Cricket catching on in Peterborough
As the only team outside Markham in the league, city welcomes visiting teams
Peterborough has become a destination of choice for teams from the Markham Premier Cricket League.
The league was formed in 2014 to offer shorter 30-over games than the traditional day-long test matches played in older GTA leagues. A 30-over game can be completed in about four hours.
The Peterborough Cricket Association joined the league in 2014 when they secured their own ground at Milroy Park. They were the only team to join from outside the Markham area.
In earlier years, a group of PCA member travelled to the GTA to play in other leagues.
Yomesh Patel and Bankim Patel, of the Falcon Knights team, helped found the new league and decided each team in the league would travel to Peterborough once a year. The PCA plays all its regular season games at home and only travel for playoffs.
“Every team loves to travel as a group here to play,” said Yomesh Patel, during the Knights’ visit to Peterborough on Saturday. “These guys are fantastic hosts. They serve us food and everything. It’s like a good outing. We like playing with these people. They have good spirit for the game.”
The visiting teams often bring their family and a picnic and make it a full-day outing, an escape from the GTA. They’re home by the early evening.
“Every team enjoys coming here,” said Patel. “Some of my teammates have their kids here and my son is playing. It gives our kids good exposure to the game and how teams play.”
Bankim Patel and PCA’s Pradeep Naik were teammates on a team in Scarborough in another league and their friendship played a role in Peterborough joining the new league.
“Once we started coming here everyone loved it,” Patel said. “It’s not just about the competition, it’s about the relationships, the enjoyment, the hospitality. Everyone looks forward to this game.”
There are a limited number of fields and available time in the GTA so it helps to have a ground in Peterborough. The league has grown from six to 13 teams and would like to continue to expand. They have targeted Ajax and Stouffville as new destinations. Right now, almost all the games are in Markham.
“We want cricket to be everywhere,” said Bankim Patel.
One of the reasons for the shorter games was to appeal to more people but also allow players more family time on weekends. PCA’s Prasanna Vemula said his club takes pride in their field and being good hosts.
“We have a beautiful ground here thanks to the city,” said Vemula. “This is one of the best grounds compared to the GTA.”
Peterborough is a competitive team. They’ve made the playoffs two of the previous four years, although, they’ve not been able to get past the first playoff game. The top eight make playoffs.
Vemula says the PCA is committed to growing the game. It helped Fleming College establish a team in the past two years and now plans to reach out to local youth.
PCA is planning to run a free camp this summer to introduce children aged six to 13 to cricket. Details are still being finalized but anyone interested in signing up or learning more can email info@peterboroughcricket.ca.
The Knights handed PCA their second loss of the season by three wickets in 29 overs catching Peterborough’s 140 runs. Sukhdeep Dhaliwal scored 58 runs, Sankar Sekaran 27, Jigar Patel 15 and Shariq Shah 14.
Wicket takers for PCA were Sekaran, Dhaliwal and Rahul Patel with two each and Arif Khan. The Falcons were led by Nakul Patel with 27 runs and three wicket while Romil Patel had 25 runs and one wicket and Yunus Motara 22 runs and one wicket.