By Frederick Halley

IN order to address the growing demand, the Scarborough Cricket Association (SCA) is working with the City of Toronto and private entities to develop new cricket facilities.
Addressing members at the SCA Annual General Meeting, held at the Malvern Family Resource Centre (MFRSC), Scarborough, Toronto on Sunday, the long-standing SCA Presiden said “this includes repurposing unused baseball diamonds into cricket pitches for tennis, tape, and softball formats. He further disclosed that several projects are scheduled for completion in 2025, paving the way for increased playing opportunities.

The Guyana-born Persaud alluded to the fact that a major focus in 2024 was youth development through the SCA Youth Development Programme. This initiative, he said, attracted talented players who now represent the SCA in provincial high-performance camps across multiple age groups and gender.
According to Persaud, the SCA partnerships with community organizations like MRFC facilitated free Friday evening cricket clinics and laid the groundwork for cricket clinics in Toronto District School Board (TDSB) schools in 2025. He pointed out that the grassroots development of cricket is critical, and “we call on our members to help sustain these efforts as clubs face challenges such as aging membership and other commitments.

Persaud felt that collaborations with city staff led to noticeable enhancements in field maintenance, particularly grass cutting towards the season’s end. “We remain committed to engaging with the city to elevate field standards, ensuring optimal play conditions where players can truly excel.”
Persaud reiterated that in 2024, the SCA re-established its presence in the Ontario Provincial Tournament, by participating in the Cricket Ontario Central T20, which is part of the Cricket Ontario Senior Committee programmes and a committee that he currently serves as the chair. “Despite short notice,

we fielded a competitive team. Encouragingly, the tournament’s success has motivated more players to participate in future trials to represent SCA, where selections will prioritise top-performing athletes in alignment with their division stats.”
Touching on some of the challenges faced during the 2024 season, Persaud lamented the unavailability of the Ellesmere Reservoir Grounds and reduced permitted time at other facilities. “Despite these obstacles, your cooperation enabled us to adapt by scheduling games on Thursday evenings, ensuring the successful completion of our season.”

Persaud extended heartfelt thanks to his esteemed fellow board members, club representatives, and players for their unwavering support and confidence in his leadership to serve and promote cricket under the SCA.
Among the goals listed for 2025 are: Increasing the number of games for members, expanding sponsorship opportunities, enhancing player management systems to facilitate pathways to higher levels of competition, increasing participation in our Youth Development Programme, expanding the

capabilities of our website, App and scoring platform, enhancing the ground and pitch conditions for improved competitive play, increasing collaboration with Canada Cricket Umpires Association (CCUA) to improve the standards of umpiring in SCA and enhancing playing conditions to promote better competitive play.

Meanwhile, Vice-president Bisham Singh was retained unopposed as the Vice-president. The new Assistant Secretary/Treasurer is Ibrahim Khan who got the nod over incumbent Abhinav Kavuru while Mohsin Patel took over the Public Relations Officer/Marketing position from the long-standing Frederick Halley.

The positions of President, held by Persaud, Secretary – Zakir Patel, Treasurer – Matthew Francis, Grounds Coordinator – Eon Gunraj and Registrar/Statistician – Abigail Rajkumar were not up for grabs since they are in the first year of their two-year term, based on the SCA Constitution.