Canada announce Nicholas Kirton as their new captain

Cricket Canada on July 26 (Friday) announced Nicholas Kirton was announced as their new captain. The announcement was made while announcing the Canadian squad for their upcoming ICC CWC League 2 fixtures in the Netherlands. The tour will comprise four One-Day Internationals (ODI) and a couple of T20 Internationals (T20I), all of which will be played in August. Canada have won all their four matches in the 2023-27 cycle of the CWC League 2, and as a result, sit at the top of the table with eight points.

A new era begins as Nicholas Kirton will lead Team Canada in ODIs and T20Is moving forward, starting with the ICC CWC League 2 in Netherlands ⚡️#weCANcricket #cricketcanada pic.twitter.com/RVsdMYam9w

— Cricket Canada (@canadiancricket) July 26, 2024

Kirton replaces Saad Bin Zafar, who led Canada in their first-ever T20 World Cup appearance earlier this year. Zafar has led Canada in 12 ODIs and 22 T20Is. The 37-year-old continues to be a part of the squad. 

Harsh Thaker was the incumbent vice-captain of the side, but an injury forced him out of the T20 World Cup. Opening batter Navneet Dhaliwal took over the role at the marquee event. 26-year-old Kirton, though, has leapfrogged both of them and will now lead Canada into their new era. 

Canada's immediate goals would be to qualify for the next T20 World Cup in 2026 and also finish in the top four of the CWC League 2, which would allow them a direct entry into the ODI World Cup Qualifiers. If things go according to plan, they could return to the 50-over World Cup for the first time since 2011.

Kirton, a left-handed middle-order batter, finished as Canada's highest run-getter in the T20 World Cup 2024, finishing with 101 runs at 33.66 to go with a healthy strike rate of 140.27. He started the tournament off with a superb 31-ball 51 in the tournament opener against co-hosts USA in Dallas and in the next game against Ireland, he struck a match-winning 49 off 35 in New York and walked away with the Player of the Match award as well.

Born in Barbados, Kirton qualifies to play for Canada through his mother. He has played for Barbados at the domestic level and, in 2020, was also picked by the Jamaica Tallawahs in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

Overall, he has played 10 ODIs and 17 T20Is for Canada. He is also part of Toronto Nationals in the Global T20 Canada, rubbing shoulders with some top international stars like Colin Munro, Rassie van der Dussen and Roston Chase, to name a few.

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