By Pepper Parr
April 27th, 2026
BURLINGTON, ON
In one of the longest delegation heard at city Hall took place last week when Harsh Singh from the Halton Cricket Club which is in the Hamilton District Cricket League said there was systematic racism behind decisions being made.. He also runs the Halton Cricket Academy
“We are here to actually oppose the memo that has been brought forward to pause the renovation work at Central Park.
The new renovations will move the pitch even further away from the houses.
“A little bit about our club. The League has about 90 teams. There are about 12 plus teams in Burlington play at Central Park.
“We have about 400 members in total; we call Central Park our home for cricket. This is the only park that is available for cricket in Burlington. Oakville has two cricket pitches, Hamilton has three cricket grounds.
“Other sports games like baseball, soccer have 58 playing fields. The motion that has been brought forward, if it passes, means that there will be no cricket. So no cricket for 400 plus members, just from our team and other clubs as well who have similar numbers as well.
“We understand the concerns and we are trying to work around those concerns. Stray balls are a problem. Cricket is played with a bat and ball, and the ball can go quite a distance, and there are houses close to the Central Park, so balls can sometimes reach there and often early in the morning.
“Residents have complained. This is not unique to cricket. This happens in all sports. If you’re not careful, you can get hit with a ball.
“We made sure that city permits are only available for cricket after 8:30am in the morning, and on the weekends. That is a change. Other cities start at 7:30. am We start at 830 because we want to be cognizant of, you know, the concerns that are being brought by the city residents.
“I want to talk about that. The new renovations will move the pitch even further away from the houses. That means there will be fewer balls that will go in there, plus the renovation also takes care of the parking, because they’re going to move the parking away so that, you know, the balls don’t go over there The renovations are really important, if the concerns that are brought by the residents are just about cricket, are just about safety, but we don’t feel that those concerns are just about safety.
“We feel there is a kind of a systematic racism that’s happening…”
“We feel there is a kind of a systematic racism that’s happening because cricket is being treated as an immigrant sport.
Chair: There are quite a few questions on the board.
Councillor Kearns was not able to attend the meeting – she took part virtually which put her at a bit of a disadvantage.
Councillor Kearns: Thank you very much for your delegation. Certainly, I want to support cricket very much in Burlington. And I’ll be honest, I think you know more about this renovation than I do right now, as it has not come before Council in detail.
“I will not ask you specific questions about the renovation, because we’ll ask staff those questions later, but you mentioned that this motion would sort of end cricket at Central Park. Why do you think that the motion would end cricket?
Harsh: “It is mentioning a pause to renovations.
Council member: “Why do you think it would end cricket at Central.
You are taking that away from us, and we don’t know when it would be available, so that is a concern.
Harsh:”My understanding is that there would be a community feedback that happens after the renovations, and there would be no cricket. That is my understanding.
Council member: “And what do you mean by no cricket? No cricket as in,no field is open to play this season itself? Is that what you’re referring to?
Harsh: ” Yeah, that’s what I’m referring to.
Kearns: “Your concern is that there wouldn’t be any cricket this year.”
Harsh: “This year. I don’t know if it’s going to be in next year as well. I don’t know how much time it takes for getting the community feedback. What kind of community feedback we’ll get? We call central park our home for cricket. You are taking that away from us and we don’t know when it would be available, so that is a concern. These renovations are for the benefit of those residents. The city is trying to do those renovations so that, you know, all of these issues that have been raised can be taken care of. So if anybody who is really concerned about these concerns, they should be supporting it.”
Council member: “I did read your slides ahead of time, and I think your sort of plan B would be to allow people to continue to play cricket there until the renovations started.”
Harsh: “We basically want to know if cricket is going to happen throughout the season. I don’t really want any interruptions but the renovations, will be like two months, so the park will not be available till end of June, maybe, or, you know, from July. But we are okay with that, because we are cognizant of the concerns that are being brought up. right? We want to make sure that it’s safe for everybody. We still want those innovations to go forward, because that’s a sensible thing to do.”
