By Tagwa Moyo
Ryerson’s men’s cricket team took part in this years Canadian College Cricket National Championship tournament — their first competitive event as a club.
Supporting two separate teams due to increased interest from Ryerson students, the first Rams cricket team made it to the quarterfinals where they lost against the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT). The second Rams team — captained by Ryerson RSU executive Obaid Ullah — made it to the semi final game, losing to Centennial College.
The Rams headed into the playoffs with two wins against George Brown College and Concordia University and one loss against Waterloo University in the round robin stage.
One player that has had a major impact on Ryerson’s success thus far in the tournament is Umer Shakel. Shakel has brought the power, scoring 90 runs in three games — the most on the team.
Despite losing in the quarter and semifinals, the Rams were excited to play, and to understand that anything can happen. The need to remain focused was crucial.
“Everyone understands their roles and have been playing well this tournament,” said Ullah. “The whole thing with cricket is it all varies, one game you might go and score lots of runs then the next you might go out on duck you never know. We’re happy to play and are remaining energetic.”
This was the first time that the Canadian College Cricket tournament has run, and it was a very successful first outing. Though the tournament is not affiliated with the CIS, there were 12 teams taking part, including teams from across Ontario, Montreal and Manitoba.
The competition level in the tournament was very high — players from the provincial, national and international level were on the roster for various teams. Despite the Ryerson club not having official varsity status, it didn’t diminish their level of skill.
Ryerson player Guyan Ferdinands has had the opportunity to play overseas and he believes that the competition and culture of cricket in North America is steadily growing. He feels that in order for North America to take cricket to the next level, there needs to be better facilities to play at.
“If you look at England, they don’t have a full summer but they still maintain their facilities,” said Ferdinands. “Over here, we have nice summers. We should take advantage of that and maintain all our cricket fields like this one here.”
The next opportunity to watch the Ryerson men’s cricket team will be Sept. 5, when they play a friendly in Toronto. Following that, the team will be preparing for the American College Cricket Tournament on Oct. 10.
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