The pitch hosting a three-nation cricket tournament involving Canada, the U.S., and the Netherlands in King City, Ont., is pretty much devoid of life these days — at least when it comes to fans hoping to attend games.

That’s because spectators are verboten at the Maple Leaf Cricket Club. The reason given by the sport’s governing body, Cricket Canada, is that the ban is in place due to “security concerns.”

But what are those security concerns?

Is it due to unruly cricket hooligans wearing trouble on their shirts? Or is it due to someone hellbent on committing an act of terrorism? Indeed, what’s going on when it comes to the sport of cricket in Canada these days?

Well, in truth, not much seems to be good. Just consider the following.

Does the fan ban have anything to do with the recent targeted killing of Gurvikramjeet Singh Warring in Surrey, B.C.? Warring allegedly had ties to cricket fixing.

As well, earlier this month, a house owned by the president of Cricket Canada, Arvinder Khosa, was shot at for the second time in a few weeks in what police are saying is an extortion-related shooting.

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As for Cricket Canada, the sport’s governing body, it’s a mess. After a series of controversies and allegations of corruption and financial mismanagement, the International Cricket Council has suspended Cricket Canada's membership. In fact, it is unknown if members of Cricket Canada’s board are allowed to attend their own tournament.

And so it is that we have international squads playing games in an empty stadium, reminiscent of the bad old days of COVID-19.

We reached out to the media relations department of Cricket Canada. What did we receive? Crickets. That’s outrageous given that Cricket Canada receives government funding, meaning it should be accountable to the public.

And really, what are these so-called “security concerns” all about? Are the authorities worried about yet another gunman wreaking havoc? Or maybe it’s something far more serious, such as a bomber?

What’s very odd is that it is standard procedure when it comes to entering stadia these days to go through a thorough security check, much like what exists at airports. Was this “security concern” so serious it could not be intercepted?

Sure enough when we visited the Maple Leaf Cricket Club last Sunday, there were plenty of security guards and police officers but zero fans. We were also informed that the venue was closed to the media.

In the final analysis, how sad that a stadium must be shuttered to fans because it is simply too dangerous to let anyone in – albeit for nonspecific reasons. After all, sports are supposed to be a fun diversion from real life — not a reflection of the increasingly dangerous world in which we live.