by Michelle Greysen

Created on: February 05, 2010

Canada is home to a National Mens' Cricket team but if you asked the average Canadian they would be surprised to hear this. Although the sport does have a long Canadian history and was once deemed the national sport, it now carries a low profile in comparison to other more common sports. With a rich history abroad it is little wonder the team is traditionally expatriates from thriving Cricket nations now living in Canada.

Cricket is said to have been established in Canada as far back as the 1800’s with the first recorded match being in 1844 when the first One Day International match was played and is still participated in annually by the unsanctioned Canadian team. The game is said to have been brought to Canada by British soldiers in the mid 1700’s and by 1827 Toronto was home to the first Cricket Club and later having a rival with the Upper Canada College team. By 1859 a popular English Team made its way to Canada with an international tour winning all five matches and became the subject of a book published the following year, 'The English Cricketers’ Trip to Canada and the United States.'

In 1867 as Canada celebrated becoming a Nation the first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, declared the game of Cricket the National Sport. Twenty years later a Canadian team officially toured matches around the United Kingdom although approaching the end of the century the popularity of the game was on a decline back in Canada and the U.S. as baseball was fast becoming the game of choice.

A resurgence for the game was tried in the 1950’s with international matches both abroad in England and back in Canada but the game slipped off the national radar in popularity and the Canadian club played the annual North American series of matches and some tournaments with little hope of international standings until the late 1990’s.

By the new millennium Canada hosted an international tournament, finished third and by 2003 qualified for the World Cup. Embarking on matches building up to the World Cup the game of Cricket again gained momentum in Canada. Although Canada did not advance in the Worlds they continued to compete and from 2004 to 2008 played a series of non-winners until late 2008 when they finished third in the Americas Championship in Florida. Finally in 2009 Canada assembled what is thought to be the best Canadian team in years and was able to finish the season earning a berth in the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup.

Today Cricket Canada is the National Sports Organization for Cricket in Canada. Formerly named the Canadian Cricket Association (Established 1892), the organization is presently represented by 9 Provincial boards operating respectively in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and Saskatchewan. The game is gaining popularity again, more than a century later with this past month being a historic moment for Cricket Canada as the first ever Internet broadcast of cricket was aired.

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