When Roy Dias founded his cricket academy he sought to inculcate in his young charges the skill which had secured him an identity synonymous with cricketing greatness. Next week, when the Roy Dias Cricket Academy celebrates its 15th anniversary, it can also boast of having successfully met this objective throughout its existence.
Roy Dias and Geeth
Kumarapeli |
Founded in 1995 with just five students, the academy has progressed considerably from its humble beginnings. Currently it trains 167 students and has seen the likes of Ian Daniel, Kusal Janith, and Geeth Kumara pass through its gates. The current batch of students are groomed under the watchful eyes of Head Coach Geeth Kumarapeli, who enjoyed an illustrious school cricket career at Ananda Sastralaya where he annexed a first Xl spot from 1996-2000. Kumarapeli says he aims to teach all the new basics of the game to his students.
He is aided in his coaching duties by Dinesh Nilanga, who was also a past cricketer from Ananda Satralaya, Hemantha Ranasinghe of Dharmapala, Pannipitiya and Nadana, all of whom are ‘level one’ coaches. Manoj Abeywickrema, the present fielding coach of the Sri Lankan team, was also a coach there at one point of time.
Besides providing a wealth of cricketing knowledge to its students, the academy also sends them on a number of overseas tours. To date there have been four tours to India with a current tour to Malaysia scheduled for April 24.
There is also an annual Inter-House tournament for the Under 19, 17, 15 and 13 age groups to add to the students’ competitive experience.
Roy Dias is one of the established greats of Sri Lankan cricket.
fter commencing his cricketing career at St. Peter’s College in 1968 he went on to captain the school team in 1971 and 72. He made his debut for Sri Lanka against England in 1982 at the P Sara Oval in Colombo. He then proceeded to play 20 Tests, one of which included Sri Lanka’s inaugural Test match, and 55 ODIs. He retired from International Cricket in 1989. |
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