-383 (Dhaniram), 7-386 (Billcliff)

Bowling

Hurdle...........13-1-69-1
Steede...........15.1-2-75-4
Mukuddem...10-0-60-0
Leverock.......33-6-92-0
Borden...........20-0-64-1

Toss: Won by Canada