MCACA - A decade and still batting on

The recently crowned under 12 champions of the Roy Dias Inter Academy Cricket Tournament 2012, the Mercantile Cricket Association's Cricket Academy (MCACA) is celebrating yet another landmark in its history. This year MCACA commemorates ten years.

The MCACA is the brainchild of the Mercantile Cricket Association (MCA) which incidentally has completed 100 years of cricketing in Sri Lanka. Speaking on the 10th anniversary of MCACA, its President Mahesh Wijewardene said "I have seen a steady progress of the MCA Cricket Academy since its inception and am very pleased to say that our Academy is now regarded as one of the best in the country". Since its inauguration in June 2002, under the auspices of the then president Chirs Obeysekera, the academy has moulded many youngsters. The MCA initiated the cricketing school in order to provide Sri Lankan students with an opportunity to harness their talent. 150 school cricketers between the ages of 8 and 17 years currently receive training.

The cricketers are trained under the watchful eye of the head coach Sarath Perera, who is a level II qualified coach. He is supported by his two assistant coaches Chaminda Jayasinghe, who is also a level II qualified coach as well as a certified umpire and Maduranga Soysa, a level I qualified coach who has experiences playing cricket in Melbourne, Australia.

The MCACA has been awarded numerous awards at all the leading tournaments in Sri Lanka. The team has played in the Nelson Mendis invitational Tournament since 2007 and has progressively reached the top to become the Runner Up trophy in 2010. Just four years after its commencement, the Under 13 team emerged winners at the A.G.D. Cricket Academy Invitational Tournament in 2006. The MCACA are the reigning champions of the Roy Dias Invitational Under 12 Tournament, which they have won for two consecutive years.