An editorial from Saturday’s Globe and Mail
This morning, thousands of Canadians rose before dawn to welcome the crack of a bat. Not because baseball season has begun, but rather because the Cricket World Cup is drawing to a thrilling close, with India and Sri Lanka facing off for the final in Mumbai, India. Cricket appears to be a Canadian niche sport, but it has the potential to be a widely played Canadian pastime.
The sport’s appeal comes from its emphasis on teamwork – sides regularly mount come-from-behind efforts to win – and from the variety of its forms: There’s the grandeur of the five-day test match, where the demands of the clock are set aside in favour of the rhythms of the game, to the more exciting single-day, 50-over matches. Like curling, it is gentlemanly; like baseball, it requires incredible hand-eye co-ordination.
And it has a storied place in Canada. Indeed, cricket is older than Canada, with the first game being played in British North America in the 18th century. Canada and the U.S. contended in the world’s first international match, in 1844.
The inheritance continues to this day; Canada was only one of 14 teams in this year’s cricket tournament, and notched up a win against Kenya.
Today, Canada’s diversity has strengthened the game, reinvigorated by the participation of new Canadians whose origins lie in cricket-playing nations in the Caribbean and South Asia, and by top international players such as Guyana’s Mahendra Nagamootoo, who tour Canada in the summer months.
But cricket needs more, and needs to do more, to grow in Canada. No major Canadian TV broadcaster secured the rights to this year’s tournament. The game cries out for better facilities. Cricket is flexible enough to be played in car parks or front yards, but there aren’t enough large pitches, with close-cropped grass, for the game to truly flourish. Those that exist are often mainly dedicated to soccer. The sport also needs to do more to attract players among women, in Quebec and outside Canada’s major cities.
On the summer sports stage, Canada often looks abroad with envy. At home, we are already competing at the top levels, in a sport of long vintage that connects us to our Commonwealth partners. It deserves more of our support.