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Brampton targets new cricket stadium after GT20 success

Brampton is set to receive a new state-of-the-art cricket stadium following the success of the staging of the first edition of the Global T20 Canada (GT20) league in the city.

After hosting its inaugural edition in King City last year, the GT20 moved to Brampton’s CAA Centre for its second edition. The likes of West Indies stars Chris Gayle, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine; India’s Yuvraj Singh; Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi and South Africa’s Faf du Plessis all competed in the six-franchise 2019 competition, which ended on Sunday as a crowd of 6,000 watched the Winnipeg Hawks defeat the Vancouver Knights in the final.

The league is promoted by Bombay Sports and the company’s chief executive, Gurmeet Singh, has said the $3m (£2.49m/€2.68m) spent on transporting turf from the US city of Indianapolis for a new wicket, plus outfield, could be better utilised if a permanent stadium is developed.

Patrick Brown, the Mayor of Brampton, has said the city is keen to maintain the momentum of this year’s event, stating that a new stadium will be “built fairly soon” in what the Toronto Sun newspaper reports will be the north end of the city.

Brown added: “With the ever-changing demographics of our city and with the enthusiasm I have seen during this tournament we have decided Brampton will be the capital of cricket in Canada.

“I was elated when the organisers approached our council last year with a proposal to host the tournament here and we pushed aggressively for it as players such as Yuvraj, Gayle and Shahid Afridi are such big role models for our youngsters.

“The game is growing rapidly and since most of the recent immigrants come from countries where the game is the main sport, it’s time for the players to get a world-class stadium in our city.”

The new stadium development will also include an academy for Canada’s national teams, with Singh stating Bombay Sports will make a financial contribution to the project.

Image: GT20