The Canada squad to face Kenya in a first class and three ODI matches includes three from the recent ICC Americas Championship winning Under-19 side: Rustam Bhatti, Hiral Patel and 15-year old Nitesh Kumar. Ashish Bagai will captain Canada. He has been playing for Toronto Cricket Club in the Toronto and District Cricket League on recent weekends.

Amarbir �Jimmy� Hansra, who plays for Abbotsford in the British Columbia Mainland Cricket League, is included in the Intercontinental Cup squad. He has scored 592 runs in 14 matches this season, including an unbeaten 100 against United (June 14). He is effectively replaced in the ODI squad by Jawad Dawood of Salim Akbar. Dawood hit consecutive centuries in the BCMCL with 160 not out against Brockton Point and 120 against Cosmos.

Three of the squad that secured a place in the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup (CWC) for Canada during April�s World Cup Qualifier in South Africa are not available due to other commitments: John Davison (work); Ian Billcliff (personal) and Geoff Barnett (personal).

Canada beat Kenya during that qualifier, but the game did not have official ODI status. Canada did beat Kenya in an ODI in Mombasa just before the 2007 ICC World Cricket League Global Division One, but lost ODIs in the WCL and at the 2007 CWC to Kenya. Kenya also beat Canada in the 2003 CWC.

Kenya will be lead by Morris Ouma and include a mix of seasoned veterans and youngsters. Steve Tikolo who is rated as one of the best batsmen in ICC Associates cricket, Thomas Odoyo and Jimmy Kamande are veterans who pose all-round threats to Canada. Since the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup, Kenya has brought in some young talent, such as batsmen Alex Obanda (21) and Seren Waters (19). Waters cricketing efforts while attending an English Public School brought recognition with a place in the Surrey county second eleven.

The first-class ICC Intercontinental Cup (August 14-17) and the three ODI games (August 19, 21 & 23) are being played at Maple Leaf Cricket Club, King City, Ontario. All matches are due to take place on the north-west ground, with scheduled start times of 10 am. The grass on the wickets was looking good on Saturday when I visited Maple Leaf CC. Expect it to be trimmed down, if not virtually removed, for the actual matches.

A lot of tidy-up work has taken place in recent weeks, including removal of the brush on the outside of the ground along 15th Sideroad. The retrieval of balls struck over the fence becomes much easier. The operators of the food and drink operation at the ground are keen to see spectators, but there remains a lack of public transport serving the ground on a Sunday.

Canada began the 2009-2010 ICC Intercontinental Cup program in Europe with a loss to Scotland and a draw against the Netherlands. Kenya drew on a visit to Ireland.

Past Intercontinental Cup encounters

Canada beat Kenya by 25 runs in a exciting Intercontinental Cup match in 2006, also at Maple Leaf CC. Qaiser Ali scored 91 not out after Canada began badly with support from the tail end batsman. Opening bowlers Henry Osinde and Umar Bhatti had Kenya in trouble at 14 for 4 wickets after the first day. Collins Obuya (43) and Tanmay Mishra (83 not out) lead a recovery but Canada squeezed out a first innings lead of 4 runs.

Geoff Barnett (136) and Ashish Bagai (57) turned the tide in Canada�s way in the second innings. But Nehemiah Odhiambo broke through to take five wickets as the Canadian innings collapsed. This lead to a battle for victory over the last four sessions of play, with Canada winning in the last scheduled hour of play. Collins Obuya�s dismissal for 89 was crucial, as was the fall of Steve Tikolo for 50. Left-arm pace bowler Umar Bhatti took 10 wickets in the match. He and Barnett were named joint Men-of-the-Match by ICC High Performance Manager Richard Done.

Kenya gained revenge with a 9 wicket win in Nairobi in October 2007. Sunil Dhaniram (78), Umar Bhatti (57) and Abdul Jabbar (49) provided the bulk of Canada�s 263 first innings total. Spin bowler Jimmy Kamande took 4 wickets for 56. Thomas Odoyo struck an unbeaten 103, Alex Obanda 83 and David Obuya 72 as Kenya reached 393 for a first innings lead of 130 runs. Canada responded with 229 all out and Kenya knocked off the winning runs for the loss of 1 wicket in just 20 overs. Morris Ouma, who captains Kenya on the trip to Toronto, made 71 not out.

Arvind Kandappah (87) and Trevin Bastiampillai (63) lead the Canadian second innings batting.

Squads for August 2009 Canada-Kenya

Canada: Ashish Bagai (captain; 27, RHB, LBG, wktkpr); Umar Bhatti (25, LHB; LMF); Qaiser Ali (30, RHB; OB/RM); Rustam Bhatti (19, RHB, OB, wktkpr); Rizwan Cheema (30, RHB, RM); Khurram Chohan (29, RHB, RM); Sunil Dhaniram (40, LHB, SLA); Amarbir �Jimmy� Hansra (24, RHB, LBG); Sandeep Jyoti (35, RHB, OB); Shaheed Keshvani (25, RHB, OB); Nitesh Kumar (15, RHB, OB); Hiral Patel (18, RHB, SLA); Abdool Samad (30, RHB, RM); Henry Osinde (30, RHB, RMF); Zameer Zahir (35, RHB, LB).

For the ODI series, Canada includes Harvir Baidwan (22, RHB, RM); Jawad Dawood (27. RHB), and Zubin Surkari (29, RHB, RM) in place of Qaiser Ali, Rustam Bhatti and Jimmy Hansra.

Kenya: Alex Obanda (21, RHB, RMF); Steve Tikolo (38, RHB, OB/RM); Collins Obuya (28, RHB, LB); Thomas Odoyo (31, RHB, RMF); Nehemiah Odhiambo (26, RHB, RMF); Lameck Onyango (35, RHB, RM); Peter Ongondo (32, RHB, RFM); Hiren Varaiya (25, RHB, SLA); Rakep Patel (20, RHB, OB); Elijah Otieno (21, RHB, RMF); Seren Waters (19, RHB, LB); David Obuya (29, RHB, Wktkpr); Alfred Luseno ( 27, RHB, RM)

Note: Age, type of batting and type of bowling are given in brackets.