BRAMPTON, ON, September 27, 2026: The Brampton Blitz return to BC Place on Tuesday as defending Canada Super 60 champions, with a largely rebuilt squad and, for the first time, every match streamed free across Canada.
The Blitz won the inaugural title on October 13, 2025, bowling out the Montreal Royal Tigers for 69 and chasing the target in 5.5 overs. Since then, nine of the 15 places in the squad have changed, the franchise has signed England's Jonny Bairstow as its marquee player, and the league has agreed a deal with CBC to stream every match free across Canada.
The title that was meant to start in Brampton
The Canada Super 60 was first scheduled to launch at the CAA Centre in Brampton in July 2025, before the tournament moved to BC Place in Vancouver. So the first champions came from the city that was originally meant to host the league.
A rebuilt squad
Six players who won the title are back: Martin Guptill, James Vince, Chris Greaves, Dillon Heyliger, Yuvraj Samra and Rishiv Joshi. Guptill and Vince, who made the key runs on finals day, return as wildcard picks. Heyliger, the leading wicket-taker last season with 13, is one of five Canadians in the squad.
The nine newcomers are headed by Bairstow and include England internationals Tom Curran and Tymal Mills, South African fast bowler Hardus Viljoen, and Jersey batter Asa Tribe.
The most notable change is a departure. David Wiese, last season's captain and Most Valuable Player, was picked by the Mississauga Masters as a wildcard in the July draft. The Blitz beat Mississauga twice last season, including in the semi-final. This time, the player who won the MVP award for Brampton will be in the opposing side.
A bigger league
The league around the Blitz has also grown. Every Season 2 match will stream free on CBC Gem, with selected matches, including the women's final, on CBC television. Announcing the partnership, CBC connected it to cricket's return to the Olympic programme at Los Angeles in 2028.
The draft brought in some of the best-known names in short-format cricket, among them Kieron Pollard, Nicholas Pooran, Andre Russell and Moeen Ali. The Vancouver franchise has been renamed the Anchors, and the league has taken its Future Super Stars under-19 trials to cities including Victoria and Winnipeg.
The view from the other side
Last October, the Blitz scraped into the knockouts in third place on a four-way tie. This year the other five teams will all measure themselves against the champions.
The defence starts against the Whiterock Warriors, a side the Blitz beat by eight wickets with 11 balls to spare last season. It is the first of five league matches before the top four go through to semi-finals and a final on Sunday, October 4.
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