Schools Cricket Association launch Under 19 Elephant Lemonade Cup

The Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association (SLSCA) officially launched the 2000/01 schools cricket season this week. At a media briefing they announced that Ceylon Cold Stores is to sponsor the schools premier cricket tournament - the Under 19 Elephant Lemonade Cup - for the third consecutive year.

The President of the SLSCA and Principal of Royal College, Mr H.L.B. Gomes, said: "The Under 19 Elephant Lemonade Cup is a very important event for the media as cricket is the most important game in the country. We have been doing so well thanks to our sponsors `The Ceylon Cold Stores."

Tournament Secretary, Frank Cooray, announced that the tournament will be called the `Elephant Lemonade Cup' and that there will be two stages: The Lemonade Cup League Tournament and the Lemonade Cup Limited Overs Tournament.

The rules of the tournament remain unchanged, although a team card has been introduced to eliminate any irregularities of changing the players during a match. The points system has also been changed to enable schools from lower groups to get fixtures from higher groups and thus maintain cherished historical ties.

This year, 130 teams will participate in the Elephant Lemonade Cup, after the inclusion of six new schools: Bomiriya Central College, Kaduwela Devapathiraja College, Henagama Central College, Karawita National College, Lalith Athulaathmudli College and Rajapaksha Central College.

The 130 teams have been divided into three groups: Group A, B. and C. After the completion of the league tournament 32 teams will be selected for the limited over tournament.

The SLSCA also unveiled plans for the launch of a schools cricket web site early next year, which is to be hosted by CricInfo. The site will contain information on the tournament, scorecards from the matches, profiles of all the players and schools, photographs and live audio commentary for selected `big' matches.