President of the Jaffna Stallions Cricket Academy Dr. Rajive Nirmalasingham said that the former Lanka Premier League franchise team would be making their debut as BBK Stallions in the Mercantile Cricket Association Super Premier League 2023 tournament which will commence on Saturday (08).

Despite being replaced as owners of the Jaffna LPL franchise, they continue to support the national system by promoting cricket and talented players in the North and East by establishing the Stallions Cricket Academy.

Anandan Arnold a founding partner of Jaffna Stallions and senior partner of the accounts firm BBK Partnership said that their vision is to provide cricketers with a professional career pathway in sports and accountancy qualification as well.

The Stallions are developing cricket at grassroots level in the two provinces.

Vasanthan Jathushan, captain of St. John’s College Jaffna in 2018 and presently captain of the University of Colombo cricket team, said he grabbed the opportunity with both hands when invited to play for the BBK Stallions team. 

“This exposure would give me the opportunity to be noticed,” he said.

The BBK Stallions will be led by Sangeeth Cooray and comprises of Jeni Fleming, Isitha Wijesundera, Sohan de Livera, Rajive Nirmalasinham, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Sritharan Sarangan, Murvin Abinash, Jathushan, Arul Pragasam, Kamalarasa Iyalarasan, Imtiaz Slaza, Sheran Fonseka, Kathiragamanathan Bhanujan, Mahendran Kavilan, Kuganeswaran Karisan, Jehan Daniel, Chandramohan Thevaprasad and Antonselvadas Saraan.

Former Sri Lanka cricket Chaminda Vass has taken on the responsibility of coaching the BBK Stallions. Text and pictures by P.D. De Silva