Motor Rally to usher CMCC 140 years celebrations

Published : 9:28 am June 21, 2012 | No comments so far |

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The Colombo Malay Cricket Club (CMCC), the oldest cricket playing club in the country, will be celebrating their 140th anniversary and the celebration will be ushered in with a Motor Rally, “Head over Wheels” scheduled to speed off at 1.00 p.m. on June 23.

The motor rally will be followed with the CMCC having drawn up plans to conduct other sports events which will include outdoor and indoor games due to be held right throughout the year.

President of the CMCC, T. Yunus Raheem speaking to the media emphasized that it’s a milestone for the CMCC, saying: “We are proud of being the oldest cricket playing club in the country.”

The CMCC was a force to be reckoned with as the club brushed shoulders with the top clubs during the era and also have fed players to the Ceylon cricket team (as it was known) and was also a founder member which formed the All Ceylon Cricket Association way back in 1948.

Speaking further he said that the club apart from cricket has been involved in hockey and has produced many stalwarts in this sport who have gone on to represent the national team and even to this date they are involved with the two sports seriously.

Speaking of the other sports activities that they have planned to conduct he said that it will be for members of the 23 Malay associations around the island and they are looking forward to invite other clubs to compete in on inviting six-a-side cricket tournament.

Soekarno Ousmand the project chairman of the celebrations said the Motor Rally which is being held for the third time and the driver and the navigator will be the coentrants while two others could be included for assistance, but no more than three persons will be permitted.

The route of the rally will only be disclosed on the day of the event and the rally route will cover the urban and suburban areas which will most probably be close to 100km.The concept of the rally is based on the time where the winner is selected on the best timing with the least debit points. Attractive prizes await winners which include trophies, air tickets and a high resolution camera for the runner up and many more.

“It’s not going to be whether you win or not but an experience not felt before and great fun,” said some of the competitors who participated in the past two events.

The sister organization of CMCC the Sri Lanka Malay Association (SLMA) who began 50 years after CMCC will also be celebrating their 90th anniversary and they too will join in to make the celebrations successful.

The 3rd CMCC Motor Rally is sponsored by Janashakthi Insurance, DIMO, Sea Master, Holiday Resorts Travels and Metropolitan Agencies and other co -ponsors.

Later in the evening it will be a hive of activity at the Padang with the awards ceremony scheduled to be held where Ronnie Leitch will be the host. Rally enthusiasts who wish to participate could contact the following:

Manager CMCC on 0112341650, Soekarno Ousmand on 0714-239001 or Ramalie Adjumain on 0777-398732.

By M Shamil Amith