The Cricket Academy director Vivek Ganesan has hailed the sponsorship from TNM, saying it has helped the cricket training institution grow the game and put Malawi in the Guinness records.
The Cricket Academy, with headline sponsorship from TNM, is winding up the 2014 season with a number of tournaments lined up at Blantyre Sports Club and St. Andrews International High School.
TNM’s sponsorship of the academy stands at K34 million.
“This year (2014) has been challenging, but productive in terms of the growth of cricket in Malawi and accomplishments from various activities,” he said.
Ganesan said a major highlight of 2014 was the attempt by the academy’s members to break the world record for the longest time an individual has batted in the nets or longest individual net session.
The players that attempted the record are Donnex Kansonkho (20 hours), Gershom Ntambalika (31 hours), Dickson Matiya (32 hours) and Gift Kamsonkho (32 hours).
“Two of the boys have set new world records. All the information and evidence has been sent to Guinness, who will announce the results at the end of the year,” he said.
Ganesan said other milestones by the academy, include assisting the Malawi Cricket Union to be re-admitted by the International Cricket Council (ICC) after a three-year suspension, training coaches, running cricket clinics in townships and district outreach programmes.
He also noted that through the financial support from TNM, the Cricket Academy participated in various sets of men and women championships such as the 20/20, 30/30 and 40/40 in all the key regions of the country.
“We have the opportunity and potential to accomplish great things and to build on our success, so far, which would have not been possible without support from our sponsors and the contribution of our volunteers,” he said.
TNM head of marketing Sobhuza Ngwenya said the premier mobile telecoms operator is proud to be associated with the work of the Cricket Academy in promoting the game at grassroots level.
TNM has a four-year sponsorship agreement with the Cricket Academy to the tune of K24 million. In August, TNM injected an additional K10.2 million for buying equipment to assist the academy with its Guinness World Record attempt.
