Mini Cricket Carnival at Matale

S. M. Jiffrey Abdeen, Kandy Sports correspondent

The Second Annual Mini Cricket Carnival organised by the Ravi Punchihewa Cricket Academy, Matale will be worked off at the Bernard Aluvihare Stadium in Matale this Saturday and Sunday (March 1st and 2nd) with play commencing at 9 a.m. each day.

This cricket carnival attracted large crowds in its inaugural year in 2007. This is the only cricket academy in the Central Province which conducts tournaments of this nature to unearth the talents of young cricketers at a competitive level and prepare them for school competitions.

A total of 150 cricketers who are under going training at the Ravi Punchihewa Cricket Academy will participate in this Mini Cricket Carnival which played under the age groups of Under 9, Under 11, Under 13, and Under 15 and each age group will have four teams. There will be also a competition for the under 19 age group which will feature two teams. All teams will have 11 players per side, and will be of 10 overs duration.

Awards will be made to the Best Batsman, Best Bowler, Best Fielder and to the Most Up and Coming Cricket in each age group in addition to certificates which includes participation certificates for all players.

The Managing Director of the RPCA Ravi Punchihewa said that the main objective of this tournament is to tap the hidden talents of the young cricketers at an early age and also prepare them to play at competitive level without fear. He also said that his Cricket Academy has produced a large number of cricketers in the Matale District during the last three years which is a good achievement. It was only recently they toured Bangalore in India and won the Prime Sports inter Academy under 15 cricket championship.

The Chief Guests at the opening ceremony will be Minister of Urban Development and MP for Matale District Mr. Rohana Dissanayake and Mayor of Matale Hilmy Mohammed with Mr. M. Haniffa as guest of honour.

The Chief Guest at the presentation of awards ceremony will be Central Province Minister of Health Mr. Champika Wijeratne, SSP Matale Division Mr. Macarthy Perera, HQI Chief Inspector S. Dassanyake, Mr. Prasanna Dharmakeerthi, Mr. L. Ranasinghe and K.B. Herath.

A number of sponsors have come forward to sponsor this major cricketing event. They are Studio Crown, Samarasinghe Opticians, Matale International School, Sakura Property Sales, Wazeer and Company Ltd., Salkatel Limited, Architect Association of Matale, Soosil Food, and Royal English School.