Dating Back To 1883
What was the first National sport of Canada?
Cricket was once so popular, it was declared the National Sport of Canada, by Sir John A. MacDonald, the first Prime Minister of the country. 
Cricket has a long and varied history in the Province of Saskatchewan. We may not realize this, but Cricket was the sport of choice for the early settlers. The popularity of the sport has dwindled over the years, but cricket is again thriving in the larger centers such as Regina and Saskatoon. There has been significant interest from smaller communities such as Yorkton, Estevan and Moose Jaw.
The sport of Cricket has not received the attention and development of other North American sports but the Regina/Saskatoon cricket clubs proudly continue to play here and continue to be part of a significant history.
The Regina Cricket Club opened in 1883 and the North West Mounted Police team played at the around the same time.
Cricket was played at the faintly ridiculous Cannington Manor, a settlement formed by the eccentric British aristocrat Captain Edward Mitchell Pierce in 1882. For the princely sum of £100, British immigrants could pretend to live like country gentlemen at Cannington Manor.
Pierce died in 1888 and the unsustainable Cannington Manor fell into decline.
In 1913 the village of Maryfield played against a team from Cannington Manor at Wawota.
News Article: Regina Cricket Clubs Plan Tour of Rural Points to Boost Game - Saskatoon Star Phoenix, 1930
News Article: Provincial Cricket Team To Compete At Western Tourney - Saskatoon Star Phoenix, 1931
News Article: Sask. Sends Cricket Team - Saskatoon Star Phoenix, 1961
When the great Donald Bradman played in Saskatchewan, 1932:
(excerpts from The Bradman Trail and ESPN Cricinfo)
"Don and Jessie Bradman were married in St Paul’s Church in the Sydney suburb of Burwood on 30th April, 1932.
Their honeymoon was unusual with Jessie accompanying her husband and several other cricket players on a tour, ogranised by former Test player Arthur Mailey, to the United States and Canada. The tour lasted from May - September 1932 and games were played in Vancouver, Cowichan, Toronto, Guelph, Montreal, New York, Windsor, Chicago, Winnipeg, Moose Jaw, Regina, Yorkton, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Calgary, San Francisco, Santa Barbara and Hollywood (in that order). While in New York Don Bradman met the legendary baseballer ‘Babe’ Ruth."
"In high wind at Moose Jaw the bails were stuck onto the stumps with chewing gum, and the umpire waited an inordinately long time in giving the verdict for a stumping since he claimed that the batsman could not be out until the bail, hanging by a slender thread of gum, had reached the ground."
Bradman Stories - Some tidbits from Bradman's life, including his trip to Saskatchewan
Miscellaneous matches played by Donald Bradman - Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan - Scorecard
Bradman's Australians vs. Regina at the CO-OP Grounds, Regina, 1932
Yorkton vs. The Australians at Exhibition Park, Yorkton, 1932
Saskatoon vs. The Australians at Kinsmen Park, Saskatoon, 1932
Australian cricketers at Moose Jaw grandstands, Saskatchewan: Front row L-R: Bronks Stewart; ---?; Dad Towle; Gus Vaughn; Dick Nutt; Phil Carney; Arthur Mailey; Walter E. Seaborn; Vic Richardson; Stan McCabe; Bill Ives; Keith Tolhurst; "Chuck" Fleetwood-Smith; Eddie Rofe; Don Bradman; Tom Whitehead; Bill Boots.
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