Young Canadian cricket squad gets another shot at holding on to ODI status

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Canada’s bleary-eyed cricket squad returned home on Sunday and their thoughts were still glued on the country they had just arrived from. The team was in Oman competing in the World Cricket League qualifiers where it won two of its four fixtures and was rooting for Oman to pull off a win over Nepal. But as the team touched down at Pearson and was waiting for connecting flights it received the unwanted news that Nepal had prevailed over Oman.

It was close – yes, very close – as Oman fell short by a meagre 10 runs at the Al-Amerat cricket ground and that result denied Canada the chance of holding on to its One-Day International spot.

Canada had started off this qualifying cycle in fine fashion and sat on top of the table following the first 12 matches before a frightening slide took it down to seventh of the eight nations. But all hope is not lost as it gets a second opportunity of holding on to its vaunted ODI status when it plays in another round of qualifiers.

Its next opponents will include Challenge League’s Italy and Uganda and familiar opponents U.A.E, Nepal and the cream of the crop Namibia.

Second opportunity up next

Nepal will be handful on home soil but with proper preparations and a new coach in Tejinder (TP) Singh Canada has the ability to finish in the top two and motor on. Prior to the journey to Oman Cricket Canada made wholesale changes as it leaned on youngsters and did away with some experienced players who could have been of immense help in Oman. But all said and done the board may have embarked on a solid strategy with a younger squad and also handing out the leadership to Hamza Tariq who came in from the cold after having made his international debut in 2011. He fell out of favour before clouting a century in the final of the T20 nationals to lead Alberta over B.C. a couple of months ago. That earned him another shot in the national squad and he did not disappoint with the bat in Oman. The only mark against him was the decision to field instead of bat first on the Oman wicket.

Apart from these two miscues Tariq did well and the young Canadian squad worked wonders with young superstar opening batsman Yuvraj Samra of Brampton taking the honours again. He blasted 105 off 117 balls with four sixes and 11 fours against Nepal and helped Canada post 256 and then contain Nepal for 232.

Others who excelled with the bat included Samra’s opening partner Aaron Johnson, Samit Gohel and Aaditya Varadarajan who proved reliable and dependable. One wonders why Gohel and Varadarajan weren’t previously selected for national duty.

The 20-year-old Samra, of course, made headlines during the World Cup in India last year when he became the youngest-ever player and the first from an associate country to score a century in the tournament. Topping this qualifying group was the United States followed by Scotland and the Netherlands. And the man behind the success of the Americans is Pubudu Dassanayake who previously coached Canada. The legendary coach guided Canada to the World Cup in the U.S. two years ago but the Cricket Canada board decided to interfere in the team selection midway through the tournament. Board members flew in some players and warned the coach to play them or be fired. On his return Dassanayake resigned and sued the board and this case has still not been resolved. The U.S. wasted no time in signing Dassanayake and he has done an excellent job with the Americans. Now that Canada gets another kick at the can let us hope the parent body prepares the team for the task at hand. Cricket Canada failed miserably during the previous tour to Scotland and in Oman as well.

Scotland tour didn’t go well

The tour to Scotland was an unmitigated disaster as only nine players and six support staff arrived in time. 

Six of the top players were left behind because a couple of administrators failed to push their papers through in time. How the hell was this possible since the dates for the matches were known well in advance? Incompetence also reared his ugly head in Oman as well. Cricket Canada failed to get a visa issued for fast bowler Zahid Shirzad and he arrived late. His fellow new-ball partner Kaleem Sana refused to travel if he wasn’t given a contract. This was a crying shame as Kana has been an outstanding bowler over the years and one has to wonder why he is being given the runaround. Now he has what he wanted.

The majority of Canada’s squad leaves for the sunny climes of St. Vincent and the Grenadines this weekend to take part in the 2026 GT20 tournament. This tournament was originally scheduled to be held in Brampton last month but last-minute glitches forced a cancellation. It will return next year, but don’t hold your breath.

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