By Tony McWatt
Having been discussed and approved at the governing body’s recent Halifax
hosted May 7-8 Annual General Meeting, Cricket Canada’s 2022 Events
Calendar has now been officially released. The Calendar, which features
a lengthy listing of events from mid-June through to December 12, has
some very interesting entries.
Foremost among the Calendar’s most interesting events is its July 25- August 7 listing
for Canada’s hosting of the ICC’s 2023 50 Overs World Cup Challenge League A
Qualification matches. Canada will host Denmark, Malaysia, Qatar, Singapore and
Vanuatu for 15 matches as the second of the three Challenge League A events. Canada
currently leads Singapore on net-run-rate with both teams locked on eight points in the
standings.
No venue has as yet been listed for the ICC League A World Cup Qualification matches.
Where ever they are actually held the matches will be sure to attract significant spectator
and media interest. If managed in an ideally efficient manner, the hosted matches could
therefore provide further global exposure for Canada’s international cricket hosting
capabilities.
Cricket Canada has also recently announced plans for its immediate development and 2022 staging of a High-Performance League. The High-Performance League’s Preliminary Rounds will be played simultaneously in three Cricket Canada Member Provinces: Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario which will provide first-year, pilot teams. Alberta and British Columbia’s matches will be played between two teams. Ontario will field three teams for its Preliminary Round matches. The participating teams will each play at least six fifty over matches at turf wicket equipped venues.
Performances from the Preliminary Round matches in the respective Provinces will be used to select Provincial representative squads for the September 11 – 17, 2022 Canada National 50 Overs Championships. The Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario participating teams will be joined by a selected National Squad for the Ontario hosted round-robin format tournament.
According to the released 2022 Events Calendar, in between the High-Performance League’s Preliminary Round matches and its September 11-17 National Championships conclusion, there will also be T20 National tournaments for both Men’s and Women’s players. The annual Canada Cup tournament for the Country’s U19 Men’s players has also been listed with August 22-26 as the slated dates. Manitoba has been identified as the provincial host for the 2022 Canada Cup.
A very interesting 2022 Calendar of Events indeed.