At Toronto City Hall on June 24th, twelve youth from Toronto's priority
neighbourhoods and the GTA were selected for a newly created scholarship called "Cricket
Across the Pond."
They will travel to Chessington Cricket Club in Surrey, England for a two-week training camp in August.
The Toronto Sun reports:
They will also be the envy of millions of cricket fans when they visit
the prestigious Pavilion at the "home" of cricket, London's famous
Lord's Cricket Ground.
As Mayor David Miller pointed out, you only had to look around the room
to see why world cricket's governing body is pumping money into the
sport across Canada.
"Cricket is a modern Toronto sport," Miller told the
youngsters. "You can see the face of Toronto here today and the face of
Toronto today is the face of the people of the world."
Like many of his team mates, captain Darious D'Souza has his roots in the Indian subcontinent, where cricket is a way of life.
Having moved to Toronto from India with his family six years ago,
D'Souza has already represented his adopted country at under-19 level.
The 18-year-old, a student at the University of
Toronto, now wants to take the next step to the senior national team.
"I think cricket is a sleeping giant in Canada and in a few years it
will be a sport everybody knows," he said.
Funds for the program will come in part from the
fourth annual CIMA Canada Mayor's Trophy, a one-day corporate cricket
tournament at Sunnybrook Park Saturday.