22nd Olcott Memorial Cricket Tournament to start off Rahula’s centenary celebrations

Rahula College Matara will commence her centenary celebrations with the 22nd Colonel Henry Steele Olcott Memorial Cricket Tournament which will be hosted at the Uyanwatta Stadium Matara on 18th, 19th and 20th November. Rahula College which was founded in 1923 will be celebrating its centenary next year.

The Henry Steel Olcott Memorial Cricket Tournament is conducted in honour of Colonel Henry Steele Olcott the founder of Buddhist Educational Institutions in Sri Lanka. The inaugural tournament was played in 1999 as part of the 75th Anniversary celebrations of Nalanda College.

Past and present cricketers of the eight ‘Olcott Schools’ namely, Ananda College Colombo, Nalanda College Colombo, Dharmaraja College Kandy, Mahinda College Galle, Maliyadewa College Kurunegala, Dharmasoka College Ambalangoda, Dharmapala College Pannipitiya and Rahula College Matara will take the field on November 18, 19 and 20.

On November 18, present school boy cricketers will fiture in a six-a-side cricket tournament followed by the semifinals, finals and award ceremony.

On November 19, an eight overs per side cricket tournament will be held among the teams made up of past cricketers of the eight schools. The semi-finals and finals and the award ceremony will be held on the 20th. A majority of National Cricketers produced by the eight schools including World Cup-winning captain Arjuna Ranathunga are expected to be in action on the 19th and 20th.

This year’s tournament is hosted by the Colombo Branch of the Rahula College OBA. The organizing committee headed by its President Sujeewa Lokuhetti, Dr Lal Ekanayake and Nalin Dissanayake (President and Secretary of the Rahula OBA’s Colombo branch), A B Gemunu de Silva (Coordinator) and all members hope to make the 22nd Olcott Memorial Cricket Tournament a memorable one for all the participants and well wishers.