Canadian U19 hero picked first in TJT Draft

The selection of Canadian Under-19 all-rounder Hiral Patel as first overall draft pick by the Chiefs, ahead of the powerful batting of Rizwan Cheema, was the headline news in the inaugural draft for Canada’s new TJT National Cricket League. Ugandan all-rounder Kenneth Kamyuka was third overall, chosen by the Kings in Thursday night’s draft. The first round was completed by the selections of Kenneth Wong (Warriors), Damoudar Daesrath (Titans) and Dhanuka Pathirana (Royals). Umar Bhatti, who captained Canada in the recent ICC Intercontinental Cup matches against Scotland and the Netherlands, was the second round selection of the Gladiators.

Cheema became a crowd favourite with his powerful hitting for Canada in last year’s Scotiabank Series ODI’s, especially against the West Indies, and the Canadian Thanksgiving Al Barakah T20 tournament. He also is a useful medium pace bowler. He was interviewed by City TV before the draft, but Patel was, in many people’s opinion, the surprise top choice.

Patel’s strong performance as a right hand opening batsman and left-arm spin bowler saw Canada Under-19’s to top spot in the recent ICC Americas Under-19 Championship. Interestingly, the draft’s second round began with Canadian Under-19 captain Rustam Bhatti, a wicketkeeper/batsman, being picked by the Royals.

Patel said “he knew he was under consideration” as a leading choice, but he admitted it was “a little bit of a surprise.” The draft came hot on the trail of Patel winning Player of the Tournament and Best Batsman awards in the ICC Americas Under-19 Championships.

Kamyuka is in his second year of playing for Brampton Masters Parkdale in the Toronto and District Cricket Association (TDCA). He sparked great interest during the 2001 ICC Trophy, hosted by Canada. At Toronto’s Eglinton Flats, he thumped a mighty century batting at number eleven for Uganda against Malaysia. In just 54 balls he reached 100 not out, with 8 sixes and 4 fours. Kamyuka impressed many during the tournament as a lively opening bowler and gained experience in South African cricket.

Kenneth Wong played for Guyana and recently featured in the Western Union 20/20 Guyanese Independence Cricket Festival in Toronto.

The TDCA is Canada’s largest cricket league where many Canadian junior and senior internationals have played over the years. It’s top – the Elite - Division has nine teams: Brampton Masters Parkdale, Cavaliers, Centurions, Gujarat, Overseas, Popeyes, Toronto, Vikings and West Indians. The top two in the TJT NCL draft, Hiral Patel and Rizwan Cheema play for Popeyes. Elite Division games mostly take place at Maple Leaf CC (King City), G. Ross Lord Park (Toronto) and the Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club on Saturdays and Sundays.

Wife brought cricket into TJT Realty President’s life

TJT Realty President Arun Jain said “I could never imagine that we could fill a banquet hall in Canada with leading cricket players.” But he was pleased at the turnout, and by over 400 player registrations that went into the initial player draft. Players from the Atlantic to the Pacific had applied to be picked for a league which he hoped would be an important step in “building the awareness of Canadian cricket.”

Mr. Jain provided some interesting personal background. “I’ve been in Canada practically my whole life. I, like most Canadians, was familiar with football, (ice) hockey and baseball….. When I got married to this beautiful lady sitting in the front row. I tried to make her enthusiastic about baseball. But, she was not impressed by catching a pop-fly in a quarter of a field, and (eventually) I joined her in her in a new sport, at least it was for me, cricket”.

He noted the growth in visibility of cricket in Canada in recent years, adding “now I can talk to my colleagues at the hospital and in real estate about cricket.”

Draft Process Background

The TJT National Cricket League is a professional T20 league that will operate in 2009 at Toronto’s G. Ross Lord Park on Fridays from August 7th until October 2nd. The league is named after sponsors TJT Realty, who are keen to help cricket develop its visibility in the Greater Toronto Area, and across Canada in conjunction with Cricket Canada, and the TDCA.

From a cricketing perspective, there are six teams in the league. Interested players were invited to register with the league one day before the draft on the evening of July 23 at the Sapphire Banquet Hall, Mississauga. TJT Realty was impressed that over 400 players registered for the draft, including some from both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of Canada, and the hall was full.

Teams were allowed to draft a main squad of 15 players, plus two reserves in the overall process. In the first six rounds, only players who had confirmed their registration by 7pm at the banquet hall were eligible to be selected. The second phase of the draft, held after a break for dinner, allowed players who were late in arriving at the hall to be added to the draft list. In the third phase, players who were not able to be present on draft night to be eligible for selection.

A draw was made to determine the selection order of six teams for the first six rounds. The order of selection was reversed in the second, fourth and sixth rounds. So, for example, the Royals had the last pick of the first round, but then picked first in the second round.

First to Sixth Round Picks from the Draft

The following selections were made in the first six round of the inaugural draft for the TJT National Cricket League. The TTJ club drafting each player is named first, followed by the current TDCA Elite Division club.

Round 1: Hiral Patel (Chiefs, Popeyes), Rizwan Cheema (Gladiators, Popeyes), Kenneth Kamyuka (Kings, Brampton Masters Parkdale), Kenneth Wong (Warriors, Vikings), Damoudar Daesrath (Titans, Vikings), Dhanuka Pathirana (Royals, Centurions)

Round 2: Rustam Bhatti (Royals, Centurions), Gary Mathurin (Titans, Overseas), Albert Gopie (Warriors, Brampton Masters Parkdale), Reyaz Prahalad (Kings), Umar Bhatti (Gladiators, Brampton Masters Parkdale), Abdool Samad (Chiefs, Cavaliers)

Round 3: Usman Limbada (Chiefs, Overseas), Saad Bin Zafar (Gladiators, Popeyes), Shaheed Keshvani (Kings, Toronto), Aiyub Matadar (Warriors, Popeyes), Karun Jethi (Titans, Toronto), Harvir Baidwan (Royals, Toronto)

Round 4: Hemnarine Chattergoon (Royals, Vikings), Abzal Dean (Titans, Brampton Masters Parkdale), Joel Olwey (Warriors, Brampton Masters Parkdale), Durand Sorraine (Kings, Overseas), Cecil Pervez (Gladiators, Popeyes), Eion Katchay (Chiefs, West Indians)

Round 5: Fazil Samad (aka Fazil Sattaur) (Chiefs, Cavaliers), Mohammad Shakir (Gladiators, Popeyes), Zaheer Haniff (Kings, Cavaliers), Raffik Ali (Warriors, Brampton Masters Parkdale), Jeremy Gordon (Titans, Vikings), Junaid Siddiqui (Royals, West Indians)

Round 6: Darius D’Souza (Royals, Centurions), Abdul Jabbar (Titans, Overseas), Jamil Nasir (Warriors, Brampton Masters Parkdale), Shapur Agha (Kings, Brampton Masters Parkdale), Saad Nazar (Gladiators, Popeyes), Henry Osinde (Chiefs, Brampton Masters Parkdale)