6 November 2009
The annual Royal-Thomian cricket match which has been played without interruption even during the two world wars for the past 130 years is easily one of the oldest inter-school cricket encounters in the world. The ‘Battle of the Blues’ is not merely a sporting event but a national pastime in the cricket crazy island nation.
The desert rivalry between the old boys in the UAE began in 2000. Coincidentally two players captained the respective teams in the 1986 ‘Battle of the Blues’ in Colombo — Heshan de Silva of Royal and Lindon Loos of S. Thomas’ — led the sides in the inaugural match.
The rugby encounter began in 2001 adding to the day’s proceedings to make the open the event more fun for the old boys from both schools and the spectators alike. Both these colleges are also two leading rugby playing schools in Sri Lanka.
The event is filled with friendly rivalry between the Old Boys and their families with games for the kids and a cricket match for spouses of the Old Boys.
This is the ninth edition of the event with Royal leading the series with five wins each in both cricket and rugby.
S. Thomas’ aim to put the record right in the 15-over cricket match for the ‘Gulf Battle of the Blues’ trophy this year. They are led by right hand opening batsman Vajira Hettiarachchi who is confident of success since they have an experienced side including ‘coloursman’ Manoj Algama, Lindon Loos and all-rounder Lashan Egalahewa. Hettiarachchi and Algama featured in the highest opening stand of the series of 70 in the last encounter though ending up on the losing side. “We have an experienced team and our batting runs deep,” said Hettiarachchi confidently.
Royal is led this year by paceman Keerthi de Silva who can count on the services of ‘coloursman’ Heshan de Silva, Nurendra Perera, Manjula Premaratne, Nigel Fernando and Amal Karunaratne.
Royal appear to be taking the 10-a-side rugby match more seriously with skipper Harish de Fonseka saying they have been practising for the past two and half months with a squad of 12-14 players at Zabeel Park.
The ‘coloursman’ in their side are Madhava Chandrasekera, Rajiv de Chickera, Manesh Panchavarnam, Trevor Fernando and Reza Dole. In addition they have all-rounder Manjula Premaratne, Shanaz Hajireen and Inshaz Hafeel who scored their matchwinning try last time to boost their attacking potential. “Our expectations are very high. We hope to make this a stepping stone to win the Bradby Shield,” said skipper de Fonseka. Royal have never won the Gulf ‘Bradby’ match against traditional rivals Trinity College, Kandy.
S. Thomas’ rugby team will be led by Sadesh de Silva who will also play in the cricket tie. They have two ‘coloursman’ Iqbal Marjan and Manoj Algama. “We have a young side this time and hope to do well,” said Sadesh.
