Action from 2005's tsunami fund-raising match at Lord's
Knight visits tsunami projects in Sri Lanka
Date released: 28 March 2006
MCC's Secretary & Chief Executive, Roger Knight (see left), has today returned to Lord's from Sri Lanka, where he has seen some important tsunami recovery projects for himself.
Many such projects have received - or will receive - money from the special fund-raising match which was staged at Lord's last season.
Funds from this MCC-organised fixture - which raised around £650,000 - have already supported Sri Lankan projects organised by the Leonard Cheshire Foundation and the British Red Cross.
The next good cause to benefit will be The Foundation of Goodness - a charity founded and run by Kushil Gunesekera and actively supported by the world's two most successful spin bowlers, Shane Warne (Australia) and Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka).
Following a trip to Seenigama, where he saw how the village is being rebuilt, Roger Knight said: "It is very impressive to see the progress that Foundation of Goodness has already made in this area. Many families have been re-housed further away from the sea; the community centre is a focal point of all the activities; there is great enthusiasm for the courses in English and computer skills, and for cricket; and excellent work is being done to encourage livelihoods and enterprise."
During Roger's visit, a special bank account was established, in Colombo, to enable more funds from the match to be spent on projects which are making a real difference in assisting local people who were badly affected by the tsunami.
The account's three signatories - Vijaya Malalasekera, Mano Ponniah and Ajith Dias - will be sending regular progress reports to MCC, which is determined to ensure that the funds generated by 2005's fixture are spent as efficiently and effectively as possible.
The game at Lord's featured 22 of the best players from around the world - including Stephen Fleming (New Zealand), Brian Lara (West Indies), Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka), Rahul Dravid (India), Shoaib Akhtar (Pakistan) and Shaun Pollock (South Africa).