Club Info

History

Knights Cricket Club is one of the new cricket clubs in the Philadelphia area. It was founded in 2005 by Manish (Former President) and Ravi (Capt). The sole purpose of this club is promote friendly competitive cricket.

In a short period of time, the club already have several committed members and have a home field in the Philadelphia suburbs. We are also, part of the PCL (Philadelphia Cricket League) which was also founded in 2005.

The 2006 season is looking to be a promising year for Knights CC as we aim to make our mark in the Philadelphia cricket circuit.

2006 Season was a successful season for Knights. There was many highlights for Knights in 2006. Jay got the honor of scoring the first century for PCL and Chaminda got the honor of taking first five wickets in PCL. End of the season Chaminda was named Best batsmen for 2006 and Ravikumar was named as the best bowler for the year. Knights made to the PCL playoffs in 2006 and was eliminated in the first round by 2006 Champions Mobil CC. Knights fought back hard and got to the finals in 20/20 PCL tournament and lost to New Castle Cricket Club.

2006 November 22nd Knights took a devastated blow to the club infrastructure. Knights Treasurer Terrance Bernard pass away due to a bad car accident. Terry was a good friend to all Knights members. He was one of the best players to play the game of cricket. On the field he will be lighting fast and earn the name "Turbo" from his team mates. Terry was also one of the stylish batsmen in the team. His bowling was not something to take lightly either. Great all rounder and brought lot to the team talent every time he stepped into the ground. Terry will be missed but not forgotten by any Knights members and surrounding cricket clubs. We will host a tournament called "Turbo Cup" in the name of Terry in 2007.

As predicted in 2005 Knights Cricket Club did make a good mark in Philadelphia Cricket. Will try and continue to be a strong club in 2007.

Club Presidents

• Manish Mandelia : 2006 - 2008
• Ravi Gunaratne : 2008 - 2016
• Vishwajit Shahade : 2016 - present

Club Captains

• Ravi Gunaratne - 2006 - 2008
• Chaminda Gunaratne - 2009 - 2012
• Vishwajit Shahade - 2013 - 2014
• Damion Douglas Sr. - 2015 - present

Birth of the Pitch

The pitch play a key factor in the game of cricket. A bad pitch could ruin the entire game, which is why when Knights Cricket Club were awarded the lease for Saint Gabes field, we knew that a lot of work lay ahead to get a pitch ready. Preparing 70' x 12' strip of flat ground may have seemed fairly easy at first glance, but the Saint Gabes field was previously used for farming which left ridges running along the field.

Members of Knights Cricket Club, got together on a cold Saturday morning and started the initially process of clearing out the grass and weeds from the pitch area. After clearing the grass, the team went about the task to flatten the ridges. The team dug down one feet of soil from the pitch area, removing most of the ridges. This took 8 guys working just stopping for lunch about 8 hours. This was harder than we thought it would be. By the time the pitch area was dug out, the temperature had dropped significantly and the guys decided to call it quits for the day.

The next day, Knights were thankful to have the expertise of Andrew Steffish in both getting the shed and the pitch ready. Using a tilt, we were able to eliminate 90% of the ridges from the pitch, and then using a heavy duty steam roller we were able to make it more flat and hard. The team spent half the day rolling and compacting the pitch area. With Andy's help the shed was put up in next to no time. The temperature was once again cold, the despite getting most of the work done, guys could not go on for too long and there was still more work needed.

Ravi, Manish, Terry, Chaminda, Jay and Andy found time the next day between their work schedule to apply the finishing touches to the pitch. After rolling the pitch more, the outfield was also rolled to eliminate some of the unevenness. We had the 3000 pound roller running on the whole field till they came to pick it up. We got most of the ground rolled and to playing conditions.

In all about 8 guys sacrificed time of their weekend to get the ground ready for the season. Special kudos goes out to Ravi for being there thought out the process without taking any break. Also, Knights extend a special thanks to Andy, despite not being a playing member, sacrificed his weekend to help us out. The ground would not have been prepared this efficiently without his help.

I am proud of the hard work the guys put into the ground. It was not easy getting a pitch ready in time for the season. The Saint Gabe's cricket ground is a testament of the passion and commitment of the members of Knights Cricket Club to playing the game of cricket.

- Terrance Bernard

Pitch Home Ground