Deonarine Pleased With Progress Of SCA’s Devolpment Program!

Head Coach of the Scarborough
Cricket Association (SCA)
Development Program Keith
Deonaraine is quite pleased
with the progress made since
its launching on May 24 at the Ashtonbee
playing field.

The summer program which started
with three participants, and held every
Tuesday evenings, has seen a gradual
increase in numbers, reaching 19 as of
July 19 and now also includes four girls.
Buoyed by the increase in numbers, the
organizers have decided to extend the
program to also include Thursdays as of
July 28.

The program has been further boosted
by the inclusion of former Canadian
left-arm spinner Parth Desai and Arjuna
Sukhu who represented Canada at the
last ICC Under-19 World Cup, staged
earlier this year in the West Indies.

In an invited comment, Deonaraine explained that the program consists
mainly of grassroots cricket for both boys and girls who are developing their
skills in batting, bowling and fielding.

According to Deonaraine, “we have also been working in introducing the
different laws of the game.”

The former Cricket Canada Development Officer pointed out that it’s a very
diverse group of kids and “it’s really nice to see the SCA put so much time
and effort behind the program to get the grassroots development going in
the League.”

Deonaraine boasted that he has identified several talented youngsters in all
departments of the game especially in the bowling and spoke highly of a
left-arm seamer who he said “is very good.”

According to Deonaraine, “in terms of batting, we also have some very good
batters who are learning the basics of keeping the ball along the ground,
cover driving and on-driving and knowing when to run and when not to. The
skills level, intent and awareness of the kids are already there.”

Deonaraine is hopeful that several of the kids will be part of the SCA set-up in
the future. In the meantime, the aim is to have them involved in a few games
against various academies within the Greater Toronto Area throughout the
summer.

“Being a product of cricket in this country, it’s
really nice to give back and the group of kids
encourages me to come out more,” Deonaraine
commented.

Ten-year-old Ezekiel Joseph, who is aspiring to
be a seam bowler is excited to be among the
participants. His father Nick is a former hardball
and softball player while his mother Neiome is a
cricket enthusiast.

SCA President Shiv Persaud is also elated with the
response to the camp, now that children are out
of school and looking for activities.

“We started with three participants and now we
are up to 19 as of today (Tuesday, July 19).
“Based on the demands, we also added another
coach who is a former Canadian player in Parth
Desai and so we have very creditable persons
who are conducting the program. We also
have Arjuna Sukhu, who has joined us and he
represented Canada at the last Under-19 World
Cup. With these three stalwarts, it bodes well for
the program,” Persaud pointed out.

“Our goal is to continue increasing the number of
participants and this wouldn’t have been possible
without the commitment of these coaches who
are helping to grow the programme,” Persaud
concluded.

Deonaraine’s involvement with Canadian cricket
has been outstanding. He represented Canada
at the Under-19 and Under-23 levels and was the
1992 recipient of the prestigious EMU Award as the
country’s most outstanding Junior Cricketer.

Deonaraine has also served as a Manitoba
Development Coach and was directly responsible
for introducing cricket to many elementary, middle
and high school students within the Province.
He has also served (2010-2012) as Canadian
National men’s Cricket Team Selector and as
Cricket Canada’s Performance Analyst (2012-
2016).

Parth Desai made his One Day International debut for
Canada against the West Indies in April 2010. He
played for Canada in the 2014 Cricket World Cup
Qualifier tournament.

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