Bharti Airtel, a leading global Telecommunications company with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa, announced its partnership with the Mercantile Cricket Association for the development and progress of cricket at MCA. Airtel Lanka is no stranger to sports sponsorship in Sri Lanka and globally, having sponsored several inter-school tournaments for various sports and several school level sports teams in the fields of Football, Rugby, Swimming, Rowing, Basketball and Tennis. The contract which commences this year will see Airtel Lanka as the principal sponsor of the MCA Tier ‘A & B’ Super T20 Tournaments.

Commenting about the sponsorship Mr. Suren Goonewardene, CEO/MD, Bharti Airtel Lanka said, “As an organization, Airtel Lanka is always looking for new ways of being relevant to our target group – creating life enriching moments, and thereby enriching lives. We believe that sports provide the ideal platform to achieve this and what better way of promoting dynamic and positive energy than through the game of Cricket – the gentlemen’s game that is passionately played by the youth of our country. We also recognize the MCA as an association not only contributing immensely to the development of the game of cricket in the island, but even more importantly the contribution they make to keeping the game alive at high standards with the involvement of the corporate sector. While we believe that through this association, we have not only positioned ourselves as a leading supporter of Mercantile sports but also believe that sports development as it plays a key role in the development of future leaders and role models thus creating a progressive corporate community in Sri Lanka”.

The MCA will conduct this year’s T20 Tournament in two segments. While some of the national cricketers will be participating in the Premier “A” segment, players representing the MCA “D to G” divisions consisting of more than 200 teams will play in the “B” division. This would give experienced players and newcomers an equal opportunity to excel and even gain National recognition as MCA tournaments are closely monitored by National selectors.

Commenting on the new partnership with Airtel Lanka, President of the MCA Ashley Ratnayake noted, “It is indeed a privilege for the MCA to partner-up with a large corporate like Airtel Lanka – an organization that has contributed tremendously for the development of sports both in Sri Lanka and abroad. With this partnership the MCA will be able to take cricket to the next level and we thank Mr. Suren Goonewardene a Cricket enthusiast himself for his ready agreement to come forward and be a part of the development activities of the MCA.”

The tier ‘A’ tournament is scheduled to begin on the 2nd of May 2014, with all top notch teams featured in the Premier “A” segment billed to take part including many Players form the national pool. The Teams will take the field in coloured clothing and all matches will be played using white balls. The quarter finals are scheduled to be played on 2nd of May at the MCA and Bloomfield grounds. The Semi-finals will be on 3rd of May with the Finals scheduled to be played at MCA on the 4th of May 2014. All matches will be played on Turf wickets and played to the latest ICC rules and regulations with the finest match officials in the country already assigned to cover all the matches. The final of the Premier “A” Division is also billed to be shown live on TV for the benefit and enjoyment of all cricket lovers in the country.

The Tier ‘B’ tournament consisting the winners and runners-up of the ‘D, E, F and G’ divisions will be scheduled to be played in August/September after the completion of the “F and G” divisions which are currently in progress.

Both tournaments will feature trophies for the winners, runners–up, Man of the Tournament, Man of the Final, Best Bowler, Best Batsman and a special award for the Most Disciplined Player. In the inaugural tournament held last year which was limited only to Tier ‘A’, Sampath Bank came out as winners beating HNB in the grand finale at the NCC grounds.

About Bharti Airtel Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd: Airtel Lanka made its foray into the field of sports sponsorships in the year 2012 through its associations with Manchester United and Football, Rugby, Tennis, Golf, Rowing and Basketball. The company has been involved in the development of sports, as evidenced by its various sponsorships at school, district and national levels. While Airtel Lanka continues to be involved beyond just a mere investment with all its sports sponsorships stakeholders, it is committed to developing local talent to international standards, thus fostering school sports to new heights as well as contributing actively towards the positive development of youth in Sri Lanka.

About the MCA: The Mercantile Cricket Association (MCA) had its beginnings hundred years ago in 1911, being then known as the Mercantile Cricket Competition (MCC). Having celebrated a century of existence under the careful guidance of 23 local presidents up to date the MCA has contributed immensely to the upliftment of cricket in Sri Lanka. The MCA conducts 11 major tournaments annually staging more than 600 match fixtures which are played throughout the year, namely tournaments branded from A – G followed by the Mercantile Six-a-side, over 40 Sixes, T20 and the Women’s Six-a-side Cricket tournament. Of these the “A” division and “B” division, followed by the T20 and the Mercantile Six a side virtually features the entire list of national team players who represent their chosen mercantile firms.

Photo captions: (From left) Romesh De Mel - Head of Operations Bharti Airtel Lanka, Suren Goonewardene Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director Bharti Airtel Lanka, Ashley Rathnayake - President MCA, Naran Mahawatta - Vice President MCA and Mahesh De Alwis Chairman Tournament Committee