Ratnayake plays second innings

S. M. Jiffrey Abdeen Kandy Sports corr.

Minister of Livestock Development and MP for Nuwara Eliya District C. B. Ratnayake was unanimously elected as the President of the Nuwara Eliya District Cricket Association for the second year in succession at the Annual General Meeting held at the Bretas Garden Hotel in Ginigathena.

Minister Ratnayake thanking the members for the confidence reposed on him by electing for the second year in succession said that, it is not only playing cricket but also the clubs should have meeting point where they could meet and plan their strategy and also regular meetings will preserve their unity which is strength. To achieve these objectives they must have a club house where the cricket materials could also be stored.

He said that the smaller clubs may not have the resources to purchase land and put up a club house. Towards achieving this end, he intends exploring the possibility of providing each club with a few perches of land and cash for the construction of a club house in their respective areas. This will stabilise their position and encourage more clubs to take to cricket. It is not only cricket, they could move into other sports too if they have a place to meet and discuss.

Minister Ratnayake also thanked President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Sri Lanka Cricket for the steps taken to distribute cricket materials among 17 schools in the Nuwara Eliya District and this was an unique occasion and these schools could now play the game with confidence as they have the much needed cricket materials.

Jagath Jayasundera who was elected as the Secretary for the second year in succession said that Sri Lanka Cricket provided this Association with the much needed funds in the form of administrative expenses with which they were able to run the inter club tournaments.

They hope to organise a six-a-side cricket tournament in the future. It is heartening to note that many schools in the Kotmale area have taken to cricket - a game which was hitherto unknown and two of the schools were also planning to play a big match this season.

The following were elected office-bearers for the year 2009/10.

President: C. B. Ratnayake - Minister of Livestock Development; Vice Presidents: V. Puthirasigamoney (Deputy Minister), Wasantha de Silva, Chandana Gamage, S. V. Nawaratne; Secretary: Jagath Jayasundera; Assistant Secretary: Sashi Ratnayake; Treasurer: Sankar Manivarnan; Chairman Tournament Committee: A. A. Lakshman Silva; Chairman Disciplinary Committee: D. Sivapalasubramaniam; Chairman Coaching Committee: V. Sivanathan; Chairman Selection Committee: R. Wimalaneswaran; Chairman Umpires Committee: D. G. Jayasena.