What if they made a Provincial Team, and nobody could afford to play?

This year’s Cricket NL T20 Premier League has been a huge success. New players have emerged, experienced players have stepped up their game, and we’ve seen plenty of firsts. For many players, the allure of being selected for the provincial team motivated them to push to new heights. 

With the Celebrate NL Eastern Canada T20 being held in St. John’s this year, players had the unique opportunity to see high-level cricket played in their own back yard. With my colleagues on the Selection Committee, we put forward what we believed was a very strong team capable of challenging for the title. 

Sadly, Mother Nature had other ideas and wiped out half our matches. Players were undoubtedly dejected to have missed the chance to represent their home in front of friends and family, but many took solace in the chance to be selected again for the National Championships. The requirement to travel was always likely to make it impossible for some, but we were confident we could select a squad that would represent the province well. 

The team was blindsided when Cricket Canada revealed that no funding would be provided for them to travel to Toronto. As the team is largely made up of students and newcomers to the province, coming up with airfare and getting leave from their jobs at such short notice has proven to be an immense struggle. Multiple highly-talented players are unable to join the team because they cannot afford to go. 

Let that sink in. They cannot afford to play for their province. 

There are players in this province who are good enough to play on a national stage. Multiple members of the squad made a great impression during the Eastern T20 last month, and this is a great opportunity to enhance that impression. 

It is somewhat ludicrous that a team representing this province is not being funded in any way to go to a national championships. The board of Cricket NL has not given up on trying to find some form of financial help to reimburse the players, but the red tape is significant. 

Cricket NL is not flush with cash, and funding the whole squad is well beyond their means. The lateness of the decision from Cricket Canada make it all but impossible to fundraise in time. We’ll have a team on the field, and it’ll be one we can be proud of. But while we’re watching from home, cheering for the boys in blue, remember that they had to pay to be there.

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