'Not your father's NL cricket team': Province battles Quebec in three-day tournament

Cricket Newfoundland and Labrador hosted four provincial teams this weekend in the annual Eastern T20 tournament at St. John's Flyers Field, both hoping to win the title and highlight the growth of the sport in the province.

Fahad Hossain, head of the Cricket NL umpiring committee and player, was on the sidelines at every match. He says the provincial team has gradually become stronger in recent years.

Saturday's match against the current champion of the East and Country, Quebec, was an exciting match, Hossain said.

“We made Quebec fight hard. We kept the game going until the end and it was a very close loss,” he said.

“We were very proud of the boys. They made our province proud.”

The two provinces will compete for the eastern title in short cricket, alongside New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. While long-form cricket, with 50overs consisting of six balls each, can last a whole day, Hossain said, a short-form cricket match usually lasts about three hours.

Hossain, who also captains the NL Tigers, said the sport's following in the province has grown significantly since the current cricket association was formed in 2010. While the league at the time, he said, could only form two teams of 11 players each, nine teams currently play in two leagues.

It's a trend that Chris Lansdell also looks at with pride.

Lansdell, a foreign caster at Cricket NL, was on the committee that selected the provincial selection for this tournament.

“There was a long time when the Newfoundland team was considered an easy win for the rest of the country. This year, Quebec is definitely the strongest team in this tournament and we really scared them yesterday. We came so close to beating them and the Quebec players were heard on the sidelines saying, 'Wow, this isn't your dad's Newfoundland and Labrador cricket team,'” Lansdell said.

“We see a lot of strong players who really have a chance to perform at a national level.”

The growing success of the sport in the province is something he never dreamed of, he said.

“I never really had a way to play or participate in cricket until a few years ago. And now, to see this,” Lansdell said.

“Yesterday this ground was full. There was no parking. There were people all over the ground watching a cricket team from Newfoundland and Labrador play cricket on a sunny afternoon in June.”

A wish to see cricket in schools

In the future, he wants to see the game grow even further by being the first on the list to add a second field.

“In 10 years, I would like to see cricket in schools in Newfoundland and Labrador. I would like to see school gymnasiums across the country playing indoor cricket. I would like to see representatives from this province playing on the Canada national team and getting contracts to to play in leagues across the country,” Lansdell said.

“It's a big goal, but given some of the talent we have here in the province and the way we've developed it, I don't think it's lunch.”

With an increasing number of South Asians settling permanently in the province, Hossain says he believes the trend of growing competition will continue. It’s something he’s proud to show other provinces.

“I actually always wanted them to come here and see the ground because I've been to most of the provinces and I'm proud to say we have one of the best fields in the country,” he said.

“By giving them the chance to see the weather we play in and the conditions of the pitch, and also giving ourselves the chance to prove that we are good enough to compete with them.”

The Eastern T20 tournament concluded in St. John's on Sunday afternoon.

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