4 native squads are dealing with a crew from Winnipeg within the Ontario Manitoba Championship this weekend.
THUNDER BAY – To get a way of how a lot the game of cricket has grown in Thunder Bay over the past 12 months, all one has to do is make a go to to Chapples Park or Present River Park this weekend.
A yr in the past, squads from Timmins and Sault Ste. Marie got here to Thunder Bay together with a squad from Winnipeg to participate within the Ontario Manitoba Championship.
At this weekend’s occasion, which is placed on by the Thunder Bay Cricket Council and obtained underway on Friday night, two groups from the host Kombans are joined by the Thunder Bay Gujarat Lions and Thunder Bay Royal Punjab Kings to compete with the Winnipeg Lions for the three-day competitors.
“The sport’s growing very fast here in Thunder Bay,” mentioned Abhiram Giri, who’s a participant for the Kombans and a board member with the Cricket Council.
“There wasn’t an official crew right here a few years in the past, however now now we have groups creating right here with the Kombans and different teams who’re making their very own groups in Thunder Bay, which is nice.
“Now we’re starting to travel elsewhere in Ontario to play and we’ve also started to go down and play in the United States.”
Whereas the aggressive groups get the highlight with their showings at out-of-town occasions, equivalent to when the Gujarat Lions gained the Mayor’s Cup event in Timmins again in July, cricket as an entire continues to make strides regionally.
“We have the second ground here now at Current River to go along with our pitch here at Chapples, which I think is one of the best ways to help promote the game and get new players wanting to sign up,” Giri mentioned.
“With the Kombans, we have 250 active players at the moment, which is really good. We have our own space in the community and we are always welcoming anybody who wants to learn cricket and help grow the game.”
A part of that progress is welcoming the Winnipeg squads to Thunder Bay on an annual foundation.
“It’s really about making that connection so that we can have more players come here and play,” Giri mentioned.
“We can also head to Winnipeg and play and that’s really good for us as it helps to build our program outside of Thunder Bay. As people learn about us in other communities, that helps us grow.”
The Ontario Manitoba Championship resumes at 8 a.m. Saturday with the championship contest beginning at 3 p.m. Sunday at Chapples Park.
This marks the final main outside occasion for the Kombans this season, as they’ll quickly shift to indoor play and in addition begin up their winter youngsters camp.
Though the calendar is nowhere near turning over to 2025, plans are already in movement to make subsequent yr’s Ontario Manitoba Championship even greater.
“We are thinking about moving this tournament up to the middle of August or the end of August,” Giri mentioned.
“That way we don’t have to worry as much about dealing with the sun going down earlier like it does at this time of year and we can also get a few more teams from Winnipeg and elsewhere to come to Thunder Bay.”
