Victoria boy aims to take Canada back to World Cup
The left-handed Montfort on the attack
The left-handed Montfort on the attack

By Frederick Halley
RONDELL “Mark” Montfort fondly remembers his youthful days at Victoria Village, East Coast

Rondel “Mark” Montfort
Rondel “Mark” Montfort

Demerara, reminding me that it was the first to be bought by the slaves.
It was in that historic village, in a front yard that his fledgling cricketing career started and today, at the age of 31, he’s on the verge of making the senior Canadian national side after donning colours recently for the High Performance (HP) squad and also representing the latter in a friendly game against Bermuda.
Victoria however still remains still close to his heart as he recalled the wee hours of the morning when his father Peter, still one of the leading first class umpires in Guyana and Canada, would take the then six/seven year-old to a “cake shop” to watch West Indies play Australia in what was the “golden years” of Caribbean cricket.

Rondell Montfort with wife and daughter
Rondell Montfort with wife and daughter

“It was the days when not every home could have afforded a television but I cherished those days and has been an ardent West Indian cricket fan ever since,” Rondell said with that strong patriotic stance. According to Rondell, his dad obviously saw his potential from an early age while playing in their front yard and pushed him to the limit since “he wanted me to become the best cricketer and I never doubted my ability.”
The young Montfort was soon elevated to the captain of the Annandale Secondary School after having played at Bygeval Secondary following his primary school days at Clonbrook. Montfort’s first and only club in Guyana, the Guyana National Industrial Company (GNIC) was mainly responsible for his growth in cricket, pointing out that he represented the organization at the Under-15, 17 and 19 levels and despite being invited to Demerara youth trials, opted not to attend any because of personal family reasons.
By 16, he was already in the GNIC first division team, rubbing shoulders with his more senior counterparts while being part of the Demerara senior Inter-county squad in 2006 but failing to make the final X1 in all three matches, including the final against Berbice at the Albion Community Centre.
Undeterred, Montfort continued to churn out brilliant performances for GNIC, including five-wicket hauls in finals against Malteenoes Sports Club and Demerara Cricket Club and a 10-wicket match-winning effort versus Transport Sports Club, the same year he ended the season with over 300 runs and 30 plus wickets. At that stage, Montfort felt he was good enough to make the Guyana side as an off-spinning all-rounder but unfortunately never got the break he thought he fully deserved.
Montfort credited his development to recently-appointed West Indies A team assistant coach Rayon Griffith and former Guyana and West Indies off-spinner Clyde Butts who played major roles as mentors while he was at GNIC.
According to Montfort, himself and Griffith, who also played for Guyana, trained rigorously and practised together, alluding to the fact that both Griffith and Butts also rated him highly and felt he had the necessary skills to be included in the national team.

Montfort in action, delivering his medium-pacers
Montfort in action, delivering his medium-pacers

“When I was really doing well in first division cricket, I was overlooked a few times and it was really frustrating but I never gave up…” Although still playing for GNIC, Montfort ventured to Trinidad and Tobago through the efforts of Griffith who secured a contract for him with the Spoilers Cricket Club which is based in Chauguanas, joining another former Guyana youth player, Ryan Hercules.
“It was my first experience playing cricket out of Guyana and the experience was amazing. As a semi-professional, you learn how to deal with situations and let your cricket evolve,” he divulged.
During his three-season stint with Spoilers, the club captured the two-day, limited overs and the T20 (played over two days) competitions, earning it promotion to the Championship division. Performing creditably, they placed third in the division with Montfort earning the overall Cricketer of the Year Award in the 2008-09 season after also being named in the top five cricketers from both the North and South divisions.
Through the efforts of the late Trinidadian Johnny Bujan, who died tragically in an accident earlier this year, Montfort migrated to Canada in 2010 and has been an integral member of JB Brampton Masters ever since, churning out several outstanding all-round performances in the Toronto & District Association Premiere, Elite and Super Six tournaments.
Admitting that the transition wasn’t that easy and his first season was somewhat low-key, Montfort said this was transformed dramatically from the second with aggregate scores of over 300 and more than 20 wickets per season.
Montfort’s performances obviously impressed the selectors and during the 2016 Spring trials he was identified from among players throughout Canada for the one-week High Performance camp where strenuous fitness drills and stimulating games were the key to success. He went through these exercises with flying colours and duly earned a place in the side to play against the touring Bermudans.
Hi sights set on even going further and aiming to make the senior national team, Montfort grabbed the opportunity with both hands, slamming a brilliant 69 in the first game and grabbing five for 40 in the second, bowling medium pace instead of his accustomed off-spin. The sudden change came about after bowling coach Henry Osinde observed him “trying out” in the net sessions and advised that he do the same in the actual game.
Determined not to let this selection be a fly by night opportunity, Montfort disclosed that his immediate goal is to help Canada get back into Division One of the International Cricket Conference (ICC) championships and ultimately into the World Cup tournament and he’s supremely confident both are possible in the not too distant future. He’s also dreaming of one day being a professional cricketer.
The Canadians have been languishing in Division One over the last few years and Montfort will be part of the squad which will begin a six-month training stint shortly for the World Cup qualifiers, set to commence in March next year,
Proudly married in a family of six, Montfort disclosed that his wife is extremely supportive of his cricketing efforts.

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