Winnipeg's cricket community thrilled with new pitch

Winnipeg's cricket community is chirping with glee over its new pitch.

A new artificial turf cricket pitch opened Sunday on the school grounds of Elwick Community School in The Maples.

It's the first of its kind in the city.

Families from the city's Indian, Pakistani and Afghani communities flocked to see it.

Winnipeg's seven other pitches in the city use large, heavy mats.

Maples Community Centre cricket chair and coach, Kamta Roy Singh, said it used to take kids an hour to get the field ready. But not any more.

"With this now, this artificial turf, we don't have to worry. It's already in place. It's ready to play. If you have rain, in ten minutes you have sun, it's ready to play. Kids don't have to worry about the labour anymore," he said.

Singh said the new pitch will mean a lot to the community, because it's a way to keep the tradition of playing the sport alive for the children.

"They're ready to play, and that makes a big difference," he said. "Knowing today with our generation, kids don't want to do anything, the easier you can make it for them, that it's a possibility in their lives. So this is really massive."