By RON FANFAIR
Canada could be without another key component as the national senior squad converges in Toronto this weekend for trials to select the 14-member side that will take part in the 12-team International Cricket Council (ICC) Trophy tournament for Associates in Ireland in July.
The top five teams will advance to the 2007 World Cup series in the West Indies.
Montreal medium-pacer Ashish Patel informed manager Mike Henry last week that he's unable to participate in the three 60-over trials at King City because of a knee injury he sustained while practicing with his club nine days ago.
Last month, all-rounder Austin Codrington was forced to pull out of the squad because of a nagging back injury while wicketkeeper/batsman and third-year university student Ashish Bagai informed the selectors that he's unavailable because of a two-month internship that he will take up next month in the United States.
Both Patel and Codrington are expected to undergo Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) tests later this week to determine the extent of their injuries.
Three former West Indies cricketers now living in Canada and three ex-Canadian players will serve as adjudicators and match referees respectively in this weekend's trial matches that start at 10 a.m. each day.
Dominican-born fast bowler Grayson Shillingford, who played seven Tests for the West Indies between 1969 and 1972, will team up with former national wicketkeeper Robin Ramsammy to officiate in the opening game on Saturday.
Jamaican-born fast bowler Tom Dewdney, who represented the West Indies in nine Tests from 1955 to 1958, will work with former national all-rounder Danny Singh on Sunday while Anderson Cummins, who made five Test and 63 One-day appearances for the West Indies and ex-national fast bowler Davis Joseph will officiate in the final match on Monday.
Former India Air Force all-rounder Kantilal Patel heads a six-member umpiring panel that will officiate in the matches. He's one of Canada's leading officials, having umpired in the Americas Cup, the ICC Trophy tournament for Associates in the Greater Toronto Area in 2001 and the Six-Nation Challenge in Namibia (2002) and the United Arab Emirates (2004).
The other members of the panel are Kenneth Shantikumar, Leroy Myles, Noel Lewis, Les Burnett and Hemad Malik.
Former Barbados youth captain George Codrington and Ishwar Maraj, who led Canada in the Caribbean Red Stripe Bowl limited series in 2003, will lead the Ontario Cricket Association's (OCA) President's XI that will oppose the Canadian Cricket Association's (CCA) President's XI skippered by national captain John Davison and former Sri Lanka wicketkeeper/batsman Pubudu Dassanayake.
The winning teams will receive modest cash incentives.