The Academy Story
From three students in late 2002 to a national talent pipeline.
Founded 2002
A dream that became Sri Lanka's best academy in & around Colombo.
When Chris Obeyesekera was the head of HR, HNB was on the forefront of Mercantile Cricket & whilst he was an MCA Ex-co Member at the same time his dream was to set up a Cricket School for the youngsters and was determined to make it a reality during his tenure of office as the MCA President. So it happened in late 2002 — his last term in office as head of MCA — and done in the smallest way possible with only three students: Basil Perera's son Shalindra, Graeme La Brooy's son Onesh and Rogar Wijesuriya's son Ryan.
Its first Coach was St. Sebastian's College, Moratuwa, 1966 big match winning Captain, Sarath Perera. As Coach, Sarath Perera soon put his new coaching, PR skills & influence into good use — the school grew in popularity, opening the doors to a flood of new students. By 2004 the student population had grown to over 50 students & Coach Perera was given an Assistant, a young budding from Kegalle who had earlier won the Observer Outstation Schoolboy Cricketer of the year, Namal Seneviratne.
This mixture of experience & youth did a world of good to the progress of the school & paved the way to a bright future. Obeyesekera's unique innovation was highly taken up by all, inspiring his successors from 2002 up to date — Tyrone de Silva, Adel Hashim, Tissa Madigasekera, Neil Perera, Mahesh Wijewardene (Centenary President), Ashley Ratnayake, Gamini Wickramasinghe, Niran Mahawatte, Roshan Iddamalgoda, Rohana Dissanayake and the incumbent Nalin Wickramasinghe — to preserve and nurture the "Cradle" and make it the best Cricket Academy in and around Colombo.
The MCA Cricket Academy provides training for U-13, U-15 & U-17 cricketers, Boys & Girls, currently standing around 250 students. The students are trained not only the basic aspects of the game (batting / bowling / fielding), but going beyond the boundary — teaching them leadership, public speaking, ethics & etiquette, nutrition / table manners and behavior in & out of the field.
The latest addition is the Girls Academy, under former SL Women's Cricket Captain Sashikala Siriwardena, established in 2015 — the brain-child of former MCA President Gamini Wickramasinghe, which was an instant hit. The Academy has produced a number of cricketers who have reached National Level, such as Vimukthi Perera, Avishka Fernando, Santhush Gunatillake, Vinuja Ranpaul, Harshitha Madhavi & Tharika Sewvandi. It has also produced the higher number of School Captains. Under the present Chairman of the MCA Cricket Development Committee, Mahesh de Alwis, and Secretary, Sanjaya Wijesinghe, the Academy is bound for a new vista.
