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Cricket in Canada
View(s):Mrs.Anumaana’s maternal aunt’s sister-in-law’s grandson, who lives in Canada, has sent a newspaper cutting to Sunil about the game of cricket. It does not appear to be a popular sport in North America. MrsAnumaana’s aunt’s sister-in-law’s grandson cannot understand what drives people so crazy at the mention of the word ‘cricket’ in this part of the world. Sunil has been passing the cutting around among his friends who are reading it with great curiosity.
Here is how the Globe and Mail, Canada’s ‘newspaper of record,’ described the game of cricket to the uninitiated Canadian reading public in its edition of 14 February 1996 -whenSri Lankawas bracing to play (and win) the ICC Cricket World Cup:
“The World of Cricket”
“The World Cup of Cricket, a 12-country tournament with 37 games scheduled for India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka leading up to the final March 17, opens today.
Here’s a look at the game and how it is played. Cricket originated in medieval England, where sheep farmers played it to relax at the end of a day’s work. Formal rules were established in 1744 and the game spread to India, Pakistan, South Africa, the West Indies, Australia and New Zealand.
Like Baseball, the object is to hit the ball, score runs and get the batter out. But cricket scores run into the hundreds. There are no balls, fouls or strikes and players keep hitting until they’re out.
It is played on a large field. In the middle is a 66-by-10-foot (20-by-3-metre) grass pitch or wicket. At each end of the wicket is something else also called a wicket – three narrow sticks (stumps) stuck into the ground in a nine-inch (23 centimetre) line across which two small pieces of wood (bails) rest in shallow grooves.
A match comprises either one or two innings per team, during which 11 players field while two players from the other team take turns batting, one at each end of the wicket. Once a team has 10 outs, the other team is up.
The pitcher, called a bowler, runs up from behind one batter and throws the small, red, leather-covered ball so that it bounces at the far batsman’s feet, although it doesn’t have to hit the ground. Each bowler throws six balls to the opposing batter, called an over.
The batsman swings the paddle-shaped wooden bat with two objectives – to protect the wicket behind him and to score runs.
The bowler wants to fool the batsman so that he misses the ball and it hits the wicket, or so that he hits in such a way that a fielder can get him out by catching it on the fly. An out is also called a wicket. A batsman scores by hitting the ball far enough or craftily enough to give himself time to change places with his teammate at the other end of the wicket.
If the ball rolls all the way to the boundary, it counts a four runs. If it crosses the boundary on the fly, it’s six runs, the equivalent of a home run. The team with the higher score wins and there is no overtime, so matches can end in draws.”
Giving an indication of the kind of excitement that cricket generates in Canada, the president of Canada’s cricket board RavinMoorthywas recently quoted inCricinfo expressing optimism because they had four tours in a row where they “weren’t struggling to line up kits for the players, or having players late to join tours because visa issues were not sorted out.”
An Associate Member of the ICC, Canada has been on a losing streak in international cricket and is at the bottom of the rankings of the Intercontinental Cup and World Cricket League.
Cricket historians have speculated that one reason for the cold response to cricket in this part of the world could be the fact that the land is frozen for seven to eight months of the year – presenting problems in maintaining grounds and training players.
Mrs. Anumaana’s aunt’s sister-in-law’s grandson says a new film featuring some Hollywood starsis to be released this summer in which cricket plays a major part. Optimists think it may help popularise the game and win over more enthusiasts in Newfoundland (where it was filmed) and Canada in general.
‘The Grand Seduction” is an English re-make of a Quebecois film set in a remote fishing village whose community wants to persuade a visiting city doctor to stay and be their permanent physician, a stipulation to qualify for a lucrative oil service contract.
The doctor is a cricket fan, and so the villagers pretend to be cricket enthusiasts themselves although they know nothing of the game, and this results in much hilarity. Apparently people in French-speaking Canada now know what cricket is, thanks to the original French language film.
The town of Trinity where ‘The GrandSeduction’was mainly filmed, once upon a time had its own cricket team, we are told. Two genuine bats are said to be on display in the local museum. Actually the sport has a very long history in Canada, going back to 1827 when the Toronto Cricket Club was established. In fact a cricket match between Canada and the United States that took place in 1844 is believed to be the oldest international fixture in the world.
So what happened between then and now? Sunil says the answer is probably blowing in the icy winds of a snow storm somewhere in Canada close to the North Pole.
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