'A dream come true': Cricketers rejoice with 2 new pitches set to open in south Winnipeg this spring

Construction on two new cricket pitches in south Winnipeg has fans of the sport buzzing.

A youth pitch at Chancellor Park in the Waverley Heights neighbourhood and one for adults at Bridgwater Lakes Park are expected to be completed this month and open to the public next spring, the city said in a Saturday news release.

Paramjit Shahi, president of the Manitoba Cricket Association, says the pitches are needed as the sport has been "exploding" in the province.

There are over 2,000 regulated cricket players in Manitoba, with thousands more playing recreationally, he said.

"In the last four or five years or so, we have grown cricket from 18 to 20 teams [to] 67 teams," Shahi told CBC News on Sunday.

But there aren't as many places to play cricket in Winnipeg. Shahi said there are only nine pitches in the province. Upgrades to the Assiniboine Park's cricket pitch are also underway. None of the pitches currently open are regulation-size, he said.

About six to eight new teams have approached the association to join its league, but they had to be refused because there weren't enough cricket grounds, Shahi said.

Some players are resorting to parking lots and baseball diamonds to play.

"We have seen a lot of cricket tournaments, unregulated ones and softball cricket, happening in baseball diamonds … because players don't have any grounds where they can go and play, so they are utilizing wherever they can," Shahi said.

More grounds welcome news, player says

Others are traveling to places like Brandon and Winkler to play.

"It's no fun.… you have to wake up pretty much 5 a.m. and then we have to travel like two hours," said Lakhwinder Virk, who plays for the Winnipeg Shooters.

The team was participating in a 16-team softball cricket tournament at the South Winnipeg Community Centre Sunday afternoon.

Virk — who's been playing cricket since he was a kid — said more grounds means the association can wrap up its season before it gets cold, and have more tournaments like the one this weekend.

He said that, as someone who's always looking forward to the next match, having to wait two weeks to play at times can be a bummer.

"I'm very excited because we really need more cricket grounds here," he said.

Cricket 'connects us'

The first recorded game of cricket in Manitoba took place over 150 years ago, in 1870, halfway between what is now Winnipeg and Lockport, according to the Manitoba Historical Society.

Abdul Baten, president of the Canada-Bangladesh Association of Manitoba, says his first priority was to find a place to live when he moved to Canada, but his second was to find people playing cricket.

"It connects us," he said.

Baten says people in the community were eager to talk about the new pitches when he shared the news on social media.

"They called me and they said, 'It's a dream come true,'" he said.

"It's kind of a recognition for them, [that] the city at least recognizes their needs."

However, Baten is concerned about prices to play, as he said it could cost up to $4,000 to register a team to play in cricket tournaments at Assiniboine Park.

He hopes the city will work with the cricket association on an agreement involving prices to use the new pitches.

"This will help big time, but … it's not going to be free."

The city says the total budget for the two new pitches was just over $200,000, which was provided by all three levels of government and the South Winnipeg Community Centre.

The cricket association says it also wants to work with the City of Winnipeg on booking times. 

Matches — which can run from five to six hours — usually have to start at around 10 a.m. Shahi said the city's time slots for bookings don't fit that schedule, so cricketers have to book grounds for 12 hours even if they're not actually using them the whole time.

The association hopes to have about 15 to 16 pitches in the city in the future to meet the demand.