Royal banned for pitch tampering

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Left-arm spinner Jeavor Royal has been given a one-match ban by officials of Cricket Council USA (CCUSA) for deliberately tampering with the pitch at the US Open T20 tournament that is currently ongoing at the Central Broward Regional Park in the USA. Royal was representing the Clarion County Eagles against Samp Army in round-robin play on Thursday when cameras picked him up using his spiked boot to rough up the pitch on a good length at the Northern End of the ground. The matter was reported to the CCUSA disciplinary…

Maq’s vision realized

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By VINODE MAMCHAN One evening in the nineties as he and his best buddy Amin Markatia sat and reminisced about their cricket days in Pakistan, Mahammad Ahmed Qureshi decided that enough was enough and that he was going to start up a cricket league right here in the United States. If he could not go to cricket, he was going to bring cricket to himself and so many of the Asian diaspora who were longing for some action. When Qureshi and Markatia spoke about cricket, it connected them to their…

A team that refused to lose

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Siddhartha Vaidyanathan on a group that knew how to bounce back Winnipeg Hawks are the GT20 champions for 2019. The team that won two matches in the league stage; the team that sneaked into the Playoffs thanks to their Net Run-Rate; the team that won an eliminator that they had no business winning – and then pipped the most consistent team in a last-ball finish – clinched the climactic final in a Super Over. They were this close to being eliminated the league phase. Now they are champions. At times…

Cecil Pervez and a tense final over

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Siddhartha Vaidyanathan on a bowler who both lost and won Winnipeg Hawks need 13 runs to enter the GT20 final. The man whom Brampton Wolves have picked to bowl that over is a 35-year-old medium-pacer who plays for Canada, Cecil Pervez. Cecil plays for the Shahid Afridi Cricket Club in Toronto. He was in high school when Afridi first played for Pakistan, when he reeled off that madcap hundred off 37 balls. For the next few years, Cecil “wanted to be Shahid Afridi”. He moved to Canada in 2000 and…

An “8”, an extra umpire, and intentional drops

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Dean Jones on the four big evolutions he wants to see in T20 By Siddhartha Vaidyanathan Dean Jones approached one-day cricket in the mid-’80s like many others would in the ’90s. He was one of the best when it came to running between the wickets, and he understood the importance of accelerating in the middle overs instead of sitting back and waiting for the last ten. He wore sunglasses to help him take catches when the ball disappeared in the glare of the sun. And he experimented with oval bat…

A Dummies Guide to Cricket

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We respond to some Frequently Asked Questions by cricket newbies in North America Do they actually stop for tea? Do the players only wear whites? Do games really go on for five days? Do some games end without a winner? Our answer is always: Yes, yes, yes and yes but remember, this is true only for the oldest form of cricket. There are shorter versions of the game where these questions are irrelevant. Cricket has come a long way since when it was synonymous with the British empire. It is now…

A day that had (almost) everything

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The moments that stood out on a wild, edge-of-the-seat Playoff Thursday It was a day packed with action. A day when Vancouver Knights booked a spot in the final, when Brampton Wolves braced themselves for a semi-final on Saturday, when Winnipeg Hawks just about qualified for the game on Saturday, and when Toronto Nationals were eliminated by a hairsbreadth. It rained a bit, then it rained fours and sixes. There were electric catches and magic deliveries. It’s now time to pick the best of the lot: Most inventive innings of…

The Toronto Internationals

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A look at how a team of diverse individuals combined for a clinical win The Toronto Nationals’ 35-run win over Montreal Tigers was a complete team effort. All eleven players had a role to play in a victory that ensured a place in the playoffs. To make matters interesting, the XI was as global as it gets. Here’s a brief summary of what happened: St Vincent-born Rodrigo Thomas – who is now settled in Canada – made an entertaining 70 with five fours and five meaty sixes. Partnering him at…

The two Yuvraj Singhs

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Siddhartha Vaidyanathan on a champion – both on and off the cricket field Ever since he landed in Canada, for the second edition of the GT20 tournament, Yuvraj Singh has been entertaining requests. For selfies. For autographs. For handshakes. For interviews. He has had fans approaching him at restaurants. Fans approaching him before and after games. Fans approaching him in hotel lobbies. And fans approaching him in the Niagara Falls. They have thanked him for making the trip to Canada. For giving them a chance to see him bat. Dhruv…

At halfway mark, ticket sales going strong for #GT2019

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At halfway mark, ticket sales going strong for #GT2019 Partial proceeds go to SickKids Foundation BRAMPTON, ONTARIO, CANADA, August 2, 2019 – It is halfway through the tournament, with the second double-header weekend coming up this weekend, organizers of the Global T20 Canada Cricket Tournament is expecting another major climb in ticket sales and they are proud to have partnered with Sick Kids Foundation in Canada, committing $0.50 from each ticket sold in the entire tournament to the Foundation. Four matches will be played during this double-header weekend. Tomorrow, August 3,…