Colts celebrates a glorious 150!

by Rex Clementine

Colombo Colts Cricket Club celebrated its 150th anniversary at the club premises on Saturday with President Ranil Wickremesinghe and first lady Prof. Maithree Wickremesinghe gracing the occasion.

It’s been a glorious 150 years for the Park Road club that was only the third cricket club to be established in Sri Lanka and in fact the first Ceylonese club with the other two being exclusively British. Even though more prominent local clubs came into existence since then, Colts’ unique feature was that it welcomed members of all ethnicities and religions.

To mark the 150th year celebration, there was a major redevelopment work undertaken by the club and currently it’s beyond recognition becoming a high-end Colombo club in no time rubbing shoulders with SSC and CCC.

The members of the 1996 World Cup winning team and the players of the side that won the 2014 World T-20 were awarded life membership of the club and President Wickremesinghe also received a life membership.

Although Colts is a club with a rich history most prominent players in an era gone by opted to represent other leading clubs with the likes of Roy Dias, Chaminda Vaas and Romesh Kaluwitharana being exceptions. However, that’s not the case anymore as many national players opt to play for the Park Road Club. Some of the key player of the club at present are Angelo Mathews, Kusal Janith Perera, Dilshan Madushanka and Dunith Wellalage.

With the club’s state-of-the-art facilities available at the moment, more and more players are going to head to Park Road. Colts also have been pioneers of promoting women’s cricket and the club continues to be a strong force in women’s cricket.

President Wickremesinghe during his speech gave an assurance to create a culture where cricket will prosper without the inference of politicians. The President’s assurance came at a time when Sri Lanka Cricket has been suspended by the International Cricket Council and the Executive Committee running SLC is facing allegations of financial malpractices.

Sports Minister Harin Fernando, Western Province Governor Marshal of the Air Force Roshan Gunathilake, members of the 1996 and 2014 cricket teams were present along with many other dignitaries.The 150th year anniversary celebrations were spearheaded by Colts President Nishantha Ranatunga, club stalwarts Trevor Rajaratnam and Carlton Bernardus.