Montreal’s cricket season delayed amid renovations and lack field shortage

Renovations and a field shortage are pushing back the start of Montreal’s cricket season.

Montreal’s cricket season is off to a late start this year, with ongoing renovations at Jarry Park and a lack of available fields frustrating players.

Located in the Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension borough, the park has two cricket fields—but the main one is currently unavailable.

As a temporary solution, the Montreal Cricket Association has moved play to another area of the park. However, the new field does not have a proper cricket pitch, forcing the association to purchase its own.

“We had to buy our own matting, which cost us $10,000,” said Mehboob Rehman, president of the Montreal Cricket Association. He added that installation will take another week to complete.

Adding to the challenge, the temporary field is shared with soccer players, limiting its availability.

While the renovations have been a setback, Rehman says the bigger issue is the ongoing lack of cricket fields in Montreal despite growing interest in the sport.

“Unfortunately, we only have four fields to accommodate 1,000 players, which is the hardest part to do,” he said.

He noted that turning away teams has become increasingly common.

The borough, which oversees Jarry Park, told CTV News that the site is being transformed into a sponge park, and construction will wrap up in early July.

The borough does not officially recognize the Montreal Cricket Association, making it even more difficult to secure new fields.

Rahman says the process is challenging.

“We were able to go to one office and get permits for whatever fields were available in the city, and now we have to go to individual boroughs, which makes it very hard to acquire any new fields,” he said.

The cricket season is scheduled to begin next weekend.