Mr. S. R. Gnanam – Managing Director, Tokyo Cement Company (Lanka) PLC. presenting the Cricket Coaching Academy sponsorship for 2025 to Mr. Kushil Gunasekera – Founder/Chief Trustee, Foundation of Goodness.
Tokyo Cement Group extended the sponsorship of Cricket Coaching Camps with the Foundation of Goodness (FoG) for the 10th consecutive year. Over the past decade this transformative partnership has opened doors for hundreds of aspiring schoolboys and schoolgirls from remote backgrounds to rise through the ranks and make their mark at divisional, national, as well as international cricket. This year’s sponsorship will primarily focus on the Northern coaching camp, with the aim of creating more opportunities for talented young players from the region to chase their cricketing dreams.
In its ten-year history this impactful partnership between Tokyo Cement Group and the Foundation of Goodness has produced 23 exceptional young cricketers from rural communities in the North and South who have earned places in Sri Lankan national teams. To date, nearly 4,200 children from the North and 3,780 from eight schools across 35 southern villages have benefited from the coaching camps led by professional trainers.
This includes multiple superstars in the Sri Lanka Women’s National Team, such as Kaveesha Dilhari, Sachini Nisansala, Imesha Dulani, Kawya Kavindi, Umasha Thimeeshani, Nilakshana Sandamini, Sathya Sandeepani, Sachini Gimahani, and many others, bringing unprecedented glory to the country, including winning the Women’s T20 Asia Cup 2024. The FOG Cricket Academy was also the powerhouse behind star-class national players in Sri Lanka’s Under-19 Team including Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Navod Paranavithana, Malsha Tharupathi, Haren Weerasinghe, and S. Mathushan among others, standing proof of the solid foundation laid by the Tokyo Cement-Foundation of Goodness Cricket Coaching Academy.
Adding impetus to the initiative this year, the Northern cricket camp proudly celebrated two of its brightest talents, V. Akash from Heartley College and K. Muthulan from St. John’s College in Jaffna, earning selection to the Sri Lanka U19 National Squad for the West Indies tour in September 2025. Furthermore, the Southern coaching camp celebrated the outstanding performance of Rathgama Devapathiraja College’s U17 Team, comprised of regular campers, led by the 2024/25 MCC at Lord’s Scholarship recipient and rising star Arosha Sithumina taking his side to victory with 150 runs in the U17 All-Island Quarterfinals in Colombo, before going on to win the U17 A-Division Championship. This win combined with their U13 team becoming joint champs, the U15 and U19 teams becoming runners-up meant that Rathgama Devepathiraja College made history by reaching four national finals in a single season. Furthermore, the MCC facility in Hikkaduwa also produced champions, with Sri Sumangala College winning 16 consecutive matches outright to claim both the U19 Two-Day and One-Day Division 3 titles, which is a historical school record, earning promotion to Division 2.
The Tokyo Cement-Foundation of Goodness Cricket Coaching Academy started in 2014 by setting up two fully equipped top-grade training grounds in Hikkaduwa and Seenigama. The success of the Southern camp inspired Tokyo Cement to expand the programme to the North in 2017, with the goal of identifying 50 promising young players and training them to become star-class Sri Lankan cricketers. The coaching camps held in the North are received with much enthusiasm, attracting many schoolgirl and schoolboy cricketers from all age groups from Jaffna, Killinochchi, Oddusudan, Mankulam, Mullaitivu, and Vavuniya, who have achieved remarkable results, from national titles to international recognition.
Guided by renowned coaches headed by Hemantha Devapriya and Susantha Karunarathna, under the leadership of FoG’s Director of Sports, Mr. Anura De Silva, the academy nurtures young talent at grassroot level by giving them access to expert training and facilities. In addition, district and school-level coaches support promising young cricketers to hone their skills and induct them into an elite pool of players who receive specialized training.
This 10-year milestone of the Tokyo Cement–Foundation of Goodness partnership stands as a testament to creating equal opportunities and nurturing the confidence of a new generation of talented rural cricketers, capable of carrying Sri Lanka’s pride onto the international cricket arena.
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