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It
is now established as the most popular event in the social
calendar of the Sri Lankan community in the UK, offering everyone
a day of fun and excitement.
Well,
it all happened several years ago at a time when a dark cloud
seemed to overshadow Sri Lanka. Civil war and ethnic unrest
appeared to have spread from the North to the South and the
words 'Unity' and 'Friendship' were at their lowest ebb. In
the UK such feelings of unity and friendship were attempting
to make a desperate entry into the expatriate community in
the form of a sporting event, to enable us to work together
in harmony, emerged as the 'Festival of Cricket'.
This
concept was the result of an inspiration that dawned on an
old Anandian cricketer while he was watching the Sri Lanka
vs England International cricket match in London. Finally
the thought developed into a constructive programme and with
the approval and the support of his Ananda Old Boys' Association
in the UK, GC Perera introduced his concept and the democratic
framework for the 'Cricket Festival', to a few other Sri Lankan
0ld Boys' Associations in the UK.
The
event first took off the ground on the Bank Holiday, 9th May
1989, at Maori Club in a suburb of London, Worcester Park,
Surrey. The concept of the festival was based on the objectives
of bringing together the expatriates, their friends and relations
to enjoy a day of cricket in a festival atmosphere, i.e. similar
to that of the inter-school rival 'Big Match' atmosphere in
Sri Lanka. Six OBAs participated in the inaugural festival.
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G.C.
PERERA
They
were Ananda, Royal, St.Thomas', St.Peter's, Trinity and St
Anthony's. Each OBA was allocated its own marquee where they
displayed their college flags & colours, along with megawatt
Sinhala and western music, with food and drink in abundance
each marquee exhibited its own individual characteristics.
Perhaps as a blessing to the good efforts by the Old Anandians,
they went in to the history book of the festival as the champions
of the tournament winning the 'OBA Challenge Trophy' donated
by ACE Finance Services. It was indeed a very memorable day
for all those who participated.
The
following year, the Cricket Festival was renamed as the 'Festival
of Cricket' in the UK and a formal constitution was introduced
with a full membership of the OBAs. Over the past years the
festival has gone from strength to strength. In 1995 the event
moved from its birthplace, Maori Club, to Norman Park, Bromley
in Kent to meet its ever-increasing demand for more spacious
facilities. In 2002 the FOC committee decided to relocate
the event to a picturesque venue at Shenley in Hertfordshire,
but due to the increased number of participating OBAs, trade
stalls etc since 2004, the event moved to more spacious locations
such as ‘Civil Service’ Grounds in Chiswick and Winchmore
Hill Cricket club in Middlesex.
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This
has meant that not only did the schools in Sri Lanka get additional
funds from their old boys in England as a mark of respect
for the education they received at home, but it has attracted
many commercial enterprises such as S R Gent plc, Ceylinco
Consolidated, Sam’s Chicken, PCi, Tristar Apparels & Edmund
Solicitors, Air Lanka, Fast Cash, Clubworld Sports & Holiday,
Bank of Ceylon and several others who have made a substantial
contribution to make this event a success.
Towards
the beginning of 1989, while the idea of organising the Festival
Of Cricket was still on the drawing board, the Children's
Charity was but a sparkle of thought. However, having been
given a conscientious ‘kick start’ at the very first festival,
the Children’s Charity has now become an integral part of
the FOC celebrations and has matured into a major fund raising
project, primarily for the benefit of Cancer patients at Maharagama
Cancer Institute of Sri Lanka where it has enabled FOC to
donate many valuable medical items over the years.
In
1991 the FOC hosted the first cricket match of the Sri Lankan
national team during their single Test Match tour of England.
Later, in 1994, a seven-a-side match between a team of S/L
national players vs a team of international test players was
introduced to the event.
During
the past years so many have tirelessly and unselfishly given
their precious time and effort towards the successful continuation
of this most popular Sri Lankan social event in the UK, every
one of them deserves our sincere thanks and no doubt, wins
our admiration for their efforts, which has enabled to keep
this event alive.
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1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2006
