Two of Sri Lanka’s oldest and famous Cricket Clubs the Nondescripts Cricket Club and Singhalese Sports Clubs will revive their traditional limited over cricket encounter for the J R Jayawardene Memorial Challenge Trophy.
The traditional encounter which began in 1998 was last played in 2013.Due to the tight domestic cricket schedule and the International Commitments this much looked forward clash was not played regularly. However, this year the Cricket Committees of both these clubs have shown great interest in continuing with the tradition. As such the limited over encounter which will be part of the ongoing major club tournament will be played at the NCC grounds one 30th July 2024.
President of Sri Lanka Cricket Mr. Shammi Silva will be the Chief Guests while former Sri Lanka and NCC Captain and one of Sri Lankas best batsmen Aravinda De Silva will grace the occasion as the Guest of Honour.
To-date the traditional encounter has been played 13 times with SSC emerging as winners 5 times while NCC taking home the trophy seven times with a no decision recorded once. The last time these two clubs met in 2013, NCC emerged victorious.
Apart from the J R Jayawardene trophy that will be on offer for the winners, special cash awards will be presented to the Best Batsman, Best Bowler and Man of the Match.
NCC and SSC have produced several national captains and national cricketers over the years. Among the former captains are Arjuna Ranatunge, Duleep Mendis, Sidath Wettimuny, Asanka Gurusinhe, Mahela Jayawardena, Ashantha de Mel, Marvan Atapattu, Dasun Shanaka Kusal Mendis, Charith Asalanka (SSC), Ranjan Madugalle, Ravi Ratnayake, Aravinda De Silva, Hashan Tillakaratne, Lasith Malinga, Dinesh Chandimal, Upul Tharanga, Kumar Sangakkara (NCC) to name a few.
The traditional encounter will be followed by a fellowship where Club officials & former cricketers from both clubs are expected to be present.
