Kerala’s Celebrity Cricketers Fraternity will showcase the Last Man Stands format in a tournament that begins on April 19

Celebrity Cricketers Fraternity (CCF) launches the Last Man Stands with a cricket tournament in Kochi

Celebrity Cricketers Fraternity (CCF) is possibly the only one of its kind in India with 17-odd teams comprising film and television industry and media professionals. An insider, who prefers to stay unnamed says, “I think it has to do with the broad mindedness of the Malayali. I don’t think this could be easily done in any other language film industries in India as they tend to have clearly defined hierarchies.” The league, formed in 2011 and registered in 2018-19 as CCF, is all set for another first. It has launched the Celebrity Cricketer’s Fraternity Tournament in the Last Man Stands (LMS) format, which kicks off on April 19. 

Played in the two hour, eight-a-side T20 format; LMS, founded in 2005, is said to be the largest amateur cricket league in the world. Blue Tigers holds the Indian franchise. 

Although it is cricket, with its vastly different rules it sounds like an altogether different game. “It is a new format, but it is still cricket with all the elements. We were thinking of what to do differently when we came across with LMS.  This is the biggest tournament for amateurs in the world,” says filmmaker Anil Thomas, president of the CCF. Tying up with Blue Tigers, he hopes, will lead to greater achievements for CCF. 

It is a hope producer-actor and owner of the team Seahorse Sailors, Sudeep Karakkat echoes. “We have 12 top-notch teams, with 12 celebrity owners and brand ambassadors. Bringing LMS to Kerala for the first time and the tie-up are an achievement for the CCF, which is a one-of-its-kind cricket league in India.”Among the team owners are actors Unni Mukundan, Anthony Pepe, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Vishnu Unnikrishnan, Akhil Marar, Lukman Avran, Naren, Sunny Wayne, Johny Antony, Siju Wilson, Saju Navodaya and Vijay Yesudas.

Unlike the Celebrity Cricket League, which comprises actors primarily, the CCF includes everybody from the film, television and media industries interested in the sport. 

A consortium of 17 teams, CCF is composed of players from different departments of filmmaking such as producers, directors, singers, choreographers etc. The CCF LMS tournament meanwhile has 12 teams and the 120-odd players, for the tournament, have been chosen from around 400 amateur cricketers who are members of the CCF. 

The CCF LMS teams have been culled from these teams, a mix of five A category and an equal number of B category players. Each team has 11 players — the player - 8, reserve - 3 and a celebrity player.