Mercantile cricket in full swing Oct 27-Nov-18

By Ranjan Anandappa

Mercantile cricket: The Mercantile Cricket Association (MCA) which has produced the bulk of the country's cricketers will conduct their Premier League and Knock-Out Cricket competitions 2013 from October 27 to 18 November at different venues.

The venues are: NCC, Bloomfield, Colts, Moors and De Soysa Park, Moratuwa.

Seven teams billed to take part in this tournament which is sponsored by Singer, Sri Lanka for the record 20th consecutive year. The teams are: MAS Active (Pvt), the 2012 League winners, and knock out runners-up, captained by Tharanga Lakshita, MAS Unichela (Pvt)- the 2012 knock-out winner led by Chamara Silva, Sampath Bank skippered by Hasantha Fernando, Hatton National Bank led by Saman Jayantha, Seylan Bank captained by Chanaka Wijesinghe, John Keells led by Janaka Gunaratne and Edirisinghe Trust Investments (ETI) who made a big impact in the tournament is led by Damith Mapa. The matches at the league stage will be conducted on a single group/round robin basis, comprising 21 matches in accordance to the International ODI format with white balls, coloured clothing and Duckworth /Lewis system in case of interruption due to bad weather and black sight screens etc. The same seven teams will compete in the knock-out competition, playing six matches. The quarter-finals of the knock-out stage will be on November 24 while the semi-finals will be staged on November 27 and the final on December 1 at the CCC grounds.

At a media briefing held at the MCA dugout enclosure due to the renovation of the main pavilion, the newly elected President of the MCA Ashley Ratnayake praised the continuous 20 year sponsorship of Singer towards the tournament and also the media for the role that they had played for the recognition of the players. "The players in the Mercantile sector have played the game at the highest level and in the true spirit of the game at all times in the past. Presently, cricket is played, may be in a slightly different way, but emphasised that it should be played in the true spirit of the game, both at team and management levels to ensure that one's name remains clean and the flag of the organisation fluttering high." said Ashely Ratnayake.

Kumar Samarasinghe the Marketing Director of Singer Sri Lanka who also spoke said that Singer always wanted to support the MCA as in the past and his links with the MCA began somewhere in 1980. The Mercantile Cricket Association's main concept was promoting cricket in a big way and they have done it successfully for over a century , judging by the number of top class cricketers emerging from the Mercantile sector. He concluded saying that Singer was ever ready to come to the MCA's assistance whenever needed.

Seylan Bank will meet Sampath Bank at the Moors grounds, Braybrooke Place and MAS Unichela will take on Edirisinghe Trust Investments (ETI) in the opening match on October 27 .

The others who were present at the press briefing were Asantha Karunaratne (Senior Manager, Merchandising & Promotions), K.D.S.Kanishka (Senior Manager, Promotions) from Singer, Sri Lanka. Rohana Dissanayake (General Secretary, MCA), Mahesh de Alwis (Chairman Tournament Committee,(MCA).