High-flying Canucks headed to cricket World Twenty 20 Cup
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While things on the field have been rosy, there has been a prickly scenario playing outside the boundary lines. The International Cricket Council's anti-corruption group that found itself caught up here in the steamy weather has concluded its investigation into Cricket Canada and returned to London.
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The anti-corruption unit quizzed members of the Canadian board and 'including at least one' national player. All these individuals will have sleepless nights until this report is released later this year and, by all indications, it could turn out to be a bombshell.
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This column has in the last three months pointed out several of Cricket Canada's outlandish indiscretions that had fans shaking their heads.
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Two sticking points have been the national body's decision to hire a CEO who has been charged with fraud and theft by Calgary Police and then a national team player who was charged for trafficking and possession of 20 pounds of cannabis by Barbados police.
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Cricket Canada also faces a lawsuit by former coach Pubudu Dassanayake for wrongful dismissal following the 2024 World Cup. The national body replaced him with Khurram Rasheed Chohan, who also found himself caught in this revolving door and was given his walking papers prior to the Americas qualifiers. He was replaced by former national team member Ingleton Liburd and he did a superb in the King City qualifiers.
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'Ingy was terrific,' Bin Zafar said. 'He planned for every match and the players were happy with the strategy he mapped out for each game.'
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England pulled off one of its most extraordinary victories on Tuesday by chasing down 371 runs to stun India by five wickets on the fifth day in the first of five Tests at Leeds.
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Led by Ben Duckett's dazzling 149 and a half-century from Joe Root (53 not out) and an unbeaten 43 by debutant Jamie Smith, England reached its target with ease. Duckett and Zak Crawley (65) set the pace with a superb opening stand of 181 runs and the rest was history even though Shardul Thakur and Prasidh Krishna with two each tried to slow down England.
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In one of the most exciting Tests ever played, all four innings featured scores of over 350 with India's combined total of 853, the fourth highest in a losing cause.
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