Cricket West Indies taking part in new Toronto league


No Cafeteria bowling for Canada’s brand new Professional International Cricket League
Professional International Cricket is coming to Toronto this summer.  A six-team league, including a team from the Caribbean, has been created and a new Indian based marketing company has come on board promote and broadcast the Global T20 Canada Games next month.
Last Thursday a press conference was held in North Toronto to introduce Global T20 Canada, the new professional league in the Twenty20 format. International stars Andre Russell, Shahid Afridi,  and Dwayne Bravo are names the league predicts could well headline Global T20 Canada.
“This (the new league) is not just sports entertainment, it is also a primer to help get Canada ready for the 2023 World Cup,” said Bajun Canadian Jason Harper.   The CEO of last year’s Tridents Pride of Barbados T20 Cricket Team is the Tournament Director for the 22 matches set to play in the GTA June 28 to July 15.
“In a city that is sports crazy, International Cricket is a bit of fringe sport,” he continued. “This is how we plan to get Canadian Cricket back on the world stage, and in the minds of Torontonians.”
Global T20 Canada will consist of six teams, five representing Canadian cities – Edmonton Royals, Montreal Tigers, Toronto Nationals, Vancouver Knights and Winnipeg Hawks – with a sixth, Cricket West Indies representative team, consisting entirely of players from the Caribbean, as part of an official partnership with Cricket West Indies.
Prime Minister Trudeau supports the league
“The West Indies is a sponsor of the league,” Mr. Harper said. “The ICC approval is based on Full Member participation so one team will be a West Indian team.  Because of timing, the West Indies team won’t be drafting much from the All-Stars.  They will be looking at people like Jamaica’s Andre Russell and upcoming players from development teams to compete in Toronto this year.
Teams will be stocked with players through a draft scheduled to be held this week. Four roster spots on each of the five Canadian teams must be filled by Canadian born players in an effort develop future local talent onto the Cricket Canada’s national team and take part in international  men’s competitions, in both the Twenty20 and Test formats.
The 2018  tourney will stage 22 matches which feed into playoffs and the July 16th final championship match. All the games will take place at the Maple Leaf Cricket Club, The turf wicket cricket club is located in Kings City 30 kilometres north of Toronto. Maple Leaf has 5 cricket grounds and there will be temporary seating stands for 7,000 installed.
“Global T20 Canada marks the first time a nation with associate member status has launched a league – a major step forward in cricket’s global development,” said Ranjit Saini, President, Cricket Canada at the Toronto presser. “Canadian cricket fans will have a great opportunity to see up close many of the world’s greatest players.”
Because of the growing world interest in the sport Mercuri Canada has signed a 25-year deal with Cricket Canada to manage and operate the league.  The Toronto Star reported earlier this year that Mercuri has committed $500,000 to the league this year. Mercuri Canada says that it will soon announce league broadcast partners and viewing schedules in the coming days.
Mercuri Canada is a divsion of Indian based Mercuri Talent Management (MTMPL) and part of the Mercuri Group founded by Sriram Bakthisaran a senior corporate executive turned entrepreneur, in 2009. Mercuri Talent is one of India’s premier Sports Marketing & Management agency and a privately owned leading strategy and marketing companyThe large sports and entertainment company has operations in the Americas, India and the Caribbean Islands.

By Stephen Weir for Caribbean Camera

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