After one-year hiatus, GT20 cricket tournament to return to Toronto area in July

Canada's Junaid Siddiqui, right, runs past Pakistan's Mohammad Rizwan to field the ball during the ICC Men's T20 World Cup cricket match between Pakistan and Canada at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in Westbury, New York, Tuesday, June 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

After a one-year hiatus, the GT20 Canada cricket tournament is back.

The T20 competition is slated to run July 23 to Aug. 8, following the FIFA World Cup, organizers announced Monday. The tournament, previously held in King City and Brampton, Ont., will take place in the Toronto area with an announcement on exact location to come later.

The GT20 tournament kicked off in 2018 with subsequent editions in 2019 and, after the pandemic, 2023 and ’24.

The competition, which involved domestic and international players, features the 20-over version of the game and has been aired around the globe.

“Platforms like GT20 Canada help bridge the gap between grassroots cricket and the professional game,” Cricket Canada president Amjad Bajwa said in a statement. “They give Canadian players meaningful opportunities to compete at a high level and give fans access to a product that feels current and relevant. As cricket continues to grow across the country, having strong professional leagues is essential.”

Details on GT20 rosters, ticketing and broadcast partners will be announced later.

Organizers hope the 2026 tournament will get a boost from the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, which runs Feb. 7 to March 8 in India and Sri Lanka.

The 19th-ranked Canadian men, who made their T20 World Cup debut in 2024 in the U.S., have been drawn in Group D with No. 4 New Zealand, No. 5 South Africa, No. 10 Afghanistan and the 16th-ranked United Arab Emirates.

Canada opens Feb. 9 against South Africa in Ahmedabad, India.

The Canadian men, who had been practicising indoors in recent weeks, are scheduled to leave Tuesday for three weeks in Sri Lanka where they hope to play a minimum of five warmup matches. They will then head to India at the end of the month for two more games, against No. 17 Nepal and No. 28 Italy.

Coach Ingleton Liburd will take a 15-man roster into the T20 World Cup.

Cricket Canada, the sport’s governing body, has had plenty of fires to fight recently.

On Dec. 11, it announced CEO Salman Khan had been dismissed, citing “major governance and compliance breaches.”

“The dismissal stems from Mr. Khan’s failure to disclose prior criminal charges — an act that constituted a serious breach of trust — along with violations of organizational bylaws related to his contract,” Cricket Canada said in a statement at the time. “The investigation also found conduct that posed a reputational risk to both Sport Canada and the ICC (international Cricket Council).

Cricket Canada had suspended Khan in late October, albeit “with full pay and benefits” after the CEO and another man were charged with theft and fraud over $5,000 arising from their time with the Calgary and District Cricket League.

Khan, in a social media post via the Alberta Cricket Association at the time, called the allegations “completely false.”

“Let me make this clear: They have nothing to prove against me. I am not worried at all. I’m ready to fight just like I’ve been doing for the past eight years,” he wrote.

On Dec. 23, Cricket Canada announced it had suspended the Alberta Cricket Association, citing a review that “identified breaches of Cricket Canada’s Code of Conduct related to retaliatory communications, unprofessional conduct, confidentiality violations, and exclusionary membership practices.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 5, 2026.

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press