02-07-2025
Pitch for sports infrastructure finally pays off for cricket teams in Stratford, Ont.
A cricket pitch sits in the shadow of the Stratford Festival theatre in Stratford, Ont. (Jeff Pickel/CTV News)
After years of work from a small but dedicated cricket community, the City of Stratford has its first cricket pitch.
The pitch is the rectangular area at the centre of the field where the bowling and hitting take place. Without a proper pitch, it is very difficult to play.
'We need a ground to play, and we are here, we are feeling so happy. everyone is super excited and we are thankful to City of Stratford and the team here who helped us through all the way,' said Tushar of the Stratford Game Changers, a local cricket team that has been playing on baseball diamonds and soccer fields for nearly a decade.
The pitch is located in the sports field in front of the Festival Theatre on Lakeside drive.
The Game Changers and the Stratford Festival team, made up of festival theatre employees, were the two driving forces behind establishing the pitch.
'I look forward to leagues growing here and people being able to play for quite some time,' said Emilio Viera, captain of the Stratford Festival Team.
Despite not having a proper pitch, the Festival team has been around for over 50 years.
'The group of Brits who came over to start that festival were huge cricket fans and cricket players, and so they developed an actors' team which then played with the other teams in town,' said Vierra.
After several failed attempts to establish a pitch over the decades, Vierra said they gained momentum over the last several years.
'It really wasn't until the last few years that the mayor and other members of city council really got on board with this idea of fostering sports in town for youth for the purposes of sports tourism as well.'
The city gave the project the green light in 2023.
After an 18-month fundraising campaign, the pitch was installed in June 2025
With artificial turf from Australia, the two local cricket teams now have the infrastructure to play, and grow the sport.
'I'm really excited that future generations will be able to play and learn about the sport right here.'
The Stratford Festival team does not play in an organized league, but they play one high stakes game every year for the past 50 years against the Shaw Festival group out of Niagara-on-the-Lake.
This year will mark the 51st match between the two famed Ontario theatre companies.
It will take place in Stratford on August 25th.
