The Mercantile Cricket Association (MCA) is well known for having taken care of many Sri Lanka cricketers who worked in the mercantile sector.
Now the MCA has embarked on a mission to improve their facilities further and have got into an alliance with the Insurance Corporation as their partner. They associate their success to being non-political and their existence for 113 long years with a membership of about 200 private firms that account for hundreds of active cricketers.
Mahesh de Alwis president of the MCA said that they already have a well equipped indoor academy for children with about 350 students attending classes. They also posses outdoor nets and is equipped with a bowling machine.
“I don’t think any academy is Sri Lanka has the facilities we have along with qualified coaches, a ground with turf pitches and side practice nets. We conduct matches in seven divisions throughout the year,” said De Alwis.
“We have a five-year plan for the future. We want to further improve the ground which is already about 25 percent done. The outdoor nets are to be shifted to the corner so that there will be more space for playing cricket. This will be a long term investment to make room for players to use the full ground at practices,” added De Alwis.
The MCA already has a pavilion that is being renovated and refurbished often giving it a present glamorous look. However the MCA spearheads want to improve it further in the next three years.
They have a scoreboard that is maintained by Singer Sri Lanka that can also be improved.
Priyantha Perera the chief operating officer of Insurance Corporation said that this is their first partnership with the MCA that he noted has contributed immensely in making a valuable contribution to cricket in Sri Lanka.
