Cricket: Lakstars Champions Trophy |26 June 2018

Six-a-side soft ball cricket tournament – first ever in Seychelles

Blessed with beautiful weather, it was a fine day to play cricket. A six-a-side cricket championship trophy hosted by the Lakstars Sport Club, in the Republic of Seychelles will go down in history as the first ever cricket event organised in this magnitude.

It was played in championship and plate categories, giving each team ample opportunities to qualify.

The inaugural Lakstars Champions Trophy 2018 took place on June 17, 2018 at the Mont Fleuri grounds and it started at 11am.

The chief guest was none other than Nuwan Kulasekara, a professional Sri Lankan cricket player who played for his country’s national team from 2003 to 2017. He was regarded as one of the best swing bowlers in the world.

He, together with the Sri Lankan High Commissioner, H.E. Tikiri Gunathilaka, was welcomed into the grounds through an arch of cricket bats held by the current Lakstars players escorted by children clad in the Sri Lankan national dress.

Kulasekara bowled the first delivery of the tournament and opted to face a few deliveries with the bat as well.

It was a fun-filled day as it was organised with a family atmosphere in mind with a bouncing castle for children, food and drink stalls, while the Lakstars own DJ played a good selection of music in different languages, to ensure that none of those taking part felt left out. And it definitely was a good replication of the atmosphere that one would experience during cricket matches played in Sri Lanka. ……….More liveliness was brought in by the Bangladeshi and Indian players with their unique dances when they were not on the pitch.

Thirty-two (32) teams took part in the competition and the final matches were played under the floodlights, once again a ‘FIRST’ in Seychelles. The competition concluded in the early hours of June 18. Even though it was a Monday, it did not matter as it was a public holiday in Seychelles.

Once been a British colony, the main sport that is loved and played by Seychellois at large is football. There a few more sports that are famous among the nation such as volleyball and basketball, but somehow cricket is not one of them.

Nevertheless, the sport is not a novice to the country either; as it has been kept alive in the Seychelles soil for the past 20 odd years by the Indian, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi and South African nationals residing in the country. Most are expatriates who for the love of cricket will somehow find time during the weekends to play a game of hard ball cricket despite their busy schedules and various other constraints.

Amongst these nationalities, there are seven Indian teams, 2 Sri Lankan teams and a Bangladeshi team and a couple of tournaments are played during a year, such as Vijay Cup and Gran Kaz Cup. All matches are played on Sundays which is the day off for most.

All games are monitored under Seychelles Cricket Association, which is an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and African Cricket Association. It receives funding from the ICC to promote cricket as a sport within the Seychellois community.

Lakstars Sport Club is a duly registered non-profit organisation, purely funded by the annual membership fees of its members and is formed by the Sri Lankan cricket enthusiasts. Any additional expenses that need to be incurred are equally borne by the members or through fund-raising events such as the Lakstars Champions Trophy 2018. All members make up the Lakstars first or second XI teams.

Needless to express the mammoth task we undertook to organise the Champions Trophy, without having any funds in the bank account that could be infused towards the event. The generosity of some of the businessmen, individuals and companies in the country and the support given by the Sri Lankan High Commission, the National Sports Council and the Seychelles Cricket Association and with the dedication of the members it turned out to be an event that was organised professionally and successfully.

Due to the requests of many, the Lakstars Sport Club intends to make this an annual event, henceforth.

Our heartfelt gratitude goes out to all the sponsors without their generosity this event would have only been a dream, Sri Lankan High Commissioner, H.E. Tikiri Gunathilake, and Nuwan Kulasekara who accepted our invitation without any hesitation, and to all those who helped us in numerous ways, including our families.

Nadisha Gamage

Laskstars Sport Club

(Photos Courtesy of Lushanthi Karunathilake)