according to the Vernon Museum.<\/a><\/p>\nBy the mid-20th century, cricket faded from Vernon\u2019s sport scene, but was revived with the establishment of the North Okanagan Cricket Club (NOCC) in 2021.<\/p>\n
And now local teams are chirping over a dedicated space, marked Sunday, April 19, 2026.<\/p>\n
The City of Vernon and the local cricket community marked the historic milestone with the official inauguration of the Vernon Cricket Field at DND Athletic Park.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis new cricket field honours Vernon\u2019s past while investing in its future,\u201d said Mayor Victor Cumming. \u201cCricket is one of the fastest growing sports in our region, and this facility reflects our commitment to inclusive recreation, community connection, and ensuring Vernon remains a welcoming place for residents of all recreation interests.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new field is both a revival of a long-standing tradition and a meaningful investment in Vernon\u2019s growing and increasingly diverse sports community.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a very special moment for the cricketing community not just in Vernon, but across the entire Okanagan,\u201d said NOCC\u2019s Hashan Sirisena. \u201cWe commend the collaboration and effort by the City of Vernon in making this a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n
Immediately following the ceremony, the field hosted its first official match, between the NOCC and Okanagan United Cricket Team, as part of the Elite Cricket League \u2014 one of the largest cricket leagues in Interior British Columbia, featuring teams from Vernon, Kelowna, Osoyoos, Penticton, Kamloops, Salmon Arm, Revelstoke, Nelson, and Castlegar.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a proud moment for Vernon and a strong example of what\u2019s possible when a community comes together with a shared vision,\u201d said Vernon-Lumby MLA Harwinder Sandhu. \u201cThis project reflects years of teamwork, advocacy, and collective effort from many dedicated partners. Projects like this are never the work of one person or one team, they are built through partnership, shared commitment, and the belief that when we work together, we create spaces where people can connect, play, and grow together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Funding for the new cricket pitch was provided through the city\u2019s parks reserve fund, with Council approving up to $30,000 in 2025 for its design and construction. The project includes an 80 by 15 foot concrete slab topped with artificial turf to support cricket play, allowing the space to be used for other activities when cricket is not being played.<\/p>\n
The Vernon Cricket Field is expected to become a regional hub for both competitive and recreational cricket, supporting league play, youth development, and community programming for years to come, while strengthening Vernon\u2019s role as a host city for regional sporting events.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cricket bounces back in North Okanagan Published 2:30 pm Monday, April 20, 2026 Despite several time outs, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":620189,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-620188","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cricket","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cricket","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=620188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/620189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=620188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=620188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=620188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}