The Pembina Royals Cricket team out of Winkler received some hardware after a successful season.

"This is the second year we have entered into the T20 tournament," said team representative Zahid Zehri. "It was good news that the team finished in second position in 2015. Winkler is known as a power house, because we have the best batsmen's. I am very proud to represent this team. In the 2016 tournament we finished number three."

Zehri noted because the City of Winkler is such a diverse community the Pembina Royals are made up of players from a number of countries including, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Africa, and Sir Lanka.

He added the sport of Cricket is very similar to Baseball. In baseball you have a round bat, while in cricket you have a flat bat with two different sides.

"In baseball you have a diamond, while here you have a rectangle pitch," said Zehri. "In baseball you have a diamond field and in cricket we have an oval or round field. In baseball when you hit the ball over the fence you get a home run, while in cricket you hit it past the boundary you get a thing called a six-runs. When you hit the ground and it goes past the boundaries it's called four-runs and if you hit the ball inside the boundaries you can score as many runs as you want."

According to Zehri there are already three pitches in Winnipeg, but they tend to be quite busy, which makes it hard to go and practice or play there.

"I just want to appreciate the City council and recreation committee, because they have considered and they are trying their best to get the ground and the pitch," said Zehri.

The other objective for the Winkler Cricket Club is looking at playing cricket in Winkler. It's their goal to host the 20/20 tournament hosted by Manitoba Sports in the near future.