The attention of much of the cricketing world in recent days has been largely focused on England, with the start of the biennial Ashes series between the host country and Australia, but on this side of the Atlantic Ocean, thoughts have already turned to 2024 and beyond.
Looking to build upon a successful year that has seen Canada regain its official status as a one-day international-playing country, the continent’s most prominent developmental cricket league added a further boost this week by announcing plans for Canadian expansion.
Minor League Cricket (MiLC), a semi-professional league of 26 franchises in the United States playing the 20-over (T20) version of the game, is looking to add four to six franchises north of the border to begin play as soon as next year.
In partnership with Cricket Canada and Boundaries North, an organization working with the governing body to help grow the game in this country, MiLC is looking to identify ownership groups between now and the start of September and will make a final decision on those groups come the fall.
For those in charge of the sport in Canada, the news is a welcome and timely development.
“In a short time, Minor League Cricket has proven to be a key development ground for North American cricket players,” said Rashpal Bajwa, president of Cricket Canada, in a statement. “The league can have an immediate impact on our passionate Canadian market, engaging new fans and providing aspiring Canadian cricketers with enhanced opportunities to showcase their talent on a larger stage.”
Entering its third season of existence this August, MiLC occupies the second tier of the American cricket pyramid, just below Major League Cricket, which will have its inaugural season beginning next month.
But while MiLC has helped bring the game to fans across the United States, from the Hollywood Master Blasters in Los Angeles to the Manhattan Yorkers in New York City, the competition is principally a development league. It has spots for under-21 players, allowing them to develop their skills while earning a bit of money.
“If you have a good season in the minor leagues, one season later, you could be playing in another big tournament or playing in the major leagues, or another key T20 professional competition around the world,” said Zubin Surkari, the tournament director for MiLC and a former Canadian international. “So I think it’s just giving players an opportunity to be seen.”
Those opportunities have led to national team appearances for some of the young players from south of the border. The hope of those charged with leading the expansion is that placing franchises in the Greater Toronto Area or in British Columbia – the two most likely destinations for expansion – will yield similar results for the Canadian national team.
“That’s a playbook I think that we can replicate,” said Rahul Srinivasan, chief executive officer of Boundaries North. “What we do know in Canada is the talent is there and the quantity is also there. So if we can apply a similar playbook there, then I think we can expect to see the same sort of results that Minor League is having with American players.”
Other than boosting the pool of talent available to the national teams, one of the other principal aims for the expansion is to help boost cricket infrastructure in this country.
When considering applications from prospective ownership groups, Srinivasan said that a commitment to developing or building cricket pitches will carry substantial weight, with all games in the 2023 MiLC season taking place on real grass or hybrid wickets.
“One of the first things we’re going to be looking at from owners is a commitment to putting dollars down to either improve or establish new facilities that meet the standard of minor league cricket,” he said.
As a former national team player himself, Surkari says the uniqueness of cricket – and the dimensions of its playing surface – can actually hinder the sport in its efforts to grow.
“Unfortunately it’s the biggest issue that we face I think in cricket is just the cricket ground doesn’t fit in any other North American sport dimensions,” he said. “It doesn’t fit on a soccer field. And if it does, then you don’t have a [soccer] pitch.”
The other principal requirement will be a strong passion for the sport, a requirement that may rule out potential owners who are newcomers to cricket and already own other franchises in different sports.
“I think we need people at this stage to understand the dynamics of Canadian cricket already versus somebody who might be active in another sport,” he said.
As a semi-professional competition, the outlay for running the sport is nowhere near the cost of running teams in the big four sports on this continent, with running costs to operate a team in the 10-week league coming in at around US$200,000.
The involvement of Boundaries North will help new owners set up shop, assisting them with everything from marketing and ticketing to showing them how to run a live-stream of an event.
As someone who spent the past few years as chief commercial officer for the Toronto Arrows of Major League Rugby, which began play just before the pandemic, Srinivasan is familiar with the teething pains of fledgling sports organizations.
And while he is hoping for similar crowds to the Arrows – somewhere in the region of 2,000 to 3,000 fans a match – he says it’s important that the new teams hit the ground running.
“We certainly are going to be encouraging owners and the new franchises in Canada to treat it like a business, treat it like a well-established and sophisticated sort of commercial model,” he said. “Because I think it’s important that this now fills sort of like a tier in Canadian cricket that didn’t exist before.”