Despite a lack of facilities, the success of the Winkler Cricket Club is drumming up interest and support for one of the region's fastest growing sports.

The local club beat out 14 other teams to win the Manitoba Division 2 league in Winnipeg earlier this month. Two players will go on to represent Manitoba at the national level in a tournament in Toronto later this year.

However, the cricket club doesn't have a ground and pitch in Winkler, but players remain hopeful more options will be made available soon.

"Winkler has some really good players," Team Captain Deepak Saini explains, adding a pitch will help retain more newcomers as well, some of whom move to Winnipeg to be closer to facilities.

"This would be another sport that could be loved and enjoyed," he says. "It's hard to see people disappointed because we don't have a facility. They have so much talent and to see that talent wasted in front of you is sad."

The Garden Valley School Division and City of Winkler have partnered on an outdoor cricket pitch at Northlands Parkway Collegiate. However, Team Manager Zahid Zehri says playing in an indoor turf facility like the Meridian Exhibition Centre second arena would be key. "Cricket is an all-season game, it has to be. It requires a lot of practice, a lot of motivation and a lot of tactics."

Next year, the Winkler Cricket Club will go on represent the Pembina Valley in the Division 1 league.