Cricketers say the lack of Calgary pitch could limit the sport’s growth locally
Calgary’s biggest cricket league said they have no hope of a new field – they need one or they won’t be able to continue to support the sport’s massive growth in the city.
The matter was raised by Ward 5 Coun earlier this week. Raj Dhaliwal during Question Time at Tuesday’s regular Council meeting.
Dhaliwal said he was told there were more than 7,000 registered players in a handful of leagues across the city. These leagues compete for playing time at city-operated, competitive Calgary cricket grounds.
“So I wanted to point out that some of them feel they don’t have fair access,” Dhaliwal said.
According to the City of Calgary open record, there are nine cricket grounds. Online, the city’s website shows six available parking spaces. All pitches are D-class pitches with no staff and no amenities, according to the city’s website.
“Calgary cricket pitches are D-class pitches. They are maintained by Calgary Parks. Mowing is sporadic. Call 311 for maintenance requests,” the website reads.
Dhaliwal asked the administrator for the upcoming season what the plan is to expand court bookings. The season is scheduled to start at the end of April. It runs until the end of September.
“As we all know, cricket has grown exponentially in our city over the past five years, but we have not been able to continue to provide pitches and grounds to accommodate that growth,” he said.
Heather Johnson, director of recreational and social programs for the City of Calgary, said they will be limiting games to the Twenty20 (T20) format. In this format, games last about three hours, while 50-over games last eight hours.
“That will increase capacity in the fields by about 15 percent,” Johnson said.
The leagues divide a limited number of fields
Five years ago, the Calgary & District Cricket League (C&DCL) had nearly 70 teams. This year they have 100.
At around 15 players per squad, they added nearly 500 more players. There are also other cricket leagues in the city. Although C&DCL is the largest league, they only have access to three pitches due to historical rights on those pitches. The other leagues primarily need to split bookings across the other three fields.
C&DCL secretary Hozaifa Cheema said there was a real need for more cricket pitches in Calgary. Cheema has been playing in Calgary for seven years since he was 15. In recent years, they have experienced between 20 and 30 percent growth annually.
“We were comfortable in a location where all of our games were happening over the weekend,” Cheema told LiveWire Calgary.
“Now we’re coming into a situation where probably 25 to 30 percent of our season is played on weekdays and that’s really not desirable for our members.”
If they play during the week, games are limited to 6-9pm as none of the D-Class pitches are lit for evening games.
“That’s about two or three months where we’re actually maximizing those resources,” Cheema said.
The pitches aren’t really interchangeable with baseball diamonds either. First, it’s a 50 meter radius around the bowling crease as players can hit in any direction. Also, this bowling crease needs a cement base (for durability) and an artificial grass cover.
Cheema said that due to the influx of new players and teams and limited field supply, they had to trim the length of the season. Five years ago they played 23 games plus playoffs. Today it’s 19 plus playoffs.
They are also trying to accommodate women’s and junior tournaments, as well as an event featuring international players. That costs time from the league game.
More cricket and other sports strategies to come
Dhaliwal said the city converted some baseball diamonds into batting cages in Ward 5. This is where the conversions help.
But it’s not a substitute for full fields.
When he came to Calgary in 1994, there were only a few cricket teams and they played at North Glenmore Park. Now, with thousands of players and a growing desire for field justice, there is a need for more facilities.
Especially as more leagues move to the T20 (shorter) format.
Director Johnson said the city parks department has hired a summer student to review field use this summer to ensure field use is high.
“The big picture, we know demand is high,” Johnson said.
They approved upgrades at three facilities (Red Carpet, Martha Haven, and Inland Smalls). She said once this work is complete it will result in an additional cricket pitch being added to the inventory.
From there, the city plans an emerging sports study. They want to identify sports that are experiencing significant growth and change.
“It will ensure that the administration has the opportunity to optimize the use of facilities that are currently underutilized and it will establish a transparent process for how the city is dealing with emerging and growing sports to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to settle in Calgary,” Johnson said.
The C&DCL celebrates its 125th yearth year in Calgary. On Friday night they held their league banquet to honor last year’s players.