KP24 Scholarship Tour 2016

Kevin Pietersen’s KP24 Foundation hosted the Murali Harmony Cup Unity Team in 2015 for a special training session in Dubai. In 2016, they extended a special invitation for 4 of the most outstanding cricketers who attended last year’s sessions to return once more to continue their skills development.

Kirthiran Satkunam from Nelunkulam Maha Vidyalayam, Chanuka Asinsana from Debarawewa Central College, Nithushan Mugunthan from Kilinochchi Maha Vidyalayam and Vishwa Dissanayake from Maliyadewa College accompanied by Team Manager Joel Fernando from the Foundation of Goodness travelled to Dubai from the 14th to 22nd October for a 6 day training camp which included a masterclass by Kevin Pietersen himself, intense cricket training and fitness sessions, coach education, media work and the opportunity to represent Kevin and the KP24 Foundation in matches against local teams.

The 2016 programme was attended by 2 Pakistani players, 4 Indian players and one player from UAE in addition to the 4 boys from Sri Lanka.
On the first day of the workshop, the boys started their programme by training at the nets followed by an introduction to coaching before finishing the day with a fitness session and Day 2 saw them continue with the fitness and net sessions along with field drills.

The 3rd day was a free day and the boys had an outing at the Atlantis Water Park where they thoroughly enjoyed themselves exploring the park and aquarium and going on the rides.

On Day 4, they had the amazing opportunity to attend a session on coaching with Ashley Ross, the Performance Pathway and Coach Development Lead at the ICC Academy in the morning and in the afternoon spent time with Tom Urquhart, a TV & radio personality in Dubai who conducted a workshop on working with the media. The day was not yet over for the boys who attended life coaching sessions with sponsor ANIB later in the evening before playing a match against an academy from Sharjah under lights.

The visiting team batted first, scoring 126 runs and were able to get the home team out for 120 runs, with Chanuka Asinsana from Debarawewa Central scoring 28 runs off 30 balls. The Man of the Match was a Pakistani player who scored 40 runs and 1 wicket.

Day 5 held the biggest highlight as Kevin Pietersen himself conducted outfield training and a net session for the boys and there was a special drop in by Ravi Bopara.

On Day 6, the boys had the opportunity to attend a Masterclass with Kevin which was the best way to conclude a truly memorable and life changing tour.

A big thank you goes to Kevin Pietersen, Richard Logan, David Balcombe, Caitlin Heaphy and everyone at the KP24 Foundation for continuing their support and dedication towards developing and training these rural youth, who would not receive this opportunity to develop their cricketing skills if not for these scholarship tours.

27th October 2016