Toronto close to getting regulation-size cricket pitch

Toronto is just steps away from having a regulation-size cricket pitch that could allow the city to play host to international matches — and there are already plans to put it to use next summer.

The city is “critically short” on facilities, said Councillor Adam Vaughan, and after a year of discussion over potential locations he says Coronation Park seems like a good fit.

A renovation at the park would see the existing three baseball pitches rejigged to accommodate the extra cricket pitch (without losing a baseball pitch) and it wouldn’t cost the city much Vaughan said since, “it’s a flat piece of grass.”

The city isn’t looking to build any stadiums, he said, “but as long as we build the pitch in a way that can accommodate that . . . It will be able to turn into a stadium when needed to host the major events.”

There’s already interest in putting the pitch to use.

Toronto businessman Roy Singh, who’s been lobbying Vaughan and the city for a proper pitch to house his still-in-the-works Canadian Premier League T20 for a year, isn’t wasting any time planning the first big event.

Singh, who runs CINRO, a gold exploration company based in Toronto and is the founder and CEO of the CPLT20, has been in talks with players about having a weeks-long league debut in Toronto next summer. The teams would mix Canadian athletes with several well-known international players and the CPL is in the process of privately raising $5 million for the cost of putting up stands — to seat between 25,000 and 35,000 people — and running the entire event. And as Singh’s dream gets closer to a reality, he’s happy it’s all coming together in Toronto. For a while, it didn’t look feasible so he focused his energy on trying to get space in Brampton and Mississauga. “It’s about access,” he said, “but my focus is Toronto, I love Toronto and that’s why I’m so adamant about playing the games in Toronto.” Although he still has to put the official proposal to the city, Singh said he isn’t worried. Timing the event with Caribana, the CNE and the summer holidays means the CPL will be yet another “stage built to showcase Toronto.” And for his part, Vaughan said he’s looking forward to seeing the pitch play host to a major cricket event — what would be the first of its kind in Canada. “As a cricket fan I’m over the moon excited, the opportunity to sit there with my son and watch some world-class cricket is now on the horizon,” he said, as well as, “the opportunity to play downtown instead of driving out to Scarborough, Etobicoke.”

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