By Canadian Press

Canada cricket team back in action with a new captain and search for a new coach

Aug 16, 2024 | 1:12 PM

After making its debut at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup this summer, Canada is back in action in ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 play in the Netherlands under new leadership and with a search for a new coach underway.

Nicholas Kirton has taken over as captain from Saad Bin Zafar and Cricket Canada is looking for a new head coach after Pubudu Dassanayake’s contract was not renewed when it expired at the end of July.

The Sri Lankan-born Dassanayake, who played for both Sri Lanka and Canada, was in his second stint at Canada’s helm. He has also coached Nepal (twice) and the U.S.

The decision on both coach and captain came from Cricket Canada’s board of directors, said Cricket Canada GM Ingleton Liburd.

After opening League 2 play earlier this year with four straight wins in Dubai — beating Scotland and the host United Arab Emirates twice — the Canadians lost to the host Netherlands and the U.S. this week in The Hague in their second tri-series.

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The top four teams from the eight-country League 2, after play wraps up at the end of 2026, advance to a 10-team World Cup qualifier that will send four sides to the (50-over) Cricket World Cup. The bottom four League 2 countries have a second bite at the apple via the World Cup Qualifier Playoff.

The field for the 2027 World Cup has been expanded to 14 teams, but 10 of those slots are already spoken for via tournament co-hosts South Africa and Zimbabwe plus the top eight other full ICC members, as per the one-day rankings,

Canada, which has not made the World Cup since 2011, is ranked 16th in the world in one-day international play and 23rd in the T20 game.

The Canadians return to action Saturday against the Dutch before facing the Americans on Monday, with both games in Rotterdam. Assistant coach Khurram Chohan is in charge until a new head coach is appointed while Zafar is still a valued member of the team.

The Canadian men had little time to prepare for the transition to the 50-over League 2 games, leaving behind the shorter, more explosive 20-over format of the Global T20 tournament in Brampton, Ont.

“I expect to see better results in the (next) two matches,” said Liburd. “But I think leaving straight from the GT20 into a game two days later, it hampered the preparation that you would need for a ODI (one-day international) series.”

The plan is to avoid such calendar logjams in the future.

Canada is slated to play T20 games against both the Dutch and Americans immediately after the upcoming 50-over games. Canada then hosts a League 2 tri-nations series with Oman and Nepal in September in Toronto.

The deadline for applying for the Canadian coaching job, which is a two-year contract, is Aug. 30. Cricket Canada is also advertising for a women’s coach and an under-19/high-performance coach.

Liburd, a former Canadian international is confident Cricket Canada has the resources to get the coach it wants. Cricket Canada’s bottom line has been boosted by its partnerships with Boundaries North, which has helped secured several major sponsors as well as revenue from the GT20 tournament.

The governing body now boasts sponsorship deals with the likes of Nissan, TD Bank Group, Coca-Cola, Newbery Cricket, and O’Neills Irish International Sports Company.

As for the change in captain, Liburd noted the 37-year 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,” he added

The Barbados-born Kirton, whose mother was born in Montreal, is 26. He captained the Barbados under-19 team and served as vice-captain of the Barbados senior team.

Last year, the governing body handed out 12 full-time and five part-time player contracts. They provide a modest amount but help pay the bills, with more pay when they go on tour.

Kirton moved to Toronto last year when he was awarded one of those contracts. Liburd says the governing body is reviewing the next round of contracts.

After missing the first eight editions of the T20 World Cup, Canada qualified last October by winning the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Americas Region Final.

Kirton had a good T20 World Cup, scoring 51 runs in the tournament-opening seven-wicket loss to the U.S. before adding 49 more in the 12-run win over Ireland, when he was named player of the match. He was run out for one in the final seven-wicket loss to Pakistan.

It’s been a long climb up the world cricket ladder.

The Canadians regained their one-day international status for the first time in almost a decade by finishing fourth at the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier Playoff in Namibia in April 2023. Canada got there by finishing atop League A in the six-country World Cup Challenge League.

Some 60 per cent of Cricket Canada’s funding comes from the International Cricket Council, the world governing body. A small amount comes from Sport Canada with the rest coming from sponsors, fundraising and the GT20 tournament.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 16, 2024

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press