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Wednesday, June 02, 2010 - 6.05 GMT |
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First ICC Match in USA features Lankan Team |
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Members of the Sri Lankan National Cricket Team were guests of honor at a charity dinner for nearly 400 people co-hosted by the Sri Lankan Development Foundation and Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the United States.
The dinner was the highpoint of a historic cricket weekend, when two teams - Sri Lanka and New Zealand - played two cricket games in the first-ever International Cricket Council match in the United States.
Some Sri Lankans flew in for the matches from across the United States and Canada. Others drove hours to be a part of the historic event.
The matches were organized by USA Cricket, ICC and the national teams of Sri Lanka and New Zealand, with assistance from the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Washington, D.C.
“This historic event shows just how strongly Sri Lankans support their cricket team,” Ambassador Wickramasuriya said. “And this benefit dinner shows just how willingly Sri Lankans support a good cause.”
Dinner guests included a broad cross-section of the Sri Lankan community in the U.S., including many Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim expatriates.
“We want this to be the first of many such events,” the Ambassador said. “We have seen how beautiful Broward County’s cricket stadium is, and of course the beach here makes us feel like we are in Sri Lanka.”
Team captain Kumar Sangakkara spoke of the team’s enthusiasm to play in the historic matches. He commented on the broader role that sport and cricket could play in healing wounds in Sri Lanka left by 25 years of conflict.
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