LARA IN NORTH AMERICA’S CRICKET CAPITAL

BRAMPTON is a modern and diverse city in Ontario, Canada with almost 750,000 residents.

There are 250 ethnic origins and 171 spoken languages in the city of 102 square miles.

Brampton has the fifth largest immigration population in Canada.

There are several thousand migrants from the Caribbean, including Trinidad and Tobago.

About 170,000 residents are from India.

Each nationality is well represented in the culture, cuisine, sports and other traditions and customs.

With a large number of people of Caribbean and Indian origin, it is not surprising that the city is well-known for cricket.

A current two-and-a-half-week cricket competition in the city is attracting huge audiences and around 150 million television viewers from around the world.

The large TV viewership is a source of much amazement in Canada, a country of 39 million people.

Many viewers are from India.

The Global T20 Canada tournament is allowing about 40 home-grown cricketers, some of them migrants, to play alongside international stars, like Harbhajan Singh, Chris Gayle and Shahid Afridi.

The city is giddy with delight and Brampton is being called the North American capital of cricket.

Mayor Patrick Brown termed the highly-popular tournament “a gift for Canadian cricket.”

Brown said Brampton adds fields each year but can’t keep pace with the city’s love for the game.

A large sporting arena was built specially to host cricket matches.

There are packed houses for each game.

Jason Harper, the competition’s director, said it is not difficult to get international cricketers to play in Canada, considering the large fan base in Brampton.

City Councillor Rod Power said the tournament is “massive,” and that “we’ve got people from around the world coming here.”

There has been a spike in sales of cricket gear.

One of those in the city at this time – though he is not playing in the competition – is cricket legend Brian Lara.

Lara took pictures and signed autographs in downtown Garden Square, with hundreds lining up for the honour.

As the cricket star met excited fans, one of the matches in the competition was shown on a nearby television set.

It was an event usually associated with Test-playing nations.

The tournament is a special source of thrill for young cricket enthusiasts, who are also anxious to meet their heroes.

Brampton, a plural city with large green spaces, art centres and ancient architecture, is adding cricket to its attractions.

Organisers plan to stage the competition again next year.