The annual Niagara-on-the-Lake versus Vineland farmworkers cricket match washed out Sunday for the first time in its roughly 35-year history, but the rain couldn’t stop the good vibes as Elisha “Prophet” Steele and about 60 others packed into the Hub in Virgil.
The Caribbean Workers Outreach Project shifted the day to the former Cornerstone Community Church building on Sunday afternoon, where the group ate, played dominoes and honoured Steele, the Niagara Clippers coach and former captain who flew from Jamaica just for the match.
Coun. Erwin Wiens presented the 36-year farmworker affectionately known as Prophet with a town certificate and MPP Wayne Gates a provincial plaque, both recognizing his three decades of cricket organizing and farmwork in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
“For me, that was very important,” said Steele. “Those people really pick me up and they care about me, so I have to care about them also.”
He stepped back from playing two years ago to open spots for younger players. The Niagara Clippers still hold the cup it won last year, and Sunday would have been his 30th game against Vineland, a rivalry his Clippers have lost only twice in 29 games, with Steele captaining and coaching 27 of them.
“I know Vineland would really like to get back the cup, but for me, it won’t be easy,” he said. “I’m not a person who’s easy to give up the cup.”
A normal match runs about three hours at Veterans Memorial Park and closes with dinner around 6 p.m. This year the field never dried enough to start a single game.
Rev. Dave Pritchard, a co-ordinator with Caribbean Workers Outreach Project, called the game around 2:30 p.m. after about 40 people had waited through the rain since 1:30.
“It was just impossible, and when it rains they can’t play cricket,” said Pritchard, who has steered the match through wet years before without ever cancelling.
The cancellation cost the group more than $4,000, about $3,000 of it on food, plus no revenue from the donations the match usually brings in.
The catered dinner arrived at 4 p.m., two hours ahead of the usual 6 p.m. serving. Volunteers fed the 60 people at the Hub, gave gift bags to the players and drove the nearly 200 remaining meals to farmworkers’ homes.
“This would be way less risky if we didn’t spend $3,000 on food, but we know that it’s one of the things that tells the community we’re doing important work,” he said.
Caribbean Workers Outreach Project formed about 35 years ago after a farmworker riding his bike was struck by a car and left in a ditch, a death that exposed how invisible the workers were to their neighbours.
Churches in Niagara-on-the-Lake and Vineland built the group to support them, and it now organizes Sunday worship gatherings, a 150-player dominoes tournament, funeral aid and the cricket match each May and June.
Steele plans to return next year for the cricket match with the cup still in hand.
“I would come back definitely,” he said. “I put a lot into it because it’s one of my hobbies not only in Canada also in Jamaica too.”
