By Lexi McFarlane, Times Chronicle
A pitch from a local cricket team hoping to solidify the game’s presence in Osoyoos drove in the support of Council last week.
The Osoyoos Cricket Club (OCC) is seeking to make the grass infield of the Desert Park racetrack its long-term home, having joined the British Columbia Mainland Cricket League (BCMCL) in 2025.
Currently, there is no proper infield or pitching area for cricket play. The OCC and other local cricket clubs are forced to use dirt patches, according to Gerald Davis, the Town’s Director of Community Services in a report to Council.
Davis explained that Desert Park would require a total of $8,000 in upgrades to meet higher standards for cricket play, including the installation of a concrete slab in the pitching area, and having a rubber mat to place over the concrete and other materials.
The good news for the Town is that the OCC would be willing to cover the cost themselves, in exchange for a waiver of the park user fees, up to the $8,000 amount being spent by the Club, for the upgrades.
Mayor Sue McKortoff expressed concern about potential conflicts with other sports given the need for a concrete slab.
“This field is used for lots of other things, like soccer and baseball,” McKortoff said. “My concern is, if you’re putting a cement slab in the middle of the field, and then you’re putting something over top of it, I’m assuming, when it’s not being used, how does that affect players running across this?”
A cricket pitch at Desert Park, Davis explained, would not cause much interference with either soccer or slo-pitch baseball activities. Since a cricket infield is located more towards the centre of a field, it would not interfere with baseball activities on the racetrack infield.
Davis also said that other opportunities exist for soccer and baseball, at Desert Park and elsewhere.
“This will be placed strategically; it won’t affect slo-pitch,” Davis said. “We use four diamonds currently, so we do have other areas. If there was any indication that this would interfere with the (slo-pitch) outfield . . . we do have another two fields at West Bench that we can utilize.
“We don’t use the (racetrack) infield that much for soccer. There are three soccer fields; if we wanted to have one on (the infield), then one wouldn’t touch it on (either) side.”
Recognizing the growing popularity of the sport, Councillor Johnny Cheong said to may be worth considering re-aligning the proposed cricket infield, so that Desert Park could accommodate two cricket pitches at a future point in time.
“Measuring on Google Maps with Desert Park, we could technically fit two of the pitches,” Cheong explained, noting the minimum circumference is 137 metres. “With our strong East Indian population, I see this being utilized quite a lot.”
The motion to approve the cricket pitch installation, amended with a note of being subject to final design approval in light of Cheong’s concern, was approved by both the Committee of the Whole, and at the Regular meeting in the afternoon.
