Canada cricket coach Monty Desai injects life into squad

Article content

See more Toronto Sun on Google — save as a Preferred Source 

Article content

The FIFA World Cup has soaked all of the sporting oxygen in the past couple of weeks and will continue to do so until the final whistle on July 19.

Article content

Article content

No surprise as this spectacle dominates the world every four years.

Canada’s cricket team has thrown its full support behind the national soccer squad that has been on a roll and it hopes it will also be able to do as well or better as it prepares for two very significant tours that will define its immediate future on the international scene.

In August, Canada travels to Scotland to take on the host nation and the United Arab Emirates in four matches, then in October it’s off to the Middle East for a series versus host nation Oman and Nepal.

Canada finds itself wedged between a rock and a hard place following a poor showing in the past few months thanks partly to the previous management’s constant interference in team selection. Now free of board meddling thanks to the hiring of a new and experienced coach in Monty Desai and with returning captain Saad Bin Zafar, the new-look squad managed its first victory in 15 months over the Netherlands earlier this month.

Article content

Article content

This win lifted the squad’s sagging spirits and the coach and skipper are confident the new-found camaraderie in the camp has fired it up as it chases a place in the coming World Cup and — more importantly — the retention of its ODI status.

“We now have the tools to go ahead to finish in the top four of this World Cup League and retain our ODI status,” Desai said. “At King City, we proved we can score big and that’s what we will need going forward.”

How many wins does Canada need?

Meanwhile, Bin Zafar was also positive of the changes in the club house. Canada has to win at least five or six of the remaining fixtures to retain its ODI status that will provide Canada with regular international fixtures.

“I understand that Scotland has moved its matches to Dundee instead of Edinburgh, where the tracks benefitted fast bowlers. In Dundee, the tracks are flat and we are prepared for whatever tracks we come up against,” he said.

“The squad is confident of the upcoming matches and also the next tour to Oman.”

Article content

Prior to the trip to Scotland, Desai has put in a request to Cricket Canada and the ICC for a camp to be held at the end of this month.

“This would be essential,” Desai said, adding “I hope this pans out as I don’t know how financially secure Cricket Canada is since the takeover by the ICC.”

Canada would have found itself in a stronger position had it defeated the Dutch in the final game of the Cricket World Cup League encounter at King City on the outskirts of Toronto earlier this month, when the game was called off because of a “dangerous pitch.”

Cricket Canada had to take responsibility for this fiasco. It was another slap to the face of the national body that has wavered between allegations of match-fixing corruption, financial impropriety in filing tax returns and undue interference in team selection.

The previous administration also left the new board with ridiculous lawyers’ bills to the tune of $500,000. This money could have been better spent on the players who have had to make huge sacrifices because of the incompetence of the administration.

Article content

How much are players being paid?

Meanwhile, going forward coach Desai and Bin Zafar are confident of the changes that have been implemented, including the fact that eight of the players on the squad will earn $5,000 a month while the rest have been put on a stipend of $4,000 a month.

“I am pleased with how the team has progressed under my watch as I was given such a short time to assemble a good unit,” said Desai, who returned home to Atlanta for a well-deserved rest. “We posted that win over the Dutch and we were in a position to defeat the U.S. The U.S. beat us on the very last ball in the second match.

“We were also on top against the Dutch in the second match when that game was called off by the umpires because of a ‘dangerous pitch.’

“And the fact we gave the U.S. a run for its money speaks volumes of our team as the Americans behind first-class coaching by Pubudu (Dassanayake) have established themselves as a cream of the associate nations.”

Desai added his main aim before assuming his Canada duty was to “build a solid foundation and I am on my way to achieving that goal. I must also say the decision by the ICC not to allow fans at King City (because of security reasons) may have adversely affected our squad. Home support is always so vital but it eventually allowed family members to be in the stands.”

Check out our sports section for the latest news and analysis.

Article content