The Mercantile Cricket Association (MCA) Cricket Academy, formed in 2002, embarked on its very first overseas tour to participate in the International Council of Cricket Academies (ICCA) Global Academy Cricket Championships 2023 held in Nottingham, England, from July 16 to 26, 2023.
Two dozen teams from six countries, including Sri Lanka, in four age categories, namely U-13, 15, 17 and 19 took part. MCA Cricket Academy entered one team each for the U-15 and U-19 categories.
The MCA U-19 team was led by Adithya Hettiarachchi from Ananda College and the U-15 team was led by Abeeth Paranavidana from S. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia.
All players were presented with a Certificate of Participation and four Special Award Winners at the tournament were recognized with a silver plaque each.
They were Sasith Vihanga Ratnayake from St. Benedict’s College, (Most Promising Player in the U-15 category), Vishan Enuka Gunasekera from Colombo International School (Best Batsman in the U-15 category, Dineth Vindul Jayakody from St. Joseph’s College, (Best Bowler in the U-19 category) and Minev Paranawithana from Nalanda College (Most Promising Player in the U-19 category).