Toronto and District Cricket Association
By Ravendra Madholall in Toronto
West Indian and Guyanese cricketer Derwin Christian expressed enjoyment after completing another stint in Canada representing Brampton Masters Tranzac Cricket Club in the 2014 Toronto and District Cricket Association (T&DCA) Elite 50-over tournament.
Dervin Christian had an excellent stint in Canada scoring 630 runs from 28 games and took 16 catches. Photo: WICB
Known extensively for his wicket-keeping ability, Christian performed excellent with the bat tallying up 630 runs from 28 games hitting a highest score of 79 while he took 16 catches to round off a remarkable season.
The 31-year-old right-hander was also ecstatic alluding to the fact his team emerged as the champion side dethroning Centurions Cricket Club in this year’s final which was played at the King City ground recently.
“Definitely, I enjoy my second stint in Canada and looking forward to make another impression next year because I have already been invited to represent them again and most of all to be in the winning team,” Christian related.
Christian, who plays for Demerara Cricket Club in Georgetown, Guyana over the years, featured in 51 first-class matches and 35 List A games while he only wore the maroon colors in two T20 matches.
He still believes he has enough cricket left in him to be back in those prestigious colors and therefore playing competitive cricket, which can attract the selectors.
“It [is] still my desire to represent Guyana and West Indies; I know you have got to perform consistently and regarding my keeping, I was able to maintain my excellent gloves work,” the former Guyana under-19 athlete divulged.
On his inaugural visit 2008, Christian done well too for a West Indian club but missed out over the past five years owing to Guyana and West Indies’ commitment.
However, the experience playing in North America is fantastic on these two occasions so far, according to Christian while he lauded the welcome too by his teammates.
“It was an honor to be part of the Brampton team this year as I was also privileged to play with cricketers of caliber like Cheema (Rizwan), Patel (Hiral), Gordon (Jeremy) and Searles (Javon) among others.
Apart from that, Christian candidly mentioned about the sturdiness he endured playing on the foreign soil but adapted to the challenging conditions very quickly with a number of indoor practice sessions.
“Playing cricket in Canada is not easy as playing in the Caribbean like Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago; the weather and the pitches here make it very challenging at times but my body acclimatized having lots of indoor training sessions assisted me a greatly and then I was able to score runs consistently towards the end of the tournament,”
In the final, Christian, who toured with the Caribbean team to England in 2011, produced a fine batting display by making 48 runs.