Hello Tony,

I am writing to inform you of some of the happenings here in Toronto while we prepare to host the world. Literally and figuratively, the local cricketers here in the Toronto and District Cricket Association (T&DCA) have been left out in the cold. During the first 4 weeks of our relatively short season, many of the clubs, whose home ground is a venue for ICCT matches, have had their matches rescheduled or cancelled altogether. As a result, the playoffs and finals will most likely be played in the beginning of October, not the most pleasant weather for cricket.

The most concerning issue for most clubs is that, the cost of playing cricket in one of the most elite leagues in all of North America is quite high. Thus, when the managers of the grounds decide to cancel matches, at slightest sign of rain, it is quite disappointing to both lose the joy of playing a match but also the nearly $300 for the right to play. On two occasions, clubs have arrived at the Malton ground on a beautiful sunny day, only to find because showers had occurred overnight, that their match had been cancelled. The reason given was that the turf wickets would be damaged. Further, King City's Maple Leaf Cricket Club which holds 4-5 matches every week, has been out of service for the first 3 weeks due to repairs to the wickets and outfield, these matches had been rescheduled. However, this previous weekend, when matches were ready to be played at the facility, matches were cancelled on the Friday, because of rain on the Thursday. The Saturday and Sunday turned out to be a beautiful sunny days, hot enough to have dried the ground and allow for play, but again to protect the grounds the managers cancelled these matches. As a result, each of the clubs split the vital points available from the matches, and lost another precious day of cricket.

The clubs understand that there has been a great investment made in the grounds and the turf wickets, but we never had any say as to whether we wanted to stage this tournament here in the first place. The decision was made by the Canadian Cricket Association and T&DCA. The legacy of the ICCT is also questionable, as we do not have the expertise to maintain the turf wickets after the conclusion of the tournament. It will be interesting to see if the local cricketers will benefit at all from hosting the ICCT.

So as Toronto welcomes the world later this month, the local cricketers will be eagerly awaiting their departure.

Thanks,
Nauman Vania
Kholvad Cricket Club,
Toronto, Canada

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