…Matthew Nandu, Shamsudeen among top awardees

By Frederick Halley

TORONTO, Canada – The Scarborough Cricket Association (SCA) was primed and ready to celebrate a significant milestone this year – its 40th anniversary. However, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, those lofty plans had to be shelved. In an invited comment from Chronicle Sport, SCA president, Shiv Persaud, has assured that “we will celebrate this achievement in 2021, once it is safe to do so and permitted by the health authorities.” After enduring an eleven-week delay, the 2020 season finally got underway on August 1, and ended early October, allowing the association to complete its truncated season before another lockdown in most of Ontario put a halt to most sporting disciplines. The season was also one with a significant difference. Instead of the usual playoffs, the various divisions, except the First and Second Divisions, were divided into groups which allowed for group winners. According to the Guyana-born Persaud, the SCA will recognize all the outstanding individual player performances – the top two players with most runs and wickets in each division and the teams finishing number one in each group. This will be done via a “virtual recognition night” scheduled for Saturday, December 19 next, starting from 19.00 hrs.

Persaud also informed that the SCA will be presenting the actual trophies when it is safe to do so in the near future. He also plans announcing exciting formats for the 2021 season during Saturday night’s function. Among the prominent awardees are seventeen-year-old Matthew Nandu, the son of former Guyana and West Indies Under-19 leg-spinner, Arjune Nandu, who finished the First Division season with the most runs, his 318 being 43 more than Toronto Rhino’s Aamir Khan, who totalled 275 from eight matches. Significantly, Nandu, who represented Kaieteur International Sports Club ‘B’, only played four games. Nandu’s 146 in the first match of the season was also the highest in the division while he also struck two half-centuries for an average of 106 and a strike rate of 91.38. Left-arm spinner, Raqib Shamsudeen, whose parents are Guyanese, captured the most wickets in the Elite Division; his 21 wickets coming at the miserly average of 11.43. Shamsudeen was also part of the Canadian Under-19 team at the last World Cup, held in South Africa earlier this year.

Among the top clubs were Ambassadors Sports Club, which had the unique distinction of winning the prestigious Group A of the Elite Division and Group B of the Third Division, the only club to complete the unique double. The Caribbean-dominated club is headed by Ronald Ramnarine of Guyanese heritage while Amerish Deoraj skippers the Elite team and Chris Singh is at the helm of the Third Division side. The group winners are as follows: Elite: Group A – Ambassadors SC; Group B – Ajax/Scarboro Kingz A. Premiere Division: Group A – Highland Creek B; Group B – Palace Panthers. First Division: Winners Toronto Rhinos. Second Division: Winners Maple/Skanda. Third Division: Group A – Tpark Youngstars; Group B – Ambassadors SC B, T20: Group A – Star CC, Group B– Elevens Kerala; Group C — The Kayi Wolves; Group D – Island Warriors.