The fifth annual CIMA Mayor’s Trophy was
originally scheduled to be held on June 27th at
the Sunnybrook Park in Toronto. CIMA launched
a six week long campaign on GO Transit, TTC, Television
and newspapers promoting the event as a fundraiser
for the UK cricket scholarships for Toronto Mayor’s
youth cricket team. Soon as the media campaign
ended CIMA Canada faced a major set back as Toronto’s
civic workers announced a strike just days before
the event. The strike paralyzed the operations
at all City of Toronto parks and CIMA issued a
media release canceling the event. The strike
dragged on for close to two months ruling out
any possibility rescheduling the event in the
summer.
However, driven by the energy and enthusiasm of
the participating teams and sponsors alike CIMA
rescheduled 2009 Mayor’s Trophy for Saturday
the 3rd October. The last week of September was
a complete wash out as Toronto experienced both
rain and below seasonal temperature. CIMA Canada
advised all teams to be ready to play cricket
on wet grounds and cold temperatures. Surprisingly,
the event started on October 3rd, with no rain
disruptions during the opening ceremony and temperatures
touching double digits. All 22 teams showed up
at the grounds on time. The Mayor, City Councilors,
Corporate executives and the usual media cricket
team were there to celebrate cricket with CIMA
Canada under very unusual circumstances –
playing cricket in Toronto in the first week of
October.
A steel band joined as the event started with
speeches and recognitions. Mayor Miller pointed
out a unique Canadian flavour of a Caribbean steel
band with a couple of them wearing toques. Toronto
steel band led the Mayor’s and CEO’s
teams onto the field for the opening game –
Mayor’s X1 Vs. CEOs XI. The mayor’s
s side scored 38 runs in 5 overs. The UK Consul
General batted during a heavy shower, and Philip
Crawley, publisher of the Globe and Mail, hit
the winning run for the CEOs team. A fitting end
as he was the captain. Over 300 people attended
the event despite the weather challenges. The
event continued with no major disruption until
the last over of the championship finals between
Police team and the Royal Bank when lightening,
thunder and hail forced the fifth annual Mayor’s
Trophy being shared by RBC and Police.
Canada Cricket Article
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