{"id":4949,"date":"2013-07-31T07:58:13","date_gmt":"2013-07-31T11:28:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.canadacricket.com\/?p=4949"},"modified":"2013-07-31T08:04:24","modified_gmt":"2013-07-31T11:34:24","slug":"inverhaugh-cc-canada%e2%80%99s-only-private-turf-wicket-facility-reaches-a-crossroads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.canadacricket.com\/?p=4949","title":{"rendered":"Inverhaugh CC: Canada\u2019s only private turf wicket facility reaches a crossroads"},"content":{"rendered":"

The village of Inverhaugh, Ontario is home to one of Canadian cricket’s anomalies \u2013 a privately-owned cricket field with turf wickets.\u00a0 Opened eighteen years ago, the facility and the club it hosts represent the fruition of one man’s dream to see his beloved sport played in his own backyard.\u00a0 Bart Singh, with the dedicated support of his wife, Jan and his family continues to enjoy that dream, but may soon have to come to a decision on its future.
\n
\n\"Inverhaugh<\/a><\/p>\n

The farm property adjacent to the Grand River that would become the Inverhaugh ground, came up for sale in 1995.\u00a0 Surprisingly, an earlier owner had held cricket matches on the site in the early 1960s.\u00a0 Seeing the potential, Mr. Singh decided to take a calculated risk to purchase the site and make his home there.\u00a0 He then set about the task of transforming the field into a cricket pitch and building a new house to overlook it.\u00a0 \u201cThis project has changed our lives.\u00a0 Cricket at Inverhaugh is not just a sport, it is a lifestyle\u201d, he smiles.<\/p>\n

Tens of thousands of man-hours and a small fortune have established the facility that is Inverhaugh CC today.\u00a0\u00a0 The ten turf wickets would be the envy of many provincial and national cricket boards in the Americas.\u00a0 A pair of practice wickets has been set up in one corner of the field while a grass tennis court occupies another end. Six holes of golf have been laid out beside the river.<\/p>\n

Inverhaugh CC plays a 25 match home schedule.\u00a0 An invitation to play at the ground is a highlight for the visiting teams, many of whom would not otherwise play on turf.\u00a0 Teams from as far afield as Australia, Bermuda, Montreal, Philadelphia, Boston, Florida, and Washington D.C., have made the trek to enjoy the unique experience.\u00a0 Even international cricket has come calling as the national teams of Canada, the United States and East and Central Africa were hosted in preparation for the 2001 ICC Trophy. The club also has toured abroad to such destinations as England, Guyana and St. Maarten.<\/p>\n

As much enjoyment as Mr. Singh has derived from the creation and management of his ground it is a job for a younger person.\u00a0 He now is seeking a way to keep his dream alive, even though it will mean selling.\u00a0 \u201cI’ve done what I could to build this.\u00a0 Now it\u2019s time to pass the torch\u201d, says the owner.\u00a0 The hope is that someone with similar passion for the game will step forward to assume the mantle.\u00a0 Many in the cricket community that have played on the turf of Inverhaugh or who are inspired by the sense of idealism will no doubt share this hope.<\/p>\n

Inverhaugh Cricket Club website<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Property sale listing<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Ramon Lachmansingh<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The village of Inverhaugh, Ontario is home to one of Canadian cricket’s anomalies \u2013 a privately-owned cricket field with turf wickets.\u00a0 Opened eighteen years ago, the facility and the club it hosts represent the fruition of one man’s dream to see his beloved sport played in his own backyard.\u00a0 Bart Singh, with the dedicated support […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.canadacricket.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4949"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.canadacricket.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.canadacricket.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadacricket.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadacricket.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4949"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadacricket.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4949\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4961,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadacricket.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4949\/revisions\/4961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.canadacricket.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadacricket.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadacricket.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}