They may be one of Sri Lanka’s most multi-cultural and multi-faceted cricket playing entities with a history of 135 years, but the club of the less featuring nondescripts have come a long way earning everything the hard away with nothing asked or given until a nudge by them prompted the parent body of the sport Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to pump in what was said to be a ‘large amount’ for a major facelift.
For NCC the abbreviated form for Nondescripts Cricket Club, Friday marked a turning point in their annals when two heavyweights of SLC in Mohan de Silva and Shammi Silva cut the ribbon to herald its redecorated clubhouse from where legends like Aravinda de Silva, Kumar Sangakkara, Ranjan Madugalle, Rumesh Ratnayake, Hashan Tillekaratne, Upul Tharanga, Lasith Malinga and Ravindra Pushpakumara moved out to play and bloom.
“We had this idea of refurbishing our club for a long time and it was not an easy task. But without any hesitation Sri Lanka Cricket approved and released funds and it was such a large amount,” said NCC’s burly president Marlon Ranasinghe as a packed audience on the occasion looked on, among them Ranjith Fernando who played in the first World Cup of 1975.
The club with its fairytale-like outlook and appearance from both inside and outside has been among the top five in traditional cricket and it is not surprising why SLC decided to reach out to them.
“NCC has a proud and distinguished record of producing outstanding cricketers as well as producing several outstanding administrators. We are grateful to NCC for contributing to promoting cricket in Sri Lanka”, said Mohan de Silva, a veteran of many an administration at SLC.
Everywhere De Silva looked there was a smiling face, several hugs and many handshakes to mark the occasion.