TORONTO, ON – APRIL 5: The editorial board met with Liberal leadership candidate Justin Trudeau on April 5, 2013. Afterwards he posed for a photograph in the Toronto Star studio. (Carlos Osorio/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

AN OPEN LETTER TO OUR YOUNG AND ENERGETIC NEW PREMIER OF CANADA – MR. JUSTIN TRUDEAU
“A REAL CHANGE HAPPENED AND NOW WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT TO CHANGE CRICKET IN CANADA”
The whole of the cricketing fraternity joins me in sending our congratulations and best wishes to you and the Liberals for forming the government and your becoming the 23rd Premier of Canada.

I’ve seen you at NFL & NHL games and even going to NBA matches as a strong supporter of the events and would like to draw your kind attention towards the game that is growing fast in Canada, and that is ‘CRICKET’.

I’m pretty sure; you would know that Sir John A. Macdonald, our first Prime Minister, declared cricket as the National sport during his tenure and looking at now and then, the game has gone towards a downtrend. The biggest reason being the proper investment in much needed ‘Infrastructure’ is not available for cricketers throughout the country. Ontario being the biggest province to play cricket for over a century, does not have a fully fledged real cricket facility and neither do the other provinces. There is a shortage of basic facilities with turf wickets and proper dressing rooms for the players.

Experiencing the game in Toronto, Ontario, for the last 8 years and living in Toronto the writer has seen only the ‘TORONTO CRICKET SKATING & CURLING CLUB’ as a fully fledged venue, but it is privately owned and and outsiders only get a chance when playing against TCSCC in the Toronto District Cricket league. The other venue, Maple Leaf Cricket Club grounds in King City, is supposed to be the ‘International-Venue’ for Canada’s National team, but has not been upgraded at all since I first saw the property in 2009. International teams such as Netherlands, UAE, and Uganda have visited the country and have played with the bare minimum facilities available. This does not look good for the image for our country – Canada, which is one of the strongest and most developed countries in the world.

To make it very short Sir, your new government must recognize cricket as a national sport, as it is getting very popular in the country with many nationalities like West Indians, Pakistanis, Indians, Sri-Lankans, Bangladeshi’s and Ugandans and even Kenyans now domiciled in Canada playing the game. A state funding should be made available to each province to upgrade the statuses of the ‘venues’ available, inspected by a panel appointed by ‘Cricket Canada’. This committee must include a couple of representatives from each province recommended by the Minister for sports

Very much a ‘Summer’ sport confined from May-September (4-5 months), we as Canadians need to up the ‘Standard’ of the game and take it back to where we were couple of decades ago.

Sir, the matter must be looked in to very seriously and positive steps of assistance must be inaugurated under your new government which came to power using the motto, “A Real Change”.

We the cricket lovers in Canada are now ready and awaiting your command and go ahead to make your motto happen in the game of CRICKET, a True Change.
God Bless you all.

SRINATH WIJEYERATNE, Brampton, Toronto.