By Jay Forte, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Carioca Cricket Club (CCC) will host their second intra-club match of the 2017 season on Saturday, March 18th, at the scenic grounds of the São Fernando Polo and Cricket Club, near Itaguaí about an hour south of Zona Sul (South Zone) in Rio.
After a successful season opening social event held on February 2nd, the club roster as been bolstered and the schedule and vision for the year has been set.
Club Chairman Tobias Hanbury explains, “The CCC goes from strength to strength. After a concerted recruitment drive in January/February we now have hit a half century of signed-up CCC cricketers. That’s 33 players continuing from last year, and seventeen new recruits.”
He adds, “The diversity of the club also continues to increase, with new talent appearing from Guyana, India, Pakistan, Jamaica and the UK, and we have even found a Brazilian ex-softball player. One of the new recruits from Pakistan used to play first-class cricket for his city, so we are looking forward to raising the standard of cricket in the club this year.”
The club’s next game is tomorrow, Saturday, March 18th and a record 27 members have signed up to play already. The organizers urge anyone interested in playing or watching to contact them through the CCC Facebook page, as all are welcome.
Something else for the club to celebrate last month was Globo’s SporTV airing nationally a six-minute program in the afternoon of Carnival Tuesday.
The segment had interviews with CCC players and covered the origins of the Carioca Cricket Club, the back-story on several of the players, and even a short description of the basic rules of cricket.
Hanbury explains how it came together, “SporTV contacted our President Craig Allison to do a feature on their Planeta SporTV program, and after discussions a film crew was duly despatched to São Fernando Polo & Cricket Club in Itaguaí for our match on February 4, 2017.”
A copy of their video report is posted on the Facebook page and the club was delighted that their crown sponsor Granado and their media partner The Rio Times received such good exposure, and the CCC has had excellent feedback on the segment from all quarters.
For the match on Saturday, as always lots of families and friends will come, and CCC organizes free transport to and from the grounds. There will be the usual post match churrasco (BBQ) and the São Fernando P&CC is located about seventy minutes drive by bus from Ipanema.
President Craig Allison confirms, “CCC arranges transport free-of-charge for everyone who wants to go and spend an amazing day away from Rio de Janeiro. The bus leaves Praça General Osorio in Ipanema at 8AM, and returns to Rio de Janeiro at 5:30 PM.”
For more information on the CCC and the events, visit the club’s Facebook page.
* This is a Sponsored article for the Carioca Cricket Club.