Sri Lanka: KDCA tourney a grand success (5 Sep 1997)

Friday 05, September 1997

Sri Lanka: KDCA tourney a grand success

By S. M. Jiffrey Abdeen Kandy south group correspondent

THE annual inter-district under-15 cricket tournament with the theme `Cricketers for the 21st Century'' organised by the Kandy District Cricket Association in conjunction with The Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka, sponsored by Milo and conducted in the Hill capital, was a tremendous success.

Matara District annexed the coveted late Dr. C. D. L. Fernando Memorial Trophy awarded to the champion team in a tournament which saw 20 district teams participating a total of about 300 under-15 cricketers were richer by its experience. By far this is the biggest junior cricket tournament which was spread over four days in various venues in the Hill capital. The man behind this tournament is that quiet former Lake Houseman hurly-burly Senaka Niyangoda who worked tirelessly with his tournament committee to make this a great success.

He also had the assistance and the guidance of Kandy District CA President Roy de Silva, Secretary, Michael Johnson, Vice Presidents Deva Amunugama, Ronnie Gunaratne and other officials like A. S. Ekanayake, Janaka Pathirana and M. Zarook.

The districts which participated were Colombo Central, Colombo North, Colombo South, Kandy, Gampaha, Matara, Kegalle, Matale, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Amparai, Hambantota, Moneragala, Badulla, Kalutara, Galle, Nuwara Eliya, Puttalam, Ratnapura and Kurunegala. Nuwara Eliya made their maiden appearance in the tournament and it was creditable that they participated though they knew that they will be up against very strong sides as they have hardly any cricket in their district.

Milo helped in a big way with a lavish sponsorship and also provided Milo health drinks to the teams and also the trophy for the runners-up. The Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka too made a big contribution to this tournament by donating 15 English made cricket bats, 48 cricket balls, and also paid a sum of Rs. 5,000 per district team to cover incidental expenses. The Kandy District Cricket Association provided the food, accommodation and local travelling to the cricket teams.

The winning team walked away with cash Rs. 10,000 and 11 cricket bats and were also presented with caps and T-shirts. The Runners-up received two cricket bats, cash Rs. 5,000 and also the Milo Trophy. The two losing semi-finalists were also presented with a cricket bat each and Rs. 2,000.

The umpires for this entire tournament were assigned by the Central Province Cricket Umpires Association who did a good job.

Source :: Daily News (https://www.lanka.net)