2015 CIMA Toronto Mayor’s Cricket Team announced

Mayor John Tory and City staff congratulated the 12 Toronto youth selected for the eighth annual Cricket Across the Pond program. Participants in today’s ceremonial event at City Hall included Martin Saxton, Chair of CIMA Canada; Myriam Madden, Global President of CIMA; Mehul Adhvaryu, RBC, Vice-President of Commercial Markets, York Region; Tom Mihalik, owner of Tom’s Place; and Kanish Thevarasa, Kanish & Partners Chartered Accountants. Dwight Drummond, of CBC News Toronto, was the MC for the event.

“Being a member of this team is an honour and an accomplishment to be remembered as you represent Toronto in Sri Lanka,” said Mayor John Tory. “All those selected today to be part of the CIMA Toronto Mayor’s Cricket Team should be proud of their hard work, training and sportsmanship.”

The City of Toronto is CIMA’s partner in promoting the Cricket Across the Pond (CAP) scholarship program. CAP uses cricket as a vehicle to reach out to youth from Toronto’s diverse neighbourhoods by giving them a sense of hope, increased self-esteem and opportunities to become positive role models in their communities.

CAP provides young cricketers in the Greater Toronto Area with the opportunity to travel to Sri Lanka to represent Toronto and learn leadership skills as ambassadors for the city. The aim of the Sri Lankan tour of the 2015 CIMA Mayor’s Cricket Team is to develop these Toronto youth into role models for their communities. The Sri Lanka tour showcases the power of sports to cross cultural and geographic borders and strengthen the bonds between nations.

The High Commissioner of Canada to Sri Lanka and Maldives, Shelley Whiting, will host a welcome reception to the team prior to the start of tour matches. The tour matches will take place in the southern and northern provinces in Sri Lanka, providing great opportunities to engage youth and develop social cohesion and interaction through cricket.

Players for the 2015 CIMA Mayor’s Cricket Team include:
Salman Khan, Glendale Secondary School, Hamilton
Syed Shaheer Izhar, Dr. Frank J. Hayden Secondary School, Burlington
Gazenfar Syed, Notre Dame Catholic Secondary School, Ajax
Harikrishna Somaskanda Sarma, Albert Campbell Collegiate Institute, Scarborough
Krishen Samuel, Saint John Paul II Catholic Secondary School, Scarborough
Mohamed Asad Sikandar, John Fraser Secondary School, Mississauga
Jamit Kumar Patel, Winston Churchill Collegiate Institute, Toronto
Rohan Kundlas, Lincoln M. Alexander Secondary School, Mississauga
Arminder Atwal, Albert Campbell Collegiate Institute, Scarborough
Emanual Khokar, Cardinal Leger Catholic Secondary School, Brampton
Lakshan Geegana, North Park Secondary School, Hamilton
Meigha Perera, Bill Crothers Secondary School, Markham

The tour itinerary, from June 30 to July 10:
June 30 – Welcome reception hosted by High Commissioner of Canada to Sri Lanka and Maldives, Shelley Whiting
July 3 and 4 – Games against Colombo schools
July 7 and 8 – Games against Jaffna schools
July 10 – Game against Kingswood College, Kandy

CIMA is a leading membership body that offers an internationally recognized professional qualification in management accountancy with over 227,000 students and members in 179 countries. CIMA members and students the world over are involved in community activities. A significant majority of CIMA members in Toronto have roots in cricket playing nations around the world.