Cricket Canada freezes players’ salaries while execs cash in

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Cricket Canada’s board must be all black and blue from all the hooks and uppercuts it has absorbed in the past two years.

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Somehow it has managed to stay upright. For how long is another question as the punches keep rolling in.

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The International Cricket Council, the governing body of the sport, has launched an investigation into Cricket Canada about its governance practices and local fans are still waiting with bated breath for its long-awaited findings.

Apart from its probe into the controversial appointment of Salman Khan as CEO, a number of the board members are being investigated for illegal gambling on the national squad.

The ICC sent a high-powered anti-corruption team to Toronto two months ago and a number of board members were interrogated. The latest punch to the battered face of CC president Amjad Bajwa came on Aug. 15.

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The 15 or so members of Canada’s national squad did not receive their salaries and they fear that personal interests of the board members are being placed above theirs.

One Canadian player, who wished to remain anonymous for obvious reasons, said the team is on tenterhooks.

“Some have been warned about talking to the press about the salaries being frozen,” he said.

In past years, Cricket Canada received a healthy cheque for the salaries from the professional GT20 League, but CC pulled the plug on that tournament this year. The rest of the funding comes from sponsorships and the ICC, who we believe has now put a stop on any payments until it completes its investigation.

But the parent body isn’t hurting for finances, according to reliable sources. It has $4 million in its account, but is unwilling to dip its fingers into it for now.

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Another insider told Postmedia that, while the players were ignored, both the CEO and the financial officer received their salaries. Unconfirmed reports say that they are each paid a whopping $150,000 annually.

The ICC has demanded an explanation about how Khan was promoted to CEO just weeks before Calgary Police charged him with theft and fraud. The police alleges that Khan and former Calgary & District Cricket League treasurer Syed Wajahat Ali stole approximately $200,000 between 2014 and 2016 from the league.

Khan, for his part, has denied any wrongdoing, describing reports of his arrest as “completely false.”

Cricket Canada then shot itself in the foot by terminating its 25-year relationship with Bombay Sports, owners of the GT20 franchise, and announced a new long-term agreement with National Cricket League (NCL) Canada to take over. This move took all by surprise since the ICC had banned NCL from staging any tournaments due to repeated rule violations. Amjad and his board were once again stumped.

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But of even a bigger headache for the country is that the national squad faces Scotland and Namibia in crucial matches at King City in the next few days without salaried players.

The top four nations in a field of nine automatically qualify for one-day status while Canada sits in fifth position. It took Canada 10 years to get back as an ODI squad and failing to qualify in this cycle will deal the game in this country a severe blow as it will be devoid of international competition on a regular basis. This would mean less money flowing into its coffers from the ICC and sponsors.

WOMEN BACK IN ACTION

The highly anticipated World T10 Women’s Series returns for a second season at Mississauga’s Danville Park this weekend. The first ball will be delivered on Friday with the final set for Sunday.

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Apart from high-energy action on the field, there will be a high-performance fielding camp, according to the brains behind this venture, Atul Ahuja.

The camp, conceived by Devesh Shankar, will be headed by former Canada international and head coach of Ontario Cricket Association Derek Perera and Mohammad Shaikh, president of the Toronto District Cricket Association.

AUSSIES CRUSH PROTEAS

Revenge is sweet, just ask the Aussies.

After losing the first two one-day internationals and staring at its first clean sweep at home, the Australians fought back with a vengeance to avoid the shutout, thrashing South Africa by a whopping 276 runs in the final match at Mackay.

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The hosts piled on the second-highest ODI total as they made 431 with their top three batsmen scoring centuries.

Then newcomer Cooper Connolly — two days after his 22nd birthday — spun a web around the Proteas batsmen as the left-hander had them in a daze as he captured five wickets for 22 runs to bundle out the visitors for 155 in 24.5 overs.

Cameron Green, Travis Head and skipper Mitch Marsh all got to three figures with Green blasting the second-fastest century in Australian ODI history.

Australia’s score was three runs short of its largest ODI total of 434 for four, which came in the classic 2006 game against South Africa in Johannesburg, when the Proteas incredibly chased down their target.

Green’s first ODI century came from just 47 balls and Head blasted 142 from 103 balls and Marsh weighed in with a 106-ball 100.

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