The first turf wicket, prepared in the North by the Army troops with financial sponsorship provided by the Sri Lanka Cricket, at the St Patrick College, Jaffna was inaugurated during a ceremony on Wednesday (29), attended by a host of national cricketers, including the former captain of the Sri Lanka National Cricket Team, Mr Sanath Jayasuriya, Deputy Minister.
Together with Rev. Thomas Saundranayagam, Bishop of Jaffna, Major General Udaya Perera, Commander, Security Force Headquarters - Jaffna (SFHQ-J), Mr Muttaiah Muralidaran, Mr Ravindra Pushpakumara, Mr Upul Chandana, Mr Lanka de Silva, and Mr Eric Upashantha took part in the opening ceremony.
An exhibition cricket match played between those visiting veterans and the under 23 Jaffna Cricket Team on the new turf inaugurated the facility.
Army Engineer Service Regiment (ESR) troops using their own heavy machinery completed this one and only turf wicket in the North and East of the country under the directions of SFHQ-J Commander. The project cost about Rs 6 million and Mr Sanath Jayasuriya donated a sum of Rs 2.5 million exclusively for this Jaffna project.
St Patrick’s College in Jaffna commenced its participation in cricket about 150 years ago after it was introduced to the college by the founding Principal, Rev. Patrick Kongway. Since then, the college has been maintaining good standards in the game.
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