Christchurch will get a taste of Cricket fever as fifteen teams will compete in the fourth Ara All Nations Cricket Festival starting this weekend.
The All Nations tournament was started four years ago by Christchurch Metro Cricket Association and Christchurch Multicultural Association to encourage young cricketing talents to participate in a formal tournament and create a venue for cricket lovers from different ethnic backgrounds come together and play.
From six teams in 2017 to 15 teams now, the tournament has garnered massive popularity in the Canterbury region with scores of new players joining the game and further adding to the number of teams for the tournament.
The cricket festival is sponsored by Ara Institute of Canterbury and will take place on three Sundays, starting November 29 concluding on December 13 with the finals at the Polo Grounds, Hagley Park.
Two rounds will be played every Sunday comprising of six games each leading to the semi-finals and final in the second Sunday of December.
“Since launching the tournament dates, we have had a huge influx in enquiries and registration of teams which is overwhelming,” Surinder Tandon, president of Christchurch Multicultural Council told the Indian Weekender.
The players participating in this tournament come from diverse ethnic backgrounds such as Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Kiwis, and Bangladesh.
“The purpose of this tournament is to encourage young players from migrant communities to compete in the big-league tournament and of course foster diversity and multiculturalism in the community,” Mr Tandon said.
Defending the title this year will be Tamil Pasanga followed by Firangi XI as the runner up from 2019 tournament.
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