Tokyo Cement concretes Foundation of rural cricketers

Thanks to their generous sponsorship of the academy of the Foundation of Goodness, 23 boys and girls in the north and south made it to the Sri Lanka team as finished products

Scores of young cricketers who would have otherwise fallen by the wayside are the beneficiaries

Unknown to many and well known to the humanitarian organisation called the Foundation of Goodness (FOG), Tokyo Cement Group is been working extensively with the FOG since 2017 to develop rural cricket across Sri Lanka, including conducting monthly coaching camps in the North and South.

Under the patronage of Tokyo Cement’s generosity many girls and boys at the Sports Academy of the Foundation of Goodness have come out as finished products and many of them have worn the Sri Lanka cap and are still very much active as they hail from both the North and South that benefits through Tokyo Cement’s sponsorship.

Tokyo Cement also maintains the Foundation of Goodness’ Sports Academy cricket ground built by Surrey County Cricket Club in Seenigama as well as the Sri Sumangala MCC Lord’s at nearby Hikkaduwa which was built by Marylebone Cricket Club in England.

For nearly 10 years that Tokyo Cement had bound itself with the Foundation of Goodness that is headed by former First Class cricketer and ex-Sri Lanka Cricket secretary Kushil Gunasekera, the project has helped to foster and develop the talents of outstanding girls and boys emerging as strong and capable cricketers from the most rural and unlikely locations across the island, due to specialised training and development consistently.

The grounds maintained with the help of Tokyo Cement, has largely attracted over 350 British, Australian and South African school teams to visit thereby helping the FOG Academy and schools in the region with the exposure to elevate their standards.

Thanks to Tokyo Cement, cricket coaching camps in the south are nurturing young talent and strengthening the game at grassroots level and with access to expert training and facilities, rural schools have achieved remarkable results, from national titles to international recognition.

Rathgama’s Devepathiraja College made history by reaching three national finals in a single season with the titles of joint champs in Under-13, runners-up in Under-15 and champions in Under-17 in the top shelf.

So far as many as 3,780 boys and girls from 35 villages and eight schools have benefited from the specialised camps. The MCC facility in Hikkaduwa also produced champions, with Sri Sumangala College winning 16 consecutive matches outright to claim both the Under-19 Two-Day and One-Day Division Three titles, earning promotion to Division Two. 

In 2025, six young sportswomen from the programme represented the Sri Lanka Under-19 National Team while Gimadu Malkam of the National Deaf Team, who trained in the camps, once captained the Sri Lankan side to a World Cup victory.

From the North, two young cricketers have brought pride to their schools and communities with V. Akash of Hartley College, Jaffna and K. Muthulan of St John’s College, Jaffna selected to represent the Sri Lanka U-19 team at the rececently concluded tour of the West Indies.

Akash is also a recipient of an MCC Scholarship presented by the Marylebone Cricket Club in UK, home of cricket - Lord’s. The coaching camps have specialised trainers from Colombo and as many as 4,200 boys and girls from the North have benefited. 

For the record V. Viyaskanth (Jaffna Central College) progressed from Sri Lanka U-19 to the Sri Lanka Senior T20 Squad and the Lanka Premier League. He was also signed up by Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Indian IPL 2024. S. Mathushan (Jaffna Central College) played in the Sri Lanka team while Malsha Tharupathi (Madampagama CC/Richmond College), K. Nadeeshan (Dharmasoka College), S. Nirmal (Devapathiraja College), Jeewaka Shasheen (Devapathiraj, Pawan Sandesh (Devapathiraja College), Ravindu R. De Silva (Dharmasoka College/ St.Thomas’ College, Mt Lavinia), Navod Paranavithana (Mahinda College, Galle) and Haren Buddhila Weerasinghe (St. Aloysius College, Galle) also made it to the Sri Lanka U-19 team.

As many as 10 schoolgirls from Devapathiraja College, Sumudu Nisansala, Imasha Dulari, Kawya Kavindi, Shashini Gimhani, Sumudu Nisansala, S. Kavindi, R. Nethranjali, H. Hansika, V. Sewwandi and N. Isuranjali received call-ups for the senior and junior Sri Lanka teams.

The newest entrants to the Sri Lanka U-19 team

V. Akash (left) and K Muthulan