Sport - World Cup

Canadian Press goes gaga over team's win

OTTAWA Feb. 12. The Canadian obsession with ice hockey took a rare back seat on Wednesday as newspapers triumphantly proclaimed the country's first victory in a cricket World Cup match.

A day after Canada's part-timers pulled off a shock 60-run win over Bangladesh in their opening game in Durban, South Africa, pictures of celebrating players dominated most front pages.

``Canada's `Miracle on Grass''' thundered a banner headline in the Ottawa Citizen. ``Stunning win puts Canada on cricket map,'' announced the National Post. ``No-name Canada raises cricket fuss,'' said the Globe and Mail.

The collection of plumbers, teachers, students, salesmen and graphic artists had not played together for five months before the World Cup and were considered as rank outsiders.

``This is the equivalent of Tonga beating Canada in curling, or the Jamaican bobsled team winning gold,'' said the Citizen.

Canada's only other World Cup appearance was 1979 when the team lost all three of its matches and set a record for the lowest number of runs scored in a game - 45. And when Canada managed just 180 runs all out in its game against Bangladesh, another defeat looked likely. But aided by five wickets from plumber-bowler Austin Codrington, the team dismissed its opponent for just 120 runs in 28 overs.

``To translate, Canadians in pyjama-style uniforms whacked the ball around a little, running crazily between six sticks in the ground, before throwing and catching better than the other guys, and ending up with the better score,'' a tongue-in-cheek Citizen explained to its readers.

Reuters

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