Caribbean batsman Sherfan Rutherford had a busy time at the awards ceremony after Canada’s Global Twenty20 League final. Rutherford’s Montreal Tigers defeated Lytton slaves’ Surrey Jaguars in the last ball of the finals. In the final, Rutherford won Man of the Match, Moments of the Match as well as Dean Jones Man of the Series. However, the best player of the tournament won a strange award, the Caribbean! The discussion is about that.
Rutherford received the Man of the Series commemorative trophy as well as a dummy check from West Indies legend Clive Lloyd. But the language of that check is different from the other ten checks. Usually the commemorative trophy is accompanied by prize money, but Rutherford’s check did not contain any money. Rather, it was written – half an acre of land in the United States! Means Rutherford got the land directly as the best player of the tournament!
In addition, the players get various prizes given by the sponsors along with the commemorative trophy. If you win a big tournament or win something memorable, you get a house-car bonus maybe from the board or the government. However, the tournament committee will provide the land – such an event is a bit rare.
The award will be given to the best player of the tournament, which, however, has been announced by the tournament committee in advance. Florida-based real estate company MAQ Group Global T20 has announced that Canada’s best player will get half an acre of land south of Orlando, near Disney World. Ashit Patel, director of Bombay Sports Company, the organizer of the league, said, “We want to increase the price. We want to encourage the players to put on outstanding performances that can be enjoyed by cricket fans and new fans around the world. International stars and domestic talented cricketers playing top quality cricket will promote the game in Canada. It will encourage others to come forward, thus the expansion of our country’s game will increase in the future.
MAQ Group Chairman and CEO Mohammad Qureshi said, ‘MAQ Group is delighted to present such a prestigious award to Canada’s best global T20 cricketer. It is truly unique in North American professional sports. We are seeing positive progress for cricket in North America. This award will help the players to improve their performance and make them attractive.’ And former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh, who played in this tournament, said, ‘It is an award that every player would want to win. I think it will raise the profile of cricket in North America.”
In the end, Rutherford, the second highest run scorer of the tournament, was chosen as the best player by the commentators and the technical committee of the league. Rutherford scored 220 runs in 8 innings at a strike rate of 130.17. The 24-year-old played 6 international matches for the West Indies and played an important innings chasing runs in the final after the second qualifier.
With a target of 131 runs in the final, Montreal managed to get 106 runs after losing 5 wickets at the end of the 18th over. Andre Russell’s 6-ball 20-run tornado innings saw them win in the last ball, while Rutherford, down for five, remained unbeaten with 38 runs from 29 balls.
