Breadcrumb Trail Links
Published Sep 02, 2025 • 4 minute read
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Canada’s Nicholas Kirton bats during a men’s T20 World Cup cricket match in 2024. AP PhotoArticle content
It has been an anus horribilis 2025 for the game of cricket in the country.
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Of course, this phrase in Latin gained worldwide attention in 1992 when Queen Elizabeth used it to describe a year that included a fire at Windsor Castle and the marital problems that plagued her children’s families.
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In fact, it has all been downhill for the national cricket squad this year. We can only hope there is a huge rock that will appear somewhere to stop this unprecedented slide and restore this squad to the superb 2024 it enjoyed.
For a change, you cannot place the entire blame on the players for this debacle. One or two may have lost their form, as is normal in any sport, the captaincy may have lacked, but this slide has been precipitated by Cricket Canada. And until there are changes made at the top, this decline will continue and the country will slide into cricket obscurity.
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It stands on the precipice of that long drop today, all thanks to the incompetence of Cricket Canada president Amjad Bajwa and the rest of his blazers.
It took 10 long years for the national squad to return to the team of yesteryear and qualify as an ODI nation. This allows Canada to play against countries with the same designation and also a chance to qualify for World Cup action.
In this latest cycle of matches in the World Cup League 2 competition that features eight countries, Canada started off on fire. But due to unforeseen circumstances, the squad finds itself on the ropes after a couple of losses in the past week.
Canada failed to take advantage of playing at home by losing the first two encounters against visiting Namibia and Scotland last week.
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The first match versus Namibia at King City saw the visitors ride on the shoulders of opener Jan Frylinck’s 114, who helped the African nation to post 220 for five in reply to Canada’s 219.
Ali Nadeem (46), Yuvraj Samra (30) and Saad Bin Zafar (35) were Canada’s top scorers and fast bowler Kaleem Sana proved his class with a haul of three for 40.
Next up were the Scots and it was the same result. Canada was off to a shaky start, losing three wickets in the first two overs and then slumped to 18 for five in the 11th over.
There was a late recovery led by Shreyas Movva (60), Bin Zafar (29) and Jaskaran Singh Buttar, who weighed in with 32 in Canada’s total of 184 all out. Then George Munsey carried his bat for 84 and skipper Richie Berrington hit 64 to lead the Scots to 187 for three for an easy seven-wicket triumph.
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Like Canada, the Scots also got off a poor start, losing their first two wickets for a miserly 21 runs in the first five overs.
Sana was responsible for giving Canada a superb start and it’s unbelievable that the star of this Canadian squad only bowled five overs. It’s a puzzle as to why this star quickie was pulled out so fast by skipper Nicholas Kirton. It didn’t appear as though Sana was injured or is there a fitness concern?
At stake here is ODI status and this is vitally important for the growth of the game in Canada. Canada sits in fifth place behind the United States, the Netherlands, Scotland and Oman, and ahead of Namibia, Nepal and the United Arab Republic.
Canada is three points ahead of the African nation and hopefully it can widen its lead in the remaining matches at King City this week.
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The top four nations will retain their ODI status and this means more funding from the game’s governing body the International Cricket Council.
But a drop could mean less funding and fewer matches versus the top non-Test nations.
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Former Australian cricketer, captain and coach Bob Simpson dies at age 89
The rot in the ranks of Cricket Canada started at the World Twenty20 Cup, when the board flew in at least four players without the consent of head coach Pubudu Dassanayake.
The highly regarded coach was fired on his return home and has sued Cricket Canada for wrongful dismissal. After his dismissal, Dassanayake was hired by the United States. Dassanayake joins a long list of court cases versus the parent body.
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SUPER 60 DEBACLE
Some of the leading retired international stars will suit up for the Canada Super 60 tournament to be played at the BC Place from Oct. 8-13.
Fans can expect 90-minute thrillers indoors with huge hits and exciting finishes. Among the top names that have been inked include Piyush Chawla, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Malik, Quinton de Kock, Shakib al Hasan, Moeen Ali and Jason Roy.
A number of Canadian players will also compete, but some big names have been deliberately left out as they are not considered friendly with Bajwa’s inner circle.
This will all blow up in president Bajwa’s face once the ICC releases its investigation into Cricket Canada’s governance practices that this column has already detailed.
Check out our sports section for the latest news and analysis.
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