Our host, Goway's Bruce Hodge
Bowling 20 overs a side, with many fourer’s and a couple of sixer’s, the 7th annual Goway vs Air New Zealand Cricket Match was played out on a glorious summer afternoon at the Toronto Cricket Club’s field. The Goway team emerged the victor before sundown, so we didn’t have to call in the night watchman and we all tucked into a plentiful bar-b-q buffet as the full moon rose over the wicket.
It was a spirited affair, not only with lots of cold draft beer for the spectators, but for the elevens from each side competing gamely for their honour and the annual trophy. Goway’s Moira Smith took home the “Woman of the Match” award as the game’s most valuable player ending the competition bowling a spectacular hit wicket. Air New Zealand’s Antony Price was definitely in the running for the MVP, scoring by far the most runs on the day. The annual affair has become a great tradition and as NZ’s Captain Roger Poulton stated, “One of the most important questions asked of any aspiring NZ employee is, ‘How’s your cricket game?’”
If I hadn’t just pulled into the parking lot around the corner from Avenue Rd. and York Mills, I would have thought I was in one of Britian’s more exotic or southern hemisphere colonies. The jovial atmosphere provided lots of opportunities for ribbing colleagues and opponents alike. Even for those unfamiliar with the sport, the relaxed pace of the game makes it fairly easy to follow – but, a glossary of cricket terms certainly helps. It's not unlike baseball, in fact, the sport has been termed “baseball on valium”… but is it cricket to say that?
The teams:
Goway – Bruce Hodge, Shamsheer Cottar, Moira Smith, Khalid Ali Ahmed, Don Forster, Shawn Shanmugarajah, Mike Bertoia, Beth Cuddy,
Shameeza Mohamed, Jian Ma, Hannah Jiang, Peter Lacy & Dan Brown
Air New Zeland – Roger Poulton, Clifford D’Silva, Mirza Baig,
Tarun Sankwalker, Anthony Saba, Aarir Irani, Tempa Baster,
Simon Trainor, Belinda Combrink, Sunita Singh, Antony Price, Sarah Clark & Sacha St. Germain.
