The Sri Lankan Cricket Board has for the first time allowed leaders of various faiths to conduct prayer and blessing ceremonies for the national team, currently on tour in India.

In the past, the ceremonies had been exclusively Buddhist, UCA News reports.

“It’s the dawn of an era,” remarked Suraj Dandeniya, Sri Lankan tournament director for the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup 2011, which will be held in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said the prayer services, held in the exclusive SLC headquarters in Colombo on Nov. 9 and 11, were to strengthen the players’ spirits and to bless the new secretariat for the World cup 2011.

Sri Lankan cricketers were attacked by gunmen in Pakistan in March as they were on their way to play in the Pakistani city of Lahore. Six Pakistan security personnel and two civilians died while eight Sri Lankan players were injured.

The national cricket team, like the country, is a mixture of Buddhists, Hindus, Christians and Muslims.

Christians were represented by Fr Nirmal Malaka Silva of Colombo Catholic school St Joseph’s College at the blessing ceremonies. “The objectives are clear. Defeat or success all depend on God,” Fr Silva said.

He praised the new interreligious format. “It is a good approach,” he told UCA News.

Some argue cricket itself is a religion in Sri Lanka and the rest of the subcontinent.

The Sri Lankan team transformed itself from underdog to major contender during the 1990s, sealing its position in 1996 when it defeated Australia in the ICC World Cup.

SOURCE

All faiths go in to bat for national cricket team ^[1] (UCA News)