The Soo XI Cricket Club will be among the teams competing in the first-ever Marconi Northern T10 Super Cup cricket tournament this weekend.
It will be held at the Queen Elizabeth Cricket Field, facing Churchill Boulevard, beginning at 5 p.m. on Friday, July 18 and continuing through Sunday, July 20.
Organizers are calling it the first professional T10 leather ball cricket tournament in the Sault and area.
T10 refers to the fact that each match in the tournament will have 10 overs — or innings — and last for approximately 90 minutes.
Other types of cricket matches have 20 or 50 overs.
Longer matches, known as Test matches, can last up to five days.
“We are the first to introduce the T10 format to the Sault. No one has ever conducted a professional T10 cricket tournament in northern Ontario. It's an historical milestone,” said Sajith Prakash, Soo XI Cricket Club spokesperson in an interview with SooToday.
The term XI in Soo XI Cricket Club means 11 players take to the field for a cricket match, XI the Roman numeral equivalent of 11.
The Soo XI Cricket Club has approximately 20 players on its roster.
The teams in the upcoming tournament will be using hard professional leather cricket balls.
Five Sault cricket teams will be competing in the tournament including the Soo XI Cricket Club, Sault Stormers, Soo Warriors, Soo Kings and the Algoma University Thunderbirds.
“We wanted to include a couple of teams from other cities but they were not available for this weekend. There was another tournament happening in Timmins last week, the annual Northern Ontario Cricket League tournament, so the teams that were there for that tournament needed a break for a week,” Prakash said, adding he hopes to see teams from other cities join future T10 Super Cup tournaments in the Sault.
Cricket originated in England in the 18th century and spread to countries throughout the British Empire.
It became very popular in India throughout the 19th and 20th centuries and India had its first Cricket World Cup victory in 1983.
“Cricket is a religion in India. It's not just a game. It's a religion for us. Cricket is in our blood,” said Prakash, who started playing cricket in the 1990s.
A growing number of newcomers from India now living in the Sault has led to an increase in cricket’s popularity locally.
“When we started the club in 2020, I think there were only two teams. We didn't have a lot of people to play this game, but back in 2023 we started getting more people to join the cricket community. There were a lot of new tournaments. The first big one to happen in the Sault was the Northern Ontario Cricket League tournament back in 2023 with teams from Sudbury, North Bay, Timmins, Thunder Bay. We’ve started a big change in the community,” Prakash said.
All players on the Soo XI Cricket Club are from India, but the game is open to all.
“We welcome anyone who knows how to play professional cricket. We’re happy to bring them in. We have selection trials in the spring,” Prakash said.
The team is grateful to the Marconi Multicultural Event Centre for being its sponsor and providing the Marconi Northern T10 Super Cup tournament’s trophy, Prakash said.
The public is welcome to attend and watch the tournament.
Admission is free.