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Cricket Season

PACA expands to four teams as sport continues to grow

May 15, 2026 | 4:11 PM

The popularity of cricket continues to soar in the city as a new season looms on the horizon. 

The Prince Albert Cricket Association (PACA) now has four teams for the 2026 cricket year in the Prince Albert Giants, Jaguars, Phantoms, and Emperors.  

According to PACA Vice President Mohib Mohammed, the season was supposed to begin last week but weather and poor field conditions are forcing a late start. Despite that though, games are still scheduled to be played during the May long weekend, and spirits are high to embark on another season. 

“All the players and staff, everybody’s excited. They can’t wait to go on the field,” he said. 

The P.A. based clubs are slated to play a combined six games over the course of the weekend within the Saskatoon Cricket League. The Giants and Emperors will be playing in T20 Div B while the Jaguars and Phantoms will compete in Saskatoon T20 Div C.  

It’s a switch-up from last year, as the Emperors and Phantoms previously competed in ODP Div 1, which is a completely different style of cricket compared to T20. Although not competing in ODP with Saskatoon, Mohammed said the PACA will combine the Jaguars and Giants, and the Emperors and Phantoms for ODP provincials later in the summer. He added that the reason for the switch was related to player participation. 

“ODP pretty much takes a day so with the longer format, the availability of the players can be an issue in Prince Albert. That’s why not every team plays ODP.” 

ODP is short for One-Day Play, or one-day games, and under Saskatchewan Cricket rules, consist of 35- to 50-over games, which can take up to eight hours to play from start to finish. Meanwhile, T20, known as Twenty20, is a shortened format of cricket where each team plays a single innings with a maximum of 20 overs, taking around three hours to complete.  

The provincial ODP schedule has not yet been released but once it is, Mohammed said the PACA is going to plan a weekend for their annual Prince Albert Cricket Cup, which is a tournament for the city’s four clubs and will be played in the T20 format. 

“All four teams will face each other twice, and the top two teams are going to face off for the final for the PA Cup. We do not want to entertain like anybody from outside Prince Albert, because we want to bring in the local talent and give them an opportunity to showcase what they got.” 

If all goes to plan, the first game of the year will be on Saturday morning at 9:15 a.m. in Red Wing, when the Jaguars host Signature 11. A full season schedule for Div B and Div C can be found by clicking here

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com