Ottawa Friendship Cricket Cup (OFCC)

Cricket at Rideau Hall (Governor General’s residence and one of the City’s top attraction for tourists) has been played for the last 125 years. Cricket here generates quite a bit of interest for the tourist and the public that comes for a picnic or a leisurely stroll. At every game curious people talk to the players to try and understand the sport and take pictures for their social media. Other than Rideau Hall there are grounds in Barrhaven, Lynda Lane and Orleans.

During the last couple of years Ottawa Cricket has experienced growth with 4 new clubs joining the Ottawa league. The total number of clubs now stands at 13 with about 200 active playing members across all the clubs. This membership consists of players mainly from the Caribbean and from the various countries in South East Asia such as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The Cricket season in Ottawa lasts about 5 months and games are played on the weekends.

Keeping in mind each members friends and families and the diverse ethnicity of each member, Ottawa Cricket is a great way to reach out to the community. While the recent growth is positive (but still not enough and lot of potential for growth) there is still a large number of cricket fans (of all age groups) in the city who seem to be disconnected with Ottawa Cricket as they are not able to relate to any existing clubs.

There are multiple Cricketing events played during the year in different parts of the World but the biggest and the ultimate Cricket tournament is the World Cup that is played every 4 years amongst the 10 major cricketing nations. It is watched and followed by people across the globe.

Ottawa Friendship Cricket Cup (OFCC) was founded in 2017. Few reasons for forming the tournament were:

To create a mini world cup atmosphere – so players are able to identify themselves with their country of origin and give them the feeling of representing their country of birth.
To bring all communities together and closer.
Invite the local cricket fans and players (that are currently not active in the Ottawa league) to watch the tournament and to enhance their interest in Ottawa cricket.

The inaugural OFCC was only a one day event with 4 teams India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and West Indies. After a resounding success of the inaugural tournament we received interest from Afghanistan and Bangladesh who have now been included in the tournament going forward.

All arrangements have been made to ensure a successful and professional (2 day) tournament; Canadian and West Indies Board certified umpires, catered food for players and officials, music, live commentary and video coverage are just to name a few. Cash prize to the winning team / runner up and individual awards will be awarded on Sunday.