JOHOR BAHRU, Jan 15 – His death left a big vacuum but his contributions to cricket have not gone unrecognized when His Majesty The Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Sultan Iskandar graciously agreed to rename the Johor Cricket Academy & Oval in Mutiara Rini as Dato Dr. Harjit Singh Cricket Academy & Oval.
It is a fitting tribute to the late president of the Johor Cricket Council who passed away of heart complications after undegoing heart surgery at the National Heart Institute in Kuala Lumpur on Oct 20 last year at the age of 70.
Dato Avinderjit Singh, who is the acting president of the Johor Cricket Council thanked Sultan Ibrahim for the gesture.
“We are truly grateful for His Majesty’s consent to rename our academy in honor of Dato Dr. Harjit,” said Avinderjit.
Cricket was his first love and the former international is remembered for taking cricket to the Felda schemes in Johor before the Kancil Programme “Catch ’em Them” policy went nationwide.
Not only the cricket fraternity mourned his passing but also the many NGOs who looked upon him for help when it was needed most in time of the deed, especially the needy. Described as affable Dr. Harjit never said “NO” to anyone in the hour of need.
He worked tirelessly to build the academy to groom the young cricket talent in Johor and it was his efforts that saw many Malay youths from Felda schemes take up the sport instead of playing football and sepak takraw. Some of them went on to don national colors.
It was Dr. Harjit who took the bat and ball game to schools in the Felda schemes with his Kancil programme.
He made it a ”game of passion” among the newcomers and indirectly it became a matter of time before the Malay students were earning the accolades.
Dr, Harjit came from a cricket-playing family. Son of former engineer, the late Meva Singh who was a well known Selangor and Kilat Club cricketer, Dr. Harjit himself played for Johor and the national team.
The long-serving Dr. Harjit was the president of the Johor Cricket Council (JCC) since 1987 and was the longest serving head in any sports association in the country before his death – something which will be difficult to emulate by the present generation.
He also served the Malaysian Cricket Association (MCA) as the deputy president from 1990 to 2003 and was in charge of development which was closest to his heart.
For his contributions to the sport Dr. Harjit was inducted in the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) Hall Fame in 2017. He was also a three-time winner of the Johor Sports Leadership Award – in 1989, 1995 and 2007.
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