Kearns: “Can you please repeat your last statement about racism? And I’m going to ask you if you’d like to redact that from your delegation, because I do not think that is part of the conversation that we’re talking about. We’re talking about safety.”
It’s about, you know, getting our people out of there.
Harsh: “This is my opinion as you know. There is a little bit of systematic racism. Now, if you’re going to hold me accountable for that, for sure, do go ahead do that. That is my personal opinion- there is systematic racism as well. Because, you know, these renovations make sense for the residents. I don’t know why they’re trying to stop these renovations. Cricket has been treated as an immigrant sport, just because of the demographics that are involved in it.
“However, this is not true. Cricket has a deep and rich history in Canada. It was once a national sport as well for a brief time. The first televised game was between Canada and the US. It’s been treated as an immigrant sport in Canada. And, you know, these concerns that are being brought up, you can’t help but think that maybe there is racism involved. Maybe it’s not just about, you know, just about the sport. It’s about, you know, getting our people out of there.’
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Odd, that the for profit side of cricket, lets call them Cricket Academys run as a business taking place on public parks and as funded by taxes and certain cricket advocacy was not questioned or linked.
Is it understood that Cricket is predominantly a mens only sport or is it inclusive? Research shows it is most definitely predominantly a men’s sport. inclusion—but it’s not balanced like soccer or basketball. The intensity (hard ball, full days, competitive leagues) fits traditional male participation patterns in South Asian diaspora communities.
The editor’s comments “On the racism side – people in Burlington don’t see it because they don’t want to see it. It clashes with the image they have of their city. The racism is there and it is real. Get a grip on it before it gets really ugly.” are inappropriate and distracts from the key issues being discussed. Regardless of who is playing cricket, residents have concerns that should be addressed given the location of the pitch and whether it is the appropraite location for the sport. Similar opposition to pickle ball courts have been expressed by residents and solutions have been found.
Its disturbing when someone plays the racism card, can they now be trusted – address the facts please, and stop this non-sense.
I’ve lived in the area for my 63 years, walking distance to Central Park and played baseball at central park as a kid and when our son played baseball. A baseball diamond is not just the infield as shown on the site plans, it also includes a large out field. This goes back 10 or 12 years and I would practice with our son on these diamonds several times a week during the spring, summer and early fall – this was necessary and fun as he wanted to play higher level baseball. These baseball diamonds became un-useable while cricket was being played – I would guess that has not changed and only has gotten worse.
Reading the articles now, and having some first hand experiences, Central Park is not a good location, the city needs to do better, heck we pay enough taxes!
Editor’s note: The city does need to look into new locations for cricket pitches. The set up at Central park isn’t working for anyone. Some how the city recreation deparetment didn’t see the problem before it got out of control. On the racism side – people in Burlington don’t see it because they don’t want to see it. It clashes with the image they have of their city. The racism is there and it is real. Get a grip on it before it gets really ugly.
Nothing about this situation indicates that a comprehensive study has been performed where city staff have been open and transparent with all stakeholders to ensure issues and proposed solutions have been vetted and clearly communicated.
The accusation of systemic racism and “Cricket has been treated as an immigrant sport, just because of the demographics that are involved in it” is egregious. Cricket started in England in the 16th century and has grown beyond that through the centuries since to international status and is played in numerous countries beyond former British Empire countries such as the Netherlands, Ireland, Afghanistan and the United States.
Why do some people use the “Race Card” when it comes to not liking a decision that is made to address the concerns of other residents?
I can understand that the people who play cricket could be upset that they might not be able to play the sport while renovations are being made.
According to this article and others I have read the game starts at 8:30am and can go to 10:30 pm. Aside from the stray balls I would not like to be living adjacent to this area and have to put up with the noise etc. associated with the game.
Perhaps it is time to move this sport to another city park that is not surrounded by residential housing, a children’s play area, and a senior’s outdoor equipment area.
The city owns a huge piece of property at City View park and there are NO homes anywhere near.It could host several Cricket Pitches.
This was disturbing.
This has nothing to do with systemic racism – it is about safety and 24 hours of noise every weekend, in a park surrounded by homes.