Cricket Canada’s interference destroying team’s progress

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Cricket Canada hasn’t heard of the phrase “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

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Just weeks after a highly commendable showing in the World Twenty20 Cup, the board made two significant changes that were uncalled for — and the team is paying for it.

As the national squad prepared to travel to the Netherlands last week, the board refused to renew coach Pubudu Dassanayake’s contract when it expired at the end of July.

Then, out of the blue, it delivered another painful punch to the gut of the squad by stripping Saad Bin Zafar of the captaincy and replaced him with Nicholas Kirton.

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Dassanayake’s ouster came as no surprise as several reports prior to the Twenty20 tournament mentioned Canada would be the only team in the global event without a coach as he had been fired. But the board quickly back-pedalled because of the storm that would create on the world stage.

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In an exclusive interview with The Sun, Dassanayake said that at the very last minute he was allowed to travel with the squad and he said it felt like a sword hanging over his head. The three-man selection committee — without an input from the coach — picked the lineup for the group matches and, even though his contribution was minimal, the coach still plotted the victory over Test-nation Ireland in one of the biggest upsets in the first round.

“Beating a Test-playing nation (Ireland) was special,” Dassanayake said, “and I believe if I had my own way during the tournament, we may have qualified for the second phase. But there was too much interference from the board on who should play.”

Under his guidance, Canada qualified for the Twenty20 tournament for the first time and also reclaimed the one-day international status after almost a decade when it finished on top of a qualifying tournament in Namibia.

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Rumours of unrest in the Canada camp have not stopped swirling since a new national committee was voted in. In fact, Dassanayake has it in writing that his contract would be automatically renewed for the next two years if the team qualified for the Twenty20 tournament and the ODI. He delivered on both counts.

Canada Cricket has ignored its own contract and has advertised that the coaching position is vacant. Dassanayake has filed a lawsuit for wrongful dismissal and his lawyers have not yet heard back from the national body.

The removal of Bin Zafar, one of the pillars of the squad, stunned everyone in local cricketing circles. Bin Zafar was brilliant in the Twenty20 World Cup with his spin bowling and on-field strategy.

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But that didn’t matter as the board, who obviously would not know how to differentiate between white-ball cricket and tennis balls, installed Kirton as captain for the second round of matches in League 2 play in the Netherlands.

In the opening round in Dubai earlier this year under Dassanayake and Bin Zafar, Canada opened with four straight wins and that included victories over Scotland and the host United Arab Emirates twice.

This is not a criticism against the 26-year-old Kirton, who is an excellent and experienced batsman, but why rock the boat when no change was necessary?

According to a report by the Canadian Press, the decision regarding the coach and captain was made by the board of directors, said Cricket Canada GM Ingleton Liburd.

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The team embarked on the second phase of the ICC League 2 qualifying in the Netherlands last week and it has been a disaster as Canada has lost all four of its 50-over matches.

After the first two losses against the Netherlands and the U.S., Liburd said he expected to see better results in the next two encounters as “leaving straight from the GT20 tournament in Brampton it hampered the preparation that you would need for a ODI (one-day international) series.”

But that comment coupled with the next one regarding the change of captaincy made no sense if one knows cricket.

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Liburd said 37-year-old Bin Zafar “is coming close to the end of his playing days. We wanted to build a new team under new leadership after the World Cup,” said the a former Canada captain and top-order batsman.

One needs an experienced man at the helm of the squad and Bin Zafar proved himself game in and game out with the ball and with his expertise since he assumed the leadership in 2022.

Canada completed a horrendous run of four losses in a row after losing to the United States by 50 runs in Rotterdam on the weekend. The U.S. piled on 278 for eight with Smit Patel top-scoring with 70 off 84 balls and Aaron Jones weighing in with 50 off 53 balls.

Canada was dismissed for 225 thanks to a haul of four for 20 by Shadley Van Schalkwyk.

For Canada, Bin Zafar was once again the pick of the bowlers with a superb analysis of three for 30 off his 10 overs and Kaleem Sana took two for 39. Shreyas Movva and Pargat Singh starred in a fifth-wicket partnership of 108 runs, but after Singh fell for 72 off 80 balls the team collapsed.

Wicketkeeper Movva, who starred with his bat in the four matches, showed his class with 68 off 95 balls.

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