An update from Praim Persaud on Facebook
Cricket in Brampton:
On Its Upwards Pathway to becoming ‘The Capital City of Cricket’ in Canada – as promised by our Mayor Patrick Brown and fully supported by Council and all associated Parks & Recreation Departments and their respective Directors and Managers.
Following my latest meeting with Director Rob Gasper and Manager Jim Pitman – (previously posted) we made our site visit to the Batsman Park Facilities – to do a visual inspection of exactly where the Natural Turf Inlays will be paced – with respect to concerns such as: – the Inner circle and outer boundaries, the Side Screens and ensuring that they do not encroach into to Soccer pitches that are being shared with Cricket.
This was DETERMINED TO BE THE MOST CHALLENGING OF THE FACILITIES THAT WILL BE HAVING Natural Turf Pitches as of 2020 and are the same ones that were to be done during the 2019 Season but due to unseen circumstances were delayed for the coming season.
As I promised in my previous post – here are the highlights of the EXCVTING NEWS for Cricket and all Cricketers in Brampton as 2020 and beyond:
1) Natural Turf Pitches will be on Batsman Park, Teramato Park & Andrew McCandlees Turf Park – the current Artificial will remain and some will have either a Four (4) Inlay or Five (5) where possible and can be accommodated. Some will have these on either side of the Existing Artificial or a combination of 2 & 2 or 3 on one side etc. – as determined by the current Size of the field and other parameters. The current artificial will either be part of the ‘rotation’ and/or be used in the event of rain affected days (if required).
2) In the next 2 to 3 years there is the possibility of Four (4) additional LIGHTED facilities in the City of Brampton – a staggering improvement and commitment to taking our City to that level of being the LEADING City for Cricket for Infrastructure Development & Growth..
3) All required equipment for the Outfields (rolling & cutting) and the Turf Pitch maintenance (Rolling & Cutting / Shaving) and all other required machinery for Cricket Field maintenance will be arriving and be available for the start of the 2020 Season
4) The City will be having two (2) dedicated Trailer Trucks equipped with all required machinery & equipment for field maintenance. These will be allocated – One (1) for the EAST & One (1) for the WEST and will be dedicated exclusively for Cricket Field Maintenance – five (5) days per week.
5) ALL Side Screens will be REDONE (REMODELED) to a New Design & Pattern that will address such requirements as – being at the RIGHT HEIGHT & WIDTH – and will be factoring the Positioning of both the Natural & Artificial Turf pitches.
6) There will be Special Covers for the Natural Turf Facilities.
7) There will be a HAND Held / Propelled ROLLERS of a required & manageable weight – that can be utilized by the players for game day preparation in between Innings and games.
8) There will be Storage facilities built at the Natural Turf Facilities to house all required ground maintenance equipment that can be utilized by the teams.
It has been an long and tough road to get where we are but Cricket has finally received its due recognition (as a Main Stream Sport) in our city and we are finally getting the type of facilities that are required to play the game in its true & natural form .
These will enable our ‘players’ to gain the necessary experience, skills and for to be contenders for both the provincial and National Teams – as long as they have the drive, desire and passion to be playing at these levels – a commitments that will have to their’ s and theirs’s only.
To all of our Cricketers – 2019 was ground breaking & exciting – 2020 will be a more awesome year for our sport in our city – enjoy, respect & treasure what has been and what will be provided for your benefit.
In closing – I must repeat – we must all be thankful for having a dedicated and committed Mayor like Patrick Brown who has been a man of his word – THANKS for all your support to our Sport.