Maliyadeva College to host 15th Sir Henry Steele Olcott Cricket Tournament

Thursday, 4 September 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The eight Buddhist schools namely Ananda (Colombo), Dharmaraja (Kandy), Maliyadeva (Kurunegala), Mahinda (Galle), Dharmashoka ( Ambalangoda), Nalanda (Colombo), Rahula (Matara) and Dharmapala (Pannipitiya) founded by Sir Henry Steele Olcott was one of his greatest contributions to our nation. This year on 12 September the schools plate will take off with a colourful opening ceremony organised by the Maliyadeva OBA; the tournament proper will commence on Saturday 13 September and will conclude on Sunday 14 September. The game this year will be divided in to two groups and the winners of each group will meet in the final. All teams are subjected to

play eight over’s per innings. The Colonel Henry Steele Olcott Memorial Sports Foundation (CHSOMSF) is the brainchild of Bandula Warnapura, former Nalanda cricketer and the first test Captain of Sri Lanka against England over four decades ago. Having started the foundation and carried on with the strong Buddhist fraternity, the foundation toiled for almost four years before the inaugural tournament, which took off in style in the year 1999 with Nalanda as hosts at Campbell Place where Maliyadeva Kurunegala carried away the Champions Trophy. Ever since then the tournament was held annually rotating among the eight schools. The event has gathered momentum each passing year. The schools’ six a side tournament started off with a bang in 2003, once again Maliyadeva taking the honours. Being a over 40 tournament, several cricketers of yesteryear in the likes of D.D.P. Alwis and Mahinda Pethiyagoda(Dharmaraja), Bandula Warnapura and Jayantha Seneviratne (Nalanda), Upul Sumathipala (Mahinda), Lal Ranasinghe and S. Premasiri (Dharmasoka), Ajith De Silva, Arjuna Ranatunge and Sidath Wettimuni (Ananda), T.K. Palitha and W.L. Withanage (Dharmapala), V.R. Silva, Bharatha Herath and Ranjith Madurasinghe (Maliyadeva) and Ranjith Samarawickrema and Kithsiri Jayaweera (Rahula) have graced the turf at this tournament and continue to do so to this date. These veteran cricketers have shown they still possess the spirit to play the game in style. Most of the colleges, have won the tournament but the current table leaders are Dharmasoka, Ambalangoda whose team has shown the real competency in the field and Maliyadeva taking the second spot. The Gala Dinner at a leading hotel in Kurunegala on 13th evening will allow the past cricketers and their families to have an entertaining get together where past memories are relived and new friendships are formed. Maliyadeva OBA hopes for a successful tournament where the games are competitive and the camaraderie is friendly and gentlemanly. It is also hoped that the cricket loving people of Kurunegala and the Maliyadeva college students will grace the occasion in numbers to make the event colorful and joyous. Net proceeds from the tournament will go to form a Maliyadeva Cricket Foundation under the umbrella of the OBA but with its own constitution and management to support Maliyadeva’s future cricket and its facilities. The President of the Maliyadeva OBA and the Executive Committee is looking forward to welcoming the Olcott fraternity schools and hoping for a successful tournament. For further information schools should contact Chandana Guruge, President OBA (077 382 6281/071 829 9311), G. Sivajothi, Chairman, Organising Committee (071 864 9388) and Nandana Pothuhewa, President, Sports Committee (071 677 1999).