2002 Season - A Review

From a cricketing point of view 2002 was a year of new leadership experimentation. The traditional team leaders like J. Rana and Parveen understood and recognized Dharmesh's game sense and role play ideas. Over the years the core players trusted J. Rana and Parveen for game time leadership but after confering with Raghu they took the decision to push Dharmesh as the new captain for 2002 which was accepted by everyone wholeheartedly.

The season started without any issues. Eagle Trophy was regained by us without a hitch. Players like Jaspal Rana and Harpal were piling the runs. A young player named Sadaqat Sheikh had joined the team. His bowling talent is raw but the pace of his ball is extraordinary and he made his immediate mark in this league. The team had won the first seven matches until Cavaliers Seniors showed up and gave us a clinic in agressive batting. It was our first defeat of the season.

Next, it was mid season and being the 2001 league champions we had qualified to play the coveted Ross Robinson Trophy for the Canadian Club Title. In the semifinal we out played Hamilton League Champions. On the otherside Centurion of the T&D league had thrashed Quebec to reach the finals. Sunrise was clearly the underdog team in the Ross Robinson Finals. However, Centurions won the toss and elected to bat on a fabulous July day. The Sunrise Captain had one simple message to his team, play for Art Browne our president who is breathing his last days. Emotionally charged, Sunrise bowlers were on top and kept the Centurion wickets falling and keeping the run rate at bay. However with the help of Arvind Luxman, who scored 125 not out Centurions made 210 in 50 overs. Soon After a quick break, Sunrise batsmen took center stage. Sunrise lost three quick wicktes, Harpal Minhas went in after the fall of the first wicket and entertained the spectators with his elegant display of text book style strokeplay. He was picking the gaps and timing the ball brilliantly. Sukhjinder Rana was sent with a clear message from Dharmesh: "stay there and bring it home". Sukjinder a big striker of the ball took the captain's message seriously and played the sheet anchor role to perfection. They added 100 runs for the 4 wicket. Harpal made a brisk 69. Jaspal Rana and his brother Sukhjinder simply took over the match and entertained the crowds. Jaspal Rana was hitting a six in almost every over. Both brothers took turns and blasted the score to 200 in 35 overs. when Jaspal Rana (quick fire 43) winning shot took a thick outside edge for a simple catch. Saqib and Sukhjinder( 69 N.O) made the extra run and Sunrise Cricket Club became the 2002 Canadian Champions for the first time in their short history. One of the match umpires in this finals was also a national selector, he praised Sunrise team for playing with great enthusiasm, He also said, "Sunrise fielding is undoubtly the best he had seen, perhaps better than the national side."

The regular season there after was played on high spirits but the batting was not clicking. Arvind Luxman the Centurion Star batsman was inspired to play for us and the club quickly got him registerd. The games were being won mainly by fielding and bowling strengths. Dharmesh the captain and Arvind Luxman were mostly bearing the batting burden with Harpal and J Rana being inconsistent. It was very unpleasant to loose to Kaituer CC, our arch rival in SOCA league.

By the end of the season, we managed to win the knockout semifinals and league semifinals by some brilliant fielding and Harpal's batting. However, we lost both finals on a narrow margin.

Despite, loosing league title games 2002 was a memorable season. Dharmesh Krishnammagaru lead the team by example and presented a new perspective to his team members on reading the mind game, to adapt, overcome and improvise through role play. Bahadur Singh regained his bowling title with league best 43 wickets. Dharmesh ended up with 39 wickets and Parveen Sharma picked up 27 wickets inspite of missing 8 games. There were some memorable batting innings from Harpal, J Rana and Dharmesh. All of them crossing 400 run mark with J. Rana being the top run getter. Rana made two centuries one for Sunrise and other for SOCA against Ottawa.

It is also worth mentioning that Kuldeep Dhaliwal's fielding has set a new standard for this league and beyond, besides Kuldeep is nowing showing a promise in batting that was missing in previous years. Another highlight for Sunrise Cricket Club was it youngest player Neeraj Bhardwaj was selected to represent Ontario under 19 team, where he impressed everyone with a brilliant knock of 137 not out against Quebec. Neeraj with a little discipline in his batting approach is poised to become a major player of this club and beyond.

Just before the season ended, Art Browne, the president of Sunrise Cricket Club passed away after battling brain cancer for a year and a half. He was instrumental in every success of Sunrise Cricket Club and building the neccessary framework to create a unified and dedicated amatuer sports club. It gives the club great solace to club that his sons Jeff Browne and Scott Browne are now contuining the legacy in great spirit and resolve.

We certainly look forward 2003 with renewed spirit.

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