Young cricket players cheered for federal Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre when he stopped at a Surrey pitch on Tuesday, July 9.
Dressed in a black T-shirt and blue jeans on a hot summer day, Poilievre posed for photos during a Cricket BC-hosted gathering at West Newton Community Park.
The event also served as a soft launch for the BC Super League at the cricket pitch, a rare one locally.
“We’re showing him this infrastructure and what kind of infrastructure we would look for in the future, and hopefully we will get the support,” said Cricket BC president Vimal Hardat.
“This is the only natural turf that we have for cricket in B.C., because everywhere else is artificial (turf). We need more facilities like this, we do, because cricket is the fastest growing sport in Canada right now.”
Players with the Stallions club gathered around Poilievre for photos, then watched him grab a cricket bat. He missed the first ball thrown his way, then connected on his second try.
Later, Poilievre awarded national-level players with plaques with his name on them.
“We’re honouring him,” Hardat, “and he’s also here to reward the Canadian players, the ones that actually represented us in the World Cup and also the younger players.”
The gathering was similar to one in North Delta on March 27 when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau watched young cricket players demonstrate the sport at Delview Park.
“We like to take support from anyone who wants to support us, this sport,” Hardat said when reminded of the March event. “We see him (Poilievre) as a really good person to advocate for us and cricket in general. We are getting a lot of traction.”
Cricket BC’s Super League has been active for three seasons, Hardat noted, with a fourth about to start.
“This is a good start to kick-start or launch the BC Super League for 2024,” Hardat said. “It goes through summer, and the start is potentially next week. All of the games are played here, elite-level cricket, with only natural turf for the players. But this year because there’s GT20 happening (a league involving Surrey Jaguars) and players will be going, so there may be a few games played somewhere else, places without natural turf, which goes against what we are trying to do with the Super League. That’s why we need more places like this.”
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