By Frederick Halley
UNLIKE most Guyanese and West Indian cricketers who migrated to Canada as full-fledged first division or first class players, Danny Singh left Guyana when he was just 16 years old with little or no experience in the sunshine game. He however recalled representing St Stanislaus College in an Under-14 fixture against Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) prior to migrating.Some 39 years later, Singh is still revered as one of Canada’s top cricketers, having played for his adopted homeland in several international tournaments and also skippering the Canadian national team for a number of years.
While Singh still plays occasionally at the age of 55, he’s an active member of the Scarborough Cricket Umpires Association (SCUA) and recently was the victorious coach of the Scarborough Cricket Association (SCA) Under-19 team which defeated Ottawa Valley Council in the final of the Ontario Cricket Association (OCA) tournament.

In an exclusive interview with the Sunday Chronicle, Singh recalled how he got involved in club cricket almost by accident and the strides he made during the ensuing years.
According to Singh, himself and brother were involved in a game of hockey on the street when an individual by the name of Harry Ramnarine inquired if he was interested in playing cricket and offered to take him to practice sessions twice a week to Transac Cricket Club.
By the following year, 1979, Singh was selected to represent the Canadian Under-19 team which toured Barbados for a schools tournament, which included a team from the University of the West Indies (UWI) Cave Hill Campus. During that same year, he also participated in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Youth tournament in Canada.

Among the teams involved were England (North and South), Bermuda, Holland and Ireland with the hosts winning two games and Singh being voted the Most Valuable Player (MVP) for his side, a top-score of 79 being the highest individual score.
Outstanding all-round performances at the club level earned Singh a call-up for the Ontario Under-25 side although he was just 19 but his joy soon turned to gloom when he failed to find favour with the Canadian selectors for the team’s Under-19 tour of Bermuda.

Undaunted by this setback, Singh was selected in the senior Ontario team, which included former West indies player Faoud Bacchus and the late Guyanese all-rounder Clement Neblett in 1981for a tournament in Alberta and became a permanent fixture in the Canadian national the following year, the first of his ICC Trophy tournaments, played in England.
Singh remembered that tournament vividly, pointing out that the weather played havoc with it although Zimbabwe, with the likes of Duncan Fletcher, Kevin Curran and John Traicos, went to win easily.

In the interim, while playing club cricket, Singh donned Canadian colours in Los Angeles versus a USA team which included former Guyana and West Indies great off-spinner Lance Gibbs and ventured to Australia from October 1984 – March 1985 through the auspices of Aussies coach Ray Catherall.
During the six-month stint in Tasmania, Singh played Grade One cricket which was one grade below the Sheffield Shield and despite being recalled by the Canadian selectors during that period for a three-week tour of Jamaica, opted to stay Down Under, a decision that did not go down too well with the authorities.

Singh disclosed that his club failed to win any games but he nevertheless earned the runner-up MVP prize for his useful batting performances which included a century.
Back in the Canadian ICC Trophy team in 1986, Singh explained there were high expectations for the side but they failed to live up to the pre-tour hype, losing to Holland with Zimbabwe again emerging victorious.
In 1991, in his third ICC Trophy tournament, Singh was appointed vice-captain and again felt the team was strong enough to win but once again faltered after defeating favourites Holland and losing to Bangladesh and Denmark, A third win for Zimbabwe ensured that they earned Test status.

Singh made his debut as captain of the Canadian national team versus a Guyana XI, skippered by Timur Mohamed and also included Keith Semple, Ravindranuath Seeram, Bacchus and the late Nizam Hafiz among others, a game which saw Semple blasting a century and Singh himself putting in a fine all-round performance, hitting 55 and claiming four wickets.

Leading the Canadian team to Kenya in 1994 in what proved to be the last of his ICC Trophy tournaments, the North American side finished fifth with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) defeating home team Kenya in the final.
Singh also had the distinction of being at the helm of the Canadian side which whipped a West Indies Red Stripe X1 in 1993 at Ross Lord’s Park, a side that included the legendary Brian Lara who Singh boasted he dismissed for 42.

Prior to that he had also represented a Rest of the World X1 against the West Indies at the famous Skydome (Rogers Centre) with the Rest winning the United Way sponsored charity game.
With his international career ended, Singh played for several clubs, including Victoria Park, Vikings, Overseas and Civics, recording several outstanding innings, including a mammoth average of over a hundred in a season for Victoria Park in the Toronto & District Association competition.

Obviously disappointed with the strides in Canadian cricket over the years since his exit, Singh posited that there are not enough tournaments as in previous years, referring to tours to the Caribbean and visits by international teams to Canada.
Singh opined that the standard was much higher than it is currently but felt the players need to improve on their own instead of blaming the administrators.

“The administrators however need to target a pool of players with a view to earmarking them for major tournaments. These players must be stick with once the potential is there and instead of subtracting from the pool, other players should be added.”