Festival Of Cricket Launch 2016

Admin | 13 May, 2016 09:24AM | Leave a comment

The launching ceremony of the Festival of Cricket 2016 was held on Sunday the 8th May at the Essex County Cricket Ground in Chelmsford Essex, before and during the Interval of the inaugural match between the Sri Lankan Test team and Essex County Cricket Club.

In keeping with Sri Lankan Tradition, the lighting of the ceremonial oil Lamp was done, amidst a display of cultural country dancing by The Thames Buddhist Vihara Traditional Sri Lanka Band and dancers trained by Rohini, The Olu Suraweera Dance group, affiliated to the Kingsbury Buddhist Vihara and The Premalaya Bharatanatyam Shethra team of Ilford trained by Premaladevi Ravindran. Some of the Key aspects of Sri Lankan culture were also colorfully performed within the opening ceremony.

The three principal officers of the Festival of Cricket 2016, President - Mr. Shiran Almeida, Secretary - Mr. Krishan Bulathsinghala and Treasurer - Mr. Shanaka Rodrigo, and Ronnie Irani of Essex Cricket, Brand Ambassador for FoC 2016 Mr. Upul Ekanayake & Marketing Chairman Mr. Kivan Fernando FoC 2016 and Mr. Wasantha Perera -Chairman Ground Services FoC 2016 provided a guard of honour to both teams, welcoming them to the ground for the first encounter on English soil this year. The ceremony was performed in the presence of, and watched by, a large gathering of very appreciative spectators.

His Excellency, the Deputy High Commissioner of Sri Lanka in the UK - Mr. Sugeeshwara Gunaratna,TheChairman of the Essex County Cricket Committee Mr. Ronnie Irani, The Captain of the Sri Lankan team - Mr. Angelo Mathews, The Captain of the Essex County Cricket Club team - Mr. Ryan Ten Doeschate, and the Manager of the Sri Lankan Cricket Board Mr. Charith Senanayake, were present.

The inspiring vision of the Festival of Cricket is to promote Peace, Harmony, and Togetherness among all Sri Lankans and primarily between members of the branches of the Old Boys’ Unions & Associations of Schools in Sri Lanka, resident in the United Kingdom, through Cricket. That vision is verily so relevant today when Cricket is playing a most significant role in the national reconciliation process in Sri Lanka; our festival is an inspiring contribution towards that process.

The Festival of Cricket 2016 will be held on 10 July 2016 at the Hainault Recreation Grounds, Forest Road, Fairlop, Essex IG6 3HX, which is only a 10 minute walk from the Fairlop Tube Station (Central Line), or drive via the A12 and A123 via Barkingside into Forest Road.

Written By: Mr. Brian Ratnayake and Mr. Gaz Hameed on behalf of the FoC 2016 Media Team.

Photo Credits Mr. Praneeth Hettiarachi, Mr. Sanjeeva Dais, Mr. Calvin Chinthaka

Facebook Link: https://www.facebook.com/festivalofcricket/ Twitter: @foc_uk
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Web Page: www.festivalofcricket.org
Email: media@festivalofcricket.org
Festival Of Cricket Launch 2016