The 2014 Murali Harmony Cup to launch on 29 October
MEDIA RELEASE The 2014 Murali Harmony Cup will be launched on 29 October, organisers confirmed on Thursday. The Murali Cup is a reconciliation cricket tournament that promotes unity, goodwill, teamwork, the spirit of fair play and service to disadvantaged rural communities in post-war Sri Lanka.
The tournament has been jointly organised by former Sri Lanka cricketer Muttiah Muralidharan’s charity the Foundation of Goodness, travel company Red Dot Tours and the Sri Lanka Army. The 5-day event featuring U19 schoolboys and U23 women cricketers is being played at five grounds across Northern Sri Lanka in the towns of Jaffna, Oddusuddan, Mankulam and Kilinochchi. This year’s tournament, the third since the inaugural event in 2012, has been expanded to a total of 24 teams meaning a total of 360 cricketers, most from disadvantaged rural schools, will be participating.
“I wish all the participants the best and to enjoy the tournament in the spirit of the game, while hoping spectators too get to witness some memorable cricket.” The tournament is funded exclusively by sponsorship and private donations with OYOB and Lanka Graphite being the main sponsors of this year’s tournament. “It’s our pleasure and privilege to support the 2014 Murali Harmony Cup run by the Foundation of Goodness,” explained Jitto Arulampalam from OYOB.
Other key sponsorship partners include MAS, Fortune, Tokyo Cement, Nation’s Trust, Coca-Cola, Kia Motors and Access. Sri Lankan cricket legends Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardena have once again played a key role in helping this year’s tournament goes ahead. “Having attended last year’s tournament it is uplifting to see how children from different parts of the country are brought together by sport and witness the positive spirit in which the game is played,” Sangakkara said. Jayawardena added: “The participation of the 16 boy’s and 8 girl’s teams including several combined teams will help develop the children’s ability to work with other people both on and off the pitch to help their communities and societies become better places. “ The two previous boy’s tournaments were both won by St Peter’s College who will start as one of the tournament favourites having been invited back to defend their crown.
However, this year they will face stiff competition from island champions Richmond College from Galle, Ananda College from College and a traditionally strong Jaffna Combined Schools. The U23 Ladies tournament will once again feature eight teams but this year all the matches will be staged in Mankulam with a 15-over per innings format that means three matches per day. This year the invitations for the Ladies teams focused on rural teams who need the exposure with teams invited from Kurunegala, Matale, Anuradhapura, Badulla, Nittambuwa, Seenigama and Polonnaruwa.
About the Murali Harmony Cup
Quotes from Tournament Officials, Players and Sponsors Muttiah Muralidharan I am proud that the Murali Harmony Cup will be hosted again for a 3rd consecutive year and grateful for the hard work that has gone on behind the scenes to make this happen. The greater number of teams participating is testament to the success of the previous tournaments and also will foster the goals of integrating communities across the island. I am extremely thankful to the Organising Committee for their commitment once again and our sponsors and partners without whom the tournament would not have happened. As in my playing days, there were no barriers to achieve success and this is one platform going beyond boundaries where that can be further consolidated to bring about togetherness. I wish all the participants the best and to enjoy the tournament in the spirit of the game, while hoping spectators too get to witness some memorable cricket. Kumar Sangakkara I am extremely proud to be supporting the 2014 Murali Harmony Cup, which is now in its 3rd consecutive iteration. Having attended last year’s tournament it is uplifting to see how children from different parts of the country are brought together by sport and witness the positive spirit in which the game is played. The increased participation this year is also a great sign of how the tournament has been growing to ensure greater representation of schools and communities from across the island, especially those who have been deprived of this opportunity over the years. I wish the tournament every success and also would like to thank the organising committee and sponsors for making this happen. Mahela Jayawardena When Murali initially asked me to support the Harmony Cup that he was setting up I was extremely happy to lend my weight and support not just the tournament but also the objectives it was aiming to achieve in fostering reconciliation and friendship between the people of Sri Lanka. I am delighted that the tournament has gone from strength to strength and is now an annual fixture. The participation of the 16 boy’s and 8 girl’s teams including several combined teams will, I believe, help develop the children’s ability to work with other people both on and off the pitch to help their communities and societies become better places. I wish the participants all the best and hope they have a memorable time. Jitto Arulampalam - OYOB It’s our pleasure and privilege to support the 2014 Murali Harmony Cup run by the Foundation of Goodness. We are humbled by the achievements of a grassroots foundation that has inspired and changed the lives of many over the past decade through acts of love, passion and compassion,” he added. We continue to applaud the vision of Muttiah Muralidharan, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardena, and Kushil Gunasekera to engage with the next generation of Sri Lanka to bring harmony and prosperity to the country.
Billy Walpola – Director Marketing, Tokyo Cement Tokyo Cement Group is enthusiastic about the flourishing partnership that we enjoy with the “Foundation of Goodness,” it is a relationship that we are committed to, from our initial endeavours in building cricket pitches in the North and East, to our future commitments of developing athletic training camps and facilities in the South and West. Hiranth Fernando – Head of Sales & Marketing, Pyramid Wilmar “Fortune is delighted to be involved in the Murali Harmony Cup for the 3rd consecutive year. The successive results of the past years inspired us to be a part of this great event once again. We hope all participants will have a wonderful five days of playing cricket and in the process foster new bonds with other communities that will bring us all together and unite us as one nation.” – Hiranth Fernando, Head of Sales & Marketing. Abhishek Jugran - Country Manager, Coca-Cola Sri Lanka and Maldives The Murali Cup is a unique platform that brings together talented young men and women from different parts of Sri Lanka to develop and showcase their cricketing skills. It is a great platform for these children and we are very happy that we as Coca-Cola can partner with The Murali Cup and help the youngsters in our communities in a small way. Coca-Cola is committed to making a positive difference to the communities in which it operates and we hope that through this Cup, we can give back to the communities in Sri Lanka. We wish the players all the very best. Priyantha Talwatta – DGM Cards & Strategic Marketing, Nations Trust Bank Nations Trust Bank, the Official Banking Partner is honoured to support the Murali Harmony Cup which is an initiative that will foster greater harmony amongst varied communities in Sri Lanka
Media Notes: For all the latest news and information on the Murali Cup 2014, please visit - www.themuralicup.com. For further information please contact: Ends.
27th October 2014 
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