Montreal Tigers professional cricket team back in action despite no home stadium

The Montreal Tigers haven’t played a cricket match since 2019, but the professional cricket team is just days away from getting back on the field to compete in North America’s first ever major cricket league.

“It’s a roaring team. That’s what I’m going to say. Right? A team that is going to roar and it’s going to be called Montreal Tigers, not just because we are tigers, but because we actually roar on the field,” said Mudasser Akbar, CEO of the Montreal Tigers.

The Tigers will return to action in the Canadian Men’s T20 tournament in Brampton, Ontario from July 20th to August 6th.

“I’m obviously really excited. We’ve got a really solid team going into the tournament. Obviously got some really big name players as well,” said Matthew Spoors, a batter with the Tigers.

Sean Abbott of Montreal Tigers bowls during match 4 of GT20 tournament, between Montreal Tigers and Brampton Wolves played at the CAA centre in Brampton, Ontario on 27th July 2019.
Photo by: Pal Pillai /Focus Sports/ GT20

“I think we have the ability to go all the way. So I don’t say I don’t see why we can’t be there on the 6th of August, but yeah, we’ll have to play well. The competition’s yeah, quite strong.”

While the Tigers believe they can be victorious, the team will not play a home game in Montreal because the city doesn’t have a cricket ground that is up to professional standards they say. An example is the Verdun 5 ground, a popular field for cricket in Montreal.

“You can you can look at this part right here. Right. So they don’t really meet the professional standards by any means right there. I think some love support from the provincial, from the local and municipal government would be fantastic,” explained Akbar.

Dillon Heyliger of Montreal Tigers celebrates a wicket during match 9 of GT20 tournament, between Montreal Tigers and Edmonton Royals played at the CAA centre in Brampton, Ontario on 31st July 2019.
Photo by: Pal Pillai /Focus Sports/ GT20

The Montreal Tigers would love to have a cricket stadium in the city, but so far there are few details about where one would be built and how it would be financed.

“In order to bring the Montreal Tigers in Montreal a franchise team, we need to have a very good special cricket ground that where people can people can watch the game,” said Subrata Mandal, treasurer of Cricket Quebec.

Cricket Quebec says that the sport has exploded in popularity in recent years – with 60 teams in the province – but the one team, the Montreal Tigers, hope that one day they too will also be playing home games in front of their fans.

“I think that would be awesome to go to go to Montreal and play in front of a home crowd. And so to have that home advantage, I think that would be awesome. So yeah, definitely the future of that, we can make that happen, then that would be great,” said Spoors.