Fairfirst Insurance has come forward to sponsor the Mercantile Cricket Association’s (MCA) ‘F’ division tournament for the fifth consecutive year.
There are 31 teams for the Fairfirst Insurance Trophy that began on February 11. It is played on a league basis in four groups, followed with the knock-out stage beginning with the pre-quarter-finals on April 1 and 2, the quarter-finals on April 5, the semi-finals on April 9 and the final on April 22.
Three new teams in the fray are George Steuart, Slim Pharmaceuticals and Certis Lanka.
The CEO of Fairfirst Insurance, Sundeep Gopal said that they were impressed with the progress made by the MCA.
“We had a great season last year and all Corporates have great respect for them. Many great sportsmen have emerged by playing in their tournaments that bring people together,” said Gopal.
President of MCA Nalin Wickremasinghe said that the MCA have come a long way during its existence.
“We have now built a cricket academy with floodlights and all other facilities within a short time. We will take the game to the outstations by conducting a six-a-side tournament in Galle on March 11. We also wish to send an under-15 and U-19 team to England in July to participate in a tournament there,” said Wickremasinghe.
The teams:
Group A: Slim Pharmaceuticals, Cargills Bank, MAS Silueta, Nations Trust Bank, Bank of Ceylon, Certis Lanka Group, George Steuart Health and Standard Chartered Bank
Group B: Asiri Hospitals, MAS Linea Aqua, Unilever Sri Lanka, Ceylon Tobacco Company, South Asia Gateway Terminals, Softlogic Life and Ansell Textiles Lanka
Group C: Technomedics International, 3DH International Group (B), MAS Active (B), Dialog Axiata, Astron Limited, Synergen Health and Union Bank of Colombo
Group D: Hatton National Bank, Hirdaramani Group, SL Telecom (B), Emerchemie NB (Ceylon) Ltd, Ansell Lanka, David Pieris (B), Expolanka Holdings and Commercial Credit & Finance