Sri Lanka Cricket Foundation of Victoria always on the ball...
by A. C. de Silva
CRICKET: The Commonwealth Bank series cricket encounter where
Sri Lanka were involved had many pleasing moments when Sri Lanka were up
against Australia, but the match ended abruptly with the rain taking its
toll and Duckworth-Lewis count back deprived Sri Lanka of a win.
Though Sri Lanka finally lost the match, there was a lot of happy
moments at the match where the Sri Lanka Cricket Foundation of Victoria
headed by its energetic Chairman Quintus de Zylva had organised many
functions for the Sri Lanka team.
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At the felicitation ceremony to the Sri Lanka cricketers in
Melbourne... from left: Ms. Gothami Indikadahena (Consul
General in Sydney), Dr. Quintus de Zylva (Chairman, Sri
Lanka Cricket Foundation of Victoria), Anuruddha Polonowita
(National Curator for SLC), B. H. Perera (Cricket Co-ordinator)
and Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner in Australia Mr. K.
Balapatabendi. |
At Cricket Australia Chairman's hospitality room, welcoming the
guests, James Sutherland, CEO, Cricket Australia spoke of the warm and
high regard Australia has for Sri Lanka in general and especially for
the popular sport of cricket.
He traced the long relationship Sri Lanka (Ceylon in the early years)
had with Australia when touring cricket teams of Australia never failed
to stop over in Colombo for a match on their way by boat to England.
Later on, the Sri Lanka cricket team was hosted to a reception - 'The
Cricket Ball' at The Grand on Cathies Lane in Watirna South where around
600 guest were present in the welcome ceremony organised by the Sri
Lanka Cricket Foundation of Victoria for the Sri Lanka cricketers.
This is not the first time that the Sri Lanka Cricket Foundation has
felicitated the Lankan team. It has been the normal practice with Dr.
Quintus de Zylva as Chairman to felicitate teams and cricketers from Sri
Lanka who go Australia.
The Sri Lanka Cricket Foundation of Victoria was established on
September 24 in 1985 and from that day onwards it has been the practice
for the officials to look after the interest of Sri Lanka cricket in
Australia. Aravinda de Silva, Roshan Mahanama, Arjuna Ranatunga, Muttiah
Muralitharan, Prabath Nissanka and Dilhara Fernando are some of the
cricketers who have enjoyed the hospitality of the Sri Lanka Cricket
Foundation of Victoria when the cricketers sought the assistance to
attend to their injuries which were carried out by expert sports trauma
orthopaedic specialists.
That was not all. Young schoolboys like Lahiru Peiris and Sukitha
Senaratne have been offered scholarships to paly for Carey Grammar
School in Kew, Victoria and they have been looked after by officials of
the Sri Lanka Cricket Foundation of Victoria. |
