Cricket Newfoundland and Labrador is proud to announce that following their second place finish at the Atlantic Championships, the province will be represented by two team members at the National Championships. Kathir Chenthilnathan, a senior player with the provincial team has been selected to represent Eastern Canada. Accompanying Kathir will be Sentill Selvamani, provincial team coach, who will be acting as team manger and assistant coach. The Eastern squad consists of three national team players (led by former Canadian captain Rizwan Cheema) five players from Quebec, and three players from the Atlantic region.
Kathir Chenthilnathan has been living in the province for 7 years and is originally from India where he played cricket at a professional level. He is an all-rounder – a strong bowler and batsman as well as an exceptional fielder. He was selected after performing very well in the recent Atlantic T20 tournament.
Sentill Selvamani was an important part of the Atlantic tournament success both as a player and through his coaching. Sentill has played premier division cricket in 3 countries: India, Oman and Canada and was part of the Oman National cricket team in 1995.
Selvamani said “This is a major step forward for cricket in the province. As far as we know, no player from Newfoundland and Labrador has been selected to play at this level before, and it is both a well-deserved honour for Kathir and recognition for the tremendous advances we’ve made since the assocation was formed two years ago”.
Speaking about Kathir, Selvamani said “He’s the fittest player on the team, with an exceptional work ethic and knowledge of the game. As a batsman he can adjust to the tempo of the game but is capable of tremendous power, as shown by his innings of 56 on 20 balls in the Atlantic Championships final. His bowling is accurate and hard to score from, and his fielding is top-class. It will be a big step up for him in Toronto but I’m sure he’ll represent the province well”.
The tournament will have five teams in total with Eastern Canada competing against British Colombia, Ontario, Prairies, and Alberta. Each will have 3 players from the Canadian national team.
The tournament will run from 1st to 12th of August.