And it would be apt to recall the way that the Cricket Board was formed.
The 26th Annual General Meeting of the Ceylon Cricket Association held on June 25, 1948 at the GOH was one of the crucial meetings in the cricket history of the country. The meeting was hosted by Malay CC and since their pavilion was not released by the military authorities, they opted to have the meeting at the Grand Oriental Hotel. Incidentally it was at the same hotel that the Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) Rugby Football Union was formed in 1908.
One of the main items on the agenda was the consideration and approval of draft rules of the Board of Control for Cricket in Ceylon and the election of the representatives for the Board of Control, among other matters. And when the matter was taken up, all the draft rules were adopted without much discussion except for one, the composition of the proposed Board and the qualifications of the membership.
After a lengthy discussion, the house accepted the suggestion made by the then president of the CCA, Mr. P. Saravanamuttu. According to the president, the Board of Control for Cricket in Ceylon shall comprise eight members. And such eight members shall be the president and secretary of the Ceylon Cricket Association for the year (as ex-officio members), two representatives from the finalists of the previous years premier inter-club tournament (on the basis that one representative from a club and in the event of the finalists emerging from the same club, then the team placed third in the tournament will be eligible to have their representative), the President of the Public Schools Cricket Association, two representatives from the controlling clubs and a representative from the affiliated clubs. And accordingly, Mr. P. Saravanavuttu and Mr. M. K. M. Ismail became the first elected president and the secretary respectively (ex-officio) of the newly formed Board of Control for Cricket in Ceylon, with the controlling clubs nominating Mr. S. J. Campbell and Mr. E. M. Karunaratne and the affiliated clubs nominated Mr. R. W. Bartholomeuz as their representatives. The other members of the Board were Rev. Cartman, president of the Public Schools Cricket Association and two representatives from SSC and the Tamil Union.
Whilst the formation of the cricket board was going on, another historic event in the island's history took place at Richmond Park, London, when the Ceylon flag was hoisted over the Olympic camp for the first time in Olympic Games history. Accordingly, Sri Lanka's maiden participation in the Olympic Games was witnessed in 1948.
Although not connected to the formation of the Cricket Board, another interesting matter that aroused much discussion at that historic meeting held at the GOH was the appointment of a foreign cricket coach. It was reported that Mr. S. J. Campbell, a representative of the controlling clubs had stated that C. V. Gimmet, an Australian Test player would not arrive in Ceylon as expected but the services of Arthur Richardson, also an Australian Test player could be obtained as coach of the national team.
And at the next meeting held at the BRC club house, the CCA committee appointed a five member sub-committee headed by its President P. Saravanamuttu ``to consider the appointment of Mr. Arthur Richardson as cricket coach in Ceylon and terms governing his appointment.''
And now on the 25th day of this month Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka completes 50 years.