Canadian cricketer Rommel Shahzad debuts for Allansford-Panmure

The 23-year-old off-spinner, who made his List A debut for Canada last year, landed in Australia on Friday as a replacement for the Gators' English import Callum Bennett, who was forced to head home on the eve of the season.

Less than 24 hours later he was marking out his run-up in a Warrnambool and District cricket clash against Russells Creek at Uebergang Oval.

Bowling first change, he finished with 0-17 in a tight nine-over spell that impressed his opponents.

"I got here late last night actually," Shahzad told The Standard on Saturday after the Gators lost a thriller.

"Straight into it, they asked me if I was good to play, I got a good amount of sleep last night, so I was like 'I should be good'."

Shahzad, who moved with family to Canada in 2012 from Pakistan, works as a cricket coach at Future Stars Cricket Academy in Calgary, Alberta.

He joined the Gators through some connections in Colac and had previous experience competing on Australian shores.

The spinner played a mixture of first and second grade with South Australian premier club Adelaide in 2017 and also featured in warm-up games in Sydney ahead of the 2018 ICC Under 19 World Cup held in New Zealand.

Shahzad said the standard of cricket was "pretty good" in Canada, however it wasn't helped by the country's weather.

"As you all know Canada is a multicultural nation," he said.

"So there's a lot of other guys just like me who've migrated from India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, West Indies and all these places so we've got a very good side because a lot of people play cricket in these countries, they're coming out and they're playing in Canada so the level is actually pretty good.

"The only negative side to it is we have eight months of winter where we're kind of stuck indoors."

Shahzad is eager to take full advantage of the cricketing opportunities available in Australia.

"In Canada the wickets are very soft," he said.

"It's a bit of a harder deck (here) because of the sun and everything.

"The conditions are beautiful, we don't get to see a lot of turf and some beautiful grounds like this (Uebergang Oval) back in Canada because we've got a limited amount of cricket but it's always good to come out to a proper test-playing nation and play some good cricket."

Still, the sport is gaining momentum in his home country, with the nation regaining One Day International status earlier this year and also qualifying for its first T20 World Cup (2024).

It also holds the annual Global T20 Canada tournament which attracts some of the best players in the world.

This year, Shahzad was a member of Toronto Nationals which featured world-class players like Shahid Afridi, Darren Bravo and Colin Munro.

"Cricket is a growing sport in Canada," he said.

"It's actually surprising, I learnt a couple of facts a couple of months back - cricket actually used to be Canada's national sport. The first two nations that actually played cricket internationally were Canada and the US."

Shahzad has achieved a lot in his career to date but holds hope of making a living doing what he loves overseas.

"I would love to play cricket outside of Canada, maybe somewhere in Australia or England professionally," he said.

"Where I'm not stuck in winter for eight months and I can play some good level of cricket professionally.

"...you can't really take shortcuts and that's what I'm trying to do as well, I'm trying to play cricket all year round and grind it out until I make it."

In the meantime, he is firmly focused on securing the third-placed Gators a division one flag.

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