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Cricket clubs ask for more weekend time at single city wicket; board asks groups to negotiate
Summary
Two community cricket groups sought overlapping weekend permits at the city’s only cricket-ready field. The Parks & Recreation Advisory Board declined to pick a winner and asked the groups to work out a schedule and return next month.
Two community cricket organizations asked the Lowell City Parks & Recreation Advisory Board on Jan. 29 for recurring weekend use of the city’s only full-size cricket wicket, sparking a lengthy discussion and ending with the board tabling the request.
The cricket groups’ representatives said both need repeated weekend access for tournaments and multiple teams. One speaker identified himself as Sabi Hassan and said his group helped build the wicket and had used it extensively for the past two seasons. Another representative, identified in the remarks as Hetal Patel, said his group applied earlier and sought additional Saturdays starting in May. Board members and staff said the city has only one facility configured for cricket and emphasized the need to share limited weekend time.
The board’s chairman urged the two groups to negotiate a shared schedule and return with an agreed proposal at next month’s meeting. He said the panel did not want to unilaterally assign multiple full weekend days to a single applicant without a concrete schedule showing tournament dates and practice needs. “If you leave it to me, you’re not gonna like it,” the chairman told the groups, and recommended they “sit down and try to work something out.”
The board gave the applicants until the next meeting to present a coordinated schedule. Board members said that if the groups cannot agree they will consider splitting weekend days and times; the chairman suggested that, failing an agreement, each side might receive partial weekend allocations. The board took a formal motion to continue the item to next month’s agenda and approved it by voice vote.
The delay preserves the board’s ability to accommodate other users who request the wicket before a final schedule is posted, and gives the two groups an opportunity to resolve conflicts without the board imposing a schedule.
The board also reminded applicants that weekday practice time is easier to accommodate and encouraged use of weekday slots where possible while keeping weekends available for tournaments.
The matter is scheduled to return to the board next month for a follow-up, with the applicants asked to bring specific tournament dates and an agreed allocation.
