52 Teams line up for ‘Honda’ Trophy’s 7th edition
The MCA ‘G’ Division 25-Over League Tournament, the last of the main tournaments in the MCA’s 2017 calendar, for the ‘Honda’ Trophy sponsored by Stafford Motor Co. (Pvt) Ltd, for the 7th successive year, will commence at the weekend immediately after Vesak, May 13, 14.
A record number of 52 teams including six newcomers to Mercantile Cricket, namely Pyramid Wilmer, MD Gunasena, JAT Holdings, BPO Connect, VS Information and Waters Edge will participate.
The 52 teams are divided into eight Groups, following a draw held at the Captains’ and Secretarys’ briefing on March 22, at the MCA.
The tournament consisting of 159 half-day matches including the final, will be conducted in 2 stages- ‘League’ and the ‘Knockout’ (‘KO’).
The League Stage consisting 144 matches will be from May 14 to June 25, while the ‘KO’ Stage consisting 15 matches will be on July 1 (PQF), July 2 (QF), July 9 (QF), July 15(SF) and July 22 (Final).
Matches will be played at ten venues: MCA, St. John’s Panadura, Veyangoda Central, Campbell Park, St. Sebastian’s Moratuwa, St. Benedict’s Kotahena, Prince of Wales, Moratuwa, Thurstan College and Army Grounds Mattegoda.
Special Awards: Best Batsman, Best Bowler, Man of the Series and Man of the Final.
Flashback 2016: In the previous tournament, Sponsor, Stafford Motor Co. Ltd., lifted their own trophy, beating Palliyaguruge Group by 8 wickets in the Final played on 27/08/16 at the MCA Grounds.
The sponsorship handing over ceremony and the Media Conference was held on Wednesday (3) at 6.30 pm, at the MCA Fine dining Restaurant, .
Associated with the event were Director, Chief Operations Officer- Stafford Motor Co. (Pvt) Ltd., Charaka Perera, who handed over the sponsorship package to MCA President, Niran Mahawatte. Also present were Deputy General Manager- Damitha Jayasundara and Senior Executive, Marketing- Ruveendra Fernando of Stafford Motor Co. (Pvt) Ltd), MCA General Secretary- Nalin Wickremesinghe and MCA Tournament Committee Secretary- Tarindra Kaluperuma. Â Â Â - LR
Group ‘A’ (6 teams):
Alliance Finance, Asiri Hospitals, Coats Thread Lanka, GlaxoSmithKline, Group M Media, Maliban Biscuits.
Group ‘B’ (7 teams):
ACL Cables, First Choice, PABC Bank ‘C’, Polytex Garments, Pyramid Wilmar, Singer Sri Lanka ‘B’, The Tea & Herbs.
Group ‘C’ (7 teams):
Commercial Credit ‘C’, Deutsche Bank, DIMO ‘B’, Kelani Cables, MD Gunasena, Wurth Lanka, Union Assurance.
Group ‘D’ (7 teams):
Avian Technologies, JAT Holdings, Mobitel ‘B’, Pearson Lanka, Sri Lanka Telecom, ShipXpress, SriLankan Airlines.
Group ‘E’ (6 teams):
A Baur & Co, DPMC ‘B’, MAS Active ‘D’, Fair First Insurance, CIC Holdings, Aitken Spence Group.
Group ‘F’ (6 teams):
Interpharm, Micro Holdings, MillenniumIT, Nor Lanka, RR Donnelley, The Finance Company.
Group ‘G’ (6 teams):
Cargills Bank, Coca-Cola Beverages, Courtaulds Clothing, HNB Assurance, Jetwing Travels, PEAK Colombo
Group ‘H’ (7 teams):
Avery Dennison, BPO Connect, CEAT Kelani, HNB ‘B’, Laugfs Holdings, VS Information, Waters Edge.