Cricket: Ontario CA to take on Sri Lankan schools

The Ontario Cricket Academy (OCA) of Canada will be touring Sri Lanka to play with local schools from March 10 to 20. 

This is the fourth tour to the island and 13th international tour undertaken by OCA since 2003. 

OCA's Director, Derek Perera a former National Canadian cricketer is very excited to have the Canadian youngsters play with some high class schools such as St. Benedict's Colege, DSS and St. Joseph's College, "I believe that as part of our ongoing cricket development efforts in this part of the world, that experiences such as these in Sri Lanka are so important to raise our local standards". 

The team is captained by Harkaran Mann and deputised by Akhil Kumar, both who have been in the Academy for many years and with great experience. Former South African first class and IPL player Davy Jacobs and former Benedictine skipper and Mercantile player Vishan Fernando are the two coaches in the much awaited tour. 

Fernando is optimistic about the team's chances, yet realistic in his expectations, "We have some highly talented players who can compete internationally, however for some of the players, it will be a huge learning curve, especially coming out of a Canadian winter". 

The Canadian youngsters will be playing matches in Colombo, Galle and Negombo with seven matches played among local schools. 

The team is also scheduled to witness the Nidahas Trophy finals on March 18 to get a glimpse of International T20 Cricket. 

The touring team will also have a chance of meeting some local Cricket Legends in the tour which will give them a handful to carry back to Canada.