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2017 Mid-Season Report from OVCC President

23/08/2017POSTED BY Ajit Thomas


2017 Mid-Season Report from OVCC President

Dear OVCC Members,

The year 2017 has indeed been an eventful one with a lot going on in the league.  I would like to welcome all the new players and I hope that everyone is enjoying themselves.  The cricket season is in full swing and here is my mid-season report on all that has happened to date in the league.

Firstly, I am pleased to inform you that OVCC is back officially within the umbrella of Cricket Canada.  This was a unanimous decision taken by all the member clubs in October 2016 and the benefits of our membership has been evident so far with three of our Juniors taking part in all-winter training, attendance by both Juniors and Seniors at U17 and Senior camps for potential national team selection.  

We have hosted teams from Toronto and Montreal this season.  Congratulations to the OVCC team (Seniors, Masters, Juniors) for excellent performances in both of these encounters.  In June we played BEDCL, a match that OVCC won with ease.  This year, we saw the return of the historic Confederation Cup Matches between OVCC and Quebec Cricket Federation (QCF) after a 10 year absence. OVCC won all three of the Confederation Cup matches easily.  Ayoub Ahmadzai (Capital United CC) blazed his way to a brilliant 108 in the Seniors Game backed up by a solid 89 from the ageless maestro Akber Hussain (Canterbury CC).  The Masters game saw the re-appearance of OVCC legends Horace Boswell, Ralph Fogah and the Russell brothers (Tony and Shane).  For a magical moment, they rolled back the clock and showed the crowd what they were capable of when they were in their pomp.  Masters batsman Vipin Bali (Cumberland CC) led from the front with an unbeaten 50 and was backed up by Shane Russell (Belair CC) who bagged 4 wickets allowing the Masters to finish off the game comfortably.  Earlier in the day, the Juniors led by a 5-wicket haul from young Khalid Jan and an almost 50 from skipper Jack Batstone won the game against Quebec Juniors quite easily.

Over the Canada Day Weekend, 6 of our top players were invited to compete in the provinicial selection camps in Brampton and performed exceptionally well.  The Ottawa players impressed one and all and our players attracted a lot of attention from the scouts and for potential national honours.  Amreek Singh (Defence CC) impressed with his left arm fast bowling and solid batting.  Ayoub Ahmadzai (Capital United CC) continued his dazzling form with 2 big scores (63 and 45) in the camp.  The brilliant youngster Haris Chaudhary (Canterbury CC) displayed his silken touch with 2 excellent performances (44 and 51) in the tournament. The Ontario Southerns team was led by our own Nabiullah Nawabi (Capital United CC) and both of our teams made it to the semi-finals providing opportunity for our players to show off their rich talents.

On August 13, Rajiv Bhatia (Defence CC) hosted the Ottawa Friendship Cricket Cup (OFCC) that consisted of a mini-World Cup format with 4 countries represented.  India beat Sri Lanka in the finals to win the first Friendship Cup.  Congratulations to Rajiv for hosting such an electric event at Rideau Hall and bringing the league together in a day packed with fun and festivities.

The Ottawa CC hosted their Old Boys Game which was unfortunately marred by rain but the players enjoyed good fellowship and camaraderie.  New Edinburgh CC and Cathedral CC hosted their Memorial Game and Curry Night in August and raised a fair bit of money for local charities.

The Ottawa Juniors led by solid performances from Bilal Ahmed, Jack & Cole Batsone, David Alwis, Khalid Jan and senior Ahmad Shah (Ottawa CC) have qualified for the league playoffs. They are chasing history as this has not been done in almost 30 years.  The last time the Juniors won the league playoffs was back in 1988 when this author was himself a Junior and part of that historic moment.  Best of luck boys.

September will see the launch of the second Ottawa Premier League (OPL) tournament.  OPL 2017 is an exciting new format with 8 owners, a player auction that was held in July and larger team prizes ($3000 is up for grabs).  Sept 2 and Sept 3 will see the top players in the region compete to be crowned the new "Kings of Cricket'.  Join the fun at Rideau Hall and Lynda Lane on Saturday, Sept 2 and the finals will be at Rideau Hall on Sept 3.  Special thanks to our tournament sponsor Aahar Restaurant (Mr. Rupinder Pal) for his sponsorship and support.

Wishing all the teams and players continued success,


Ajit Thomas, Ph.D.
President, OVCC

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