History
The idea of a gentlemen's team for British colonists in Ceylon was first mooted among the patrons of the Colombo Club- a social club for the British upper class then located at the Galle Face Green (not to be confused with the 1871 club of the same name and location). [4] The beginnings of the club proper can then be traced back to a notice in the Colombo Journal of 5 September 1832, which called for "...gentlemen who may be inclined towards forming a Cricket Club..." to "...meet at the Library (located in the Pettah) at 2 o'clock precisely on the 8th instant". [5] Sources then differ as to the exact date of the formation of the club, some citing 8 September, [5] October, [6] or November [7] of the same year, with all sources agreeing that a cricket club was formed sometime in 1832. [8] The newly formed club was located in Slave Island, on the land that later became the Rifle Green (now the site of the Defence Services School). [8] The first officially recorded game of cricket in the country was that between the eventual CCC and a team fielded by the 97th Regiment of the British Army stationed in Ceylon at the time, in November 1832. [8] [9] [10] The club soon became a hub for cricketing activity in the country, becoming the de facto governing body for cricket in Ceylon. [11]
The Colombo Club went through an expansion phase in 1863, becoming the Colombo Gymkhana Club, a parent/umbrella organisation that acted as a social club while at the same time administering a number of different sports clubs- the CCC included (alongside the CH&FC for rugby and hockey in 1892 and the Queen's Club for tennis and squash in 1899). [4] [8] The CCC is thought to have been formally named with its current name sometime in 1863, and moved to Galle Face Green sometime during this period as well. [4]
In 1894, the club moved again, this time to its present address at Maitland Crescent. [8] It remained a Europeans-only club until 1962, [12] and celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2013. [4] [8]
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Sonal Dinusha 