Brampton investing millions more into projects to become Cricket Capital of North America

Brampton is putting more money into cricket infrastructure including batting cages and shade shelters as part of its goal of becoming the “Cricket Capital of North America.”

Brampton City Council signed off on a motion this Wednesday (June 14) to bring additional enhancements to Brampton’s cricket infrastructure including a four-lane batting cage at the Kwality Sweets Cricket Pitch, four bore batting cages at the Save Max Sports Centre, and shade shelters at various pitches across the city provide some relief from the summer heat.

With cricket one of the most popular sports in Brampton, the City will also develop a lane allocation management system for batting cages and will work with local cricket organizations so they get support to help grow the sport in the city.

Coun. Rowena Santos said she and Mayor Patrick Brown worked with local cricket groups and stakeholders to set “realistic expectations” of what could be added to Brampton’s cricket infrastructure during the current season.

The overall cost of the upgrades is still unknown and City staff have been directed to find an appropriate funding source for the projects, with some of the money possibly coming from the Park Enhancement budget to speed up construction of batting cages at Andrew Mccandless Park for this season.

The City has invested more than $2 million into cricket amenities in Brampton with another $7 million allocated for future projects.

Wednesday’s newly approved enhancements for cricket facilities across Brampton include:

• Kwality Sweets Cricket Pitch at Andrew McCandless Park – Two added shade structures with power access and installation of a four-lane cricket batting cage.
• Save Max Sports Centre – Installation of a four-lane cricket batting cage.
• Batsman Park Options – Consideration of two to four shade shelter sails or shade structures to be added, in consultation with the community and for consideration in the 2024 budget.
• Teramoto and Emancipation Parks Options – Consideration of two shade shelter sails or shade structures to be added at each park, in consultation with the community and for consideration in the 2024 budget.

The City is also accepting expressions of interest to develop the CAA Centre and City Lands site into a multi-use cricket stadium, retail and entertainment hub.

The City has previously heard proposals from Cosmos Sports & Entertainment to build a 20,000-seat, $100 million stadium as the centrepiece of the site that included a public-private partnership for the facility.

The Global T20 (GT20) Cricket Tournament returns to Brampton this summer after a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and organizers say the event will be broadcast to more than 100 countries.

“We are so happy to welcome back the Global T20 Canada Tournament to Brampton this year to once again draw international attention while inspiring our own local community cricket organizations and fans,” Mayor Patrick Brown said in a release.

The tournament was the second-most-watched sporting event in North America in 2019 with some 113 million viewers, eclipsed only by the Super Bowl. Organizers say the GT20 is expecting more than 200 million viewers this year when the tournament gets underway in July.

Six teams from across Canada will take part in the tournament including the Brampton Wolves (who won 4 of their 7 matches in 2019), the Surrey Jaguars, and the returning 2019 championship-winning Winnipeg Hawks.