Murali Harmony Cup 2015 will take place in the Northern district for the 4th consecutive time with the tournament scheduled to commence on 7th October after the official media briefing was held at Upali’s by Nawaloka on Thursday evening.
The Murali Harmony Cup is a reconciliation cricket tournament that promotes unity, goodwill, teamwork, the spirit of fair play and service to disadvantaged rural communities in post-war Northern district. The tournament has been jointly organized by the Foundation of Goodness of which former Sri Lanka cricketer Muttiah Muralidaran is a founding trustee together with travel company Red Dot Tours and the Sri Lanka Army & the Ministry of Defense whose unwavering commitment to create the logistical support has been extraordinary.
The 5-day event featuring under 19 schoolboy cricketers and under 23 women cricketers will be in five grounds across the North of Sri Lanka in the towns of Jaffna, Oddusuddan, Mankulam and Kilinochchi.
Last year, Sammu Ashan led Ananda College to victory beating a strong Richmond College outfit in the boy’s final while FOG-Seenigama Ladies defeated Badulla Ladies in the girl’s final.
The T20 tournament will see a total of 24 teams with the participation of 360 cricketers and most of them will be from disadvantaged rural schools in Sri Lanka. 16 boys’ teams and eight ladies’ teams from across Sri Lanka are playing two matches every day at each ground, with the finals on 11th October at the IODR Oval in Oddusuddan.
World’s highest wicket-taker in international cricket, Muttiah Muralitharan who is also the brainchild of this tournament shared his views at the media briefing, “I must first take this opportunity to thank Kumar and Mahela for the suggestion to take this tournament to the Northern Province. I should thank all the sponsors for helping us to successfully conduct this tournament. It is not an easy task to organize such a mega event but we will do everything possible to give maximum opportunity to the boys in North.”
“I am really lucky to be a part of this tournament. I was invited by Murali and gracefully accepted to help this venture. Last year, I saw some of the Batticaloa players cheering and making friends with St. Peter’s College players even though they did not share the same language. Our ultimate hope is to produce a national cricketer from North.” Sri Lanka’s batting legend, Kumar Sangakkara who is also a Trustee of the Foundation of Goodness said.
Mr. Kushil Gunasekera, Chief Trustee of the Foundation of Goodness made his remarks on the upcoming tournament, “It has been an amazing journey so far since we started off from Seenigama. There are few changes to the structure of the tournament. We have given the opportunity to some of the other schools to play this year and we have allowed St. John’s College, Jaffna to stand alone on their own apart of fielding a Jaffna Combined Schools team. Another unique feature will be the Plantations team from Upcountry for the first time in the history of this tournament. Almost all rural school players taking part will be given brand new shoes as well. “
Under 19 Boys Teams:
1. Ananda College
2. D.S Senanayake College
3. Jaffna Combined XI
4. Monaragala Combined XI
5. Richmond College, Galle
6. Dharmaraja College, Kandy
7. St. Anthony’s College, Wattala
8. St. John’s College, Jaffna
9. Mannar-Vauniya Combined XI
10. Trincomalee/Batticaloa Combined XI
11. International Schools Combined XI
12. Upcountry Schools Combined XI
13. Maliyadeva College, Kurunegala
14. P De S Kularathne Vidyalaya, Ambalangoda
15. Debarawewa Central College, Thissamaharamaya
16. Kilinochchi/Mulathiv Combined XI
Under 23 Girls Teams:
1. Shakthi Ladies
2. Matale Ladies
3. Badulla Ladies
4. FOG – Seenigama
5. North East Combined Ladies
6. Nittambuwa Ladies
7. Polonnaruwa Ladies
8. Combined Girls Schools XI
