It’s more than a game

I write this from my home country of Sri Lanka, having watched a remarkable 50-over match between Sri Lanka and England in Colombo yesterday, where more than 650 runs were scored and England emerged victorious. At the same time, Canada’s national cricket team is here in Sri Lanka, having selected this country as the base for its January preparations ahead of the World Cup, which begins in February. While much of Canada this week (Jan. 25-31) has been facing severe winter storms and temperatures nearing -30C, the Canadian team has been training in warm Sri Lankan conditions not far from where I am staying. Watching cricket here – in the country where my own love for the game was formed – while Canada prepares to compete on the global stage feels like a fitting moment to pause and reflect.

For many people in immigrant and diaspora communities, cricket has always been more than a game. It carries memory, migration and meaning. In my childhood in Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, cricket was woven into everyday life – played under coconut trees, watched from the sidelines, shared among neighbours and friends. When life became difficult, particularly after the loss of my father when I was young, cricket offered rhythm and escape, creating space for joy and belonging when words were scarce.

That same sense of connection followed me to Canada. Like many newcomers, I arrived without an established network, and it was through cricket – attending a local match shortly after arriving – that friendships began to form. Over time, those informal gatherings evolved into deeper community ties, shaped not just by sport, but by shared values of welcome, participation and care.

In recent years, cricket in Canada has been stepping into public view in new and unexpected ways. I recently came across a LinkedIn post noting that, ahead of the Men’s T20 World Cup, billboards in Canadian cities posed a simple but disarming question: “Canada has a cricket team?” Canada participated in the 2024 T20 World Cup and has qualified again for the 2026 tournament. Cricket has begun to enter the national conversation in a way that feels different from the past. Beyond Canada, the game itself continues to evolve – the T20 World Cup now held every two years, the traditional 50-over World Cup on its four-year cycle, and the sport set to return to the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028 for the first time since 1900. Together, these moments suggest not a sport newly arrived, but one re-emerging – in Canada and around the world – with renewed visibility and shared purpose.

This renewed attention in Canada rests on decades of grassroots work by many community groups, schools, volunteers and local leaders. My involvement through the Ontario Schools Cricket Association (OSCA) has been one small part of a much wider ecosystem creating pathways for young people to encounter the game. Across Ontario, cricket has been introduced in classrooms and gymnasiums not as an elite pursuit, but as an inclusive, affordable opportunity for students to be active, to belong and to thrive. This work continues even as cricket remains outside formal school-sport recognition, requiring patience, collaboration and trust.

When cricket enters schools where it has long been absent, it does so not simply as a sport, but as a way of reaching students who may feel unseen by traditional athletic pathways. The emphasis has been on participation, wellbeing and confidence rather than competition or prestige. Those involved in education often remind us that lasting impact comes not from one-off events, but from building structures that allow young people to experience belonging year after year.

Recently, OSCA took an important step beyond urban school settings. In June, our coaches visited Shawanosowe School and Wiikwemikong Junior School on Manitoulin Island – OSCA’s first foray into First Nations school communities. These visits were grounded in listening and learning, offering introductory cricket experiences while beginning conversations about how sport can support wellbeing, physical literacy and community connection. This work is only a beginning, with a shared commitment to build on these relationships thoughtfully and respectfully.

Before the pandemic, programs such as Cricket Across the Pond, run through CIMA Canada, my professional association, provided education-focused opportunities for young people from diverse communities to experience the history and spirit of the game at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London, England. While the program concluded during the Covid pandemic, it demonstrated how sport and education could be aligned in meaningful ways, and it brought Toronto international recognition through a unique youth initiative. Building on those lessons, OSCA is now exploring future sport scholarships that align athletic participation with educational pathways.

These same values are reflected in the Anglican Church Cricket Festival, held in the Diocese of Toronto each summer. The festival is not simply about cricket; it is about gathering and hospitality. It brings together parishioners from across the GTHA and welcomes the wider community into a shared space where food, conversation and play matter as much as runs or wickets. Women and men, children and elders, seasoned players and enthusiastic beginners, all find room to participate.

The next Anglican Church Cricket Festival is scheduled for July 11 in Brampton, and it continues this tradition of openness and welcome. Cricket naturally lends itself to this spirit. It is a game that allows time – to talk, to wait, to watch, to take turns. Everyone has a role, whether playing on the field or standing at the boundary. It reminds us that contribution takes many forms, and that belonging does not depend on performance alone.

As I continue my stay in Sri Lanka, watching the Sri Lanka–England series unfold and knowing that Canada’s team will soon leave here for India ahead of the Men’s T20 World Cup, I am reminded that cricket’s greatest gift is not found on scorecards or in stadiums. It is found in the spaces it creates – between neighbours, across cultures and within communities – where people gather, connect and discover one another anew.