IPL teams could head to Canada

The popularity of Twenty20 cricket has spread to Canada, including a chance that Indian Premier League teams could visit the country following "advanced" discussions, Cricket Canada has confirmed to Cricinfo.

The board held talks with important IPL figures at the start of the Indian tournament last month but have so far been offered "no promises and no confirmations".

"Atul Ahuja, Cricket Canada's chief executive, had discussions with leading individuals in respect to possible visits to Canada by IPL teams," a CC spokesperson said. "In some cases, those discussion were quite advanced, but at the moment there are no promises and no confirmations."

Either way, Twenty20 will be taking centrestage for the next few months in Canadian cricket. The first-ever national Twenty20 championship will be held over the weekend of May 17 and 18 at King City near Toronto, on four turf pitches. There will be 12 matches per day, involving teams from Briitsh Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia. The competition is a formal Cricket Canada event in partnership with their new major sponsor Scotiabank.

"There is growing commitment to the Twenty20 format across the country," said the spokesperson, "in part because it fits perfectly with the North American sporting format." The Toronto and District Cricket Association now has a separate Twenty20 League, as does the Etobicoke and District Cricket League in the suburbs of Toronto. In British Columbia, their mainland competition launched a Twenty20 league in April, with Sri Lanka's Arjuna Ranatunga as the chief guest.

There will also be a non-representative team from Canada at the upcoming MAQ T20 Cricket Festival May 23-25 at the Broward Stadium north of Miami, Florida.

The Twenty20 arrangements are aimed at solidifying cricket across Canada. "It's also geared to preparing Canada for playing more Twenty20 cricket internationally," the spokesperson said, "with a particular eye on the Associates tournament in Ireland in August and the June 2009 Twenty20 World Championships."