CCC junior cricket from December 22

The century-old Colombo Cricket Club has a cherished history behind it. The club has served the country well at national level. Be it cricket, rugby, tennis or squash. Today its doors are open to all races, unlike during colonial times.

With a view to harness young talent and promote cricket development the Gymkhana Club ventured on a junior cricket academy in 1998 – the CCC school of Cricket. Since then it has gone from strength to strength under head coach Nelson Mendis.

The CCC School of Cricket has given that much needed exposure and competition to the players at home and away regularly at foreign tournaments held in Malaysia, Bangalore, and Chennai. This year the Under-12 team achieved a new milestone winning the All-India Pepsi Cup Tournament.

The school will organize their third under-14 International tournament from December 22 to 30. It’s open to coaching schools and academies and for foreign teams, too. Nelson Mendis chaired the meeting. In association with Nurendra Fernando, Romesh Fernando, Saman de Silva (CCC). Sponsors Nalin Jayasuriya (Ceylon Cold Stores), Kumar Samarasinghe (Singer Sri Lanka Pvt Ltd), Kumarasiri (Kumarasiri Saw Mills). Sujith Silva (Sirasa Y-FM). Mendis said it has become a reality thanks to the sponsorship package afforded to them by the main sponsors Ceylon Cold Stores and Singer Sri Lanka’s chairman Hemaka Amerasuriya. Supported by Sumathi Sports Pvt Ltd., Premier Water Systems, Sirasa FM and Y-FM has come forward as the official electronic media of the tournament. For this year’s tournament there are teams drawn from Anuradhapura, Kurunegala, Panadura, Moratuwa, Wadduwa and from suburbs like Nugegoda, Pelawatte, Malabe, Rajagiriya, Kesbewa, Boralesgamuwa, Kotte, and Pannipitiya. 31 local teams and four teams from Bangalore and Chennai are billed to take part. It will be played in eight groups, 30 overs a side, on a league basis. The semis will be worked off on Dec. 29 and the finals on Dec. 30 at the CCC (45 over matches).

The venues are: Shalika, Railway, Thurstan, Sri Jayawardenapura, Pelawatte and CCC grounds.