Global T20 Canada 2020

[ray]

Initial thoughts on the 2023 tournament:

Canadians are more at the centre of the action, being depended on to perform and very much holding their own. Hamza Tariq is captaining his side, Aaron Johnson, Harsh Thaker and Nick Kirton have top-scored for their respective teams. Saad bin Zafar was counted on with two crucial overs to help secure his team's first win. Many other Canadians have put in good performances - all good to see.

That said, there is a notable lack of star power from previous editions. Some of the bigger T20 names have been attracted down south. Other stars are four years older. Also, the money available to the top players seems to have declined. All this means the level of play would have dipped from 2019.

Having the games streamed on the national broadcaster should mean more opportunity for people to randomly stumble across cricket and have a look. We have to hope CBC is pleased with the viewership they are getting for cricket.

[ray]

There seems to be a rather liberal parachuting of players into into the tournament. Mohammad Rizwan (just off Test duty), Darren Bravo, Sikandar Raza, Andre Russell (fresh from MLC) and now Nitish Kumar have all been allocated to teams. Mercuri clearly think the presence of these names will help increase viewership. I wonder whether the stated budget of $579000 US includes the recent recruits.

[ray]

The 3rd edition of the GT20 went quite well. It was expanded to 7 matches per side and 25 matches in total. It seemed well-attended even though it had to contend with the overlapping Major League Cricket season and being scheduled shortly before the Caribbean Premier League. Some of the stars were over the hill, weren't available or had to leave part way through for other gigs. The tournament plowed on and even had the finals available to the widest audience possible on the national broadcaster.

This season, 3 Canadians were required in the playing 11. They were seemingly paid better on average than in previous years. Many of the locals started well, though with a few exceptions, their form dipped over the tournament. By my counting, 29 Canadian cricketers made 137 appearances over 21 matches (excluding 4 abandoned games). If next year is to plan, a minimum of 4 Canadians will feature per side. It is to be hoped that contracts for many national team members will help them improve their games and that Cricket Canada will see to it that U19 graduates are given the experience they need to eventually be part of the playing XI in the tournament.

For the future, GT20 has continue to build relationships with South Asian players like they seem to have done with Pakistan. Scouring the globe for the best remaining talent not already committed elsewhere seems to be the best they can do. It is time to find some new faces for the tournament.

[timmyj51]

Any official attendance figures? The bleachers were pretty empty in
all the match highlights I've seen.

[ray]

The first indication I've seen of Global T20 Canada's return for 2024 and its rough scheduling:
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/shah ... al-1436711

Rather than using his second NOC on the Hundred, Afridi will instead consider playing in the Global T20, a privately-run league in Canada, which is set to return for a fourth season in 2024. The league's organisers are yet to announce a schedule but it is expected to run from July 25 until August 11 - a slightly shorter window than the Hundred.

A July 25th start means only 3 days of overlap with Major League Cricket's 2nd season and some foreign players may be available at the start if their teams fail to make the playoff round. The August 11th final may present a problem for Canada's League 2 commitments in the Netherlands. Hopefully, Canada's team members can still be involved in the GT20.

[Victorian]

The 2024 edition begins July 25 according to the tournament website.

[ray]

The 2024 GT20 Draft has taken place.

Notable Canadians drafted

Toronto Nationals: Saad bin Zafar, Nicholas Kirton, Nikhil Dutta, Armaan Kapoor, Kanwar Mann
Bangla Tigers Mississauga: Pargat Singh, Dillon Heyliger, Rayyan Pathan, Gurpal Sidhu
Brampton Wolves: Aaron Johnson, Ravinderpal Singh, Kanwar Thagur, Akhil Kumar
Vancouver Knights: Jeremy Gordon, Harsh Thaker, Rishiv Joshi, Yuvraj Samra, Ajayveer Singh
Surrey Jaguars: Shreyas Movva, Navneet Dhliwal, Junaid Siddiqui, Hamza Tariq, Riwan Cheema, Uday Bhagwan
Montreal Tigers: Kaleem Sana, Dilpreet Bajwa

Also, it seems David Warner is set to return to GT20 five years on from his last appearance.

[ray]

A graphic from Fardin Kibria's blog entry on the 2024 GT20 draft indicates the top 12 Canadians selected will make $35K or $40K at this year's tournament. This seems higher than previous editions. However, there is a big drop-off below that with salary steps of $10K, $8K, $6K and $4K for other Canadians.

https://medium.com/@fardink/the-circus- ... 09a9fa2b10

[Victorian]

cricinfo saying Shaheen, Babar and Rizwan denied NOCs for the GT20 Canada. Has to have a negative impact on the quality and marketing of the tournament.

[ray]

Action underway for 2024 GT20 Canada tournament.
The absence of the big name Pakistanis unable to obtain no-objection certificates is a major loss to the tournament both for local Brampton interest and for TV audiences. Really too bad.

On the field, the expectation of 4 Canadians per side this season is not being met. I thought plan was to increase the Can-con to eventually reach 5 or 6. Instead I am counting a minimum 3 domestic players for some teams and that is being generous in that for the Knights, Nitish Kumar appears to count as a Canadian.

Anyway, as last year the local players have done reasonably well to start. Great to see 17 year-old Yuvraj Samra contributing for the Knights. We'll see whether they can continue.