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28 March 2024

Thomians eye double in Gulf 'Battle of the Blues'

Honouring the winners at the 2010 event. (SUPPLIED)

Published
By Staff

The 11th Gulf 'Battle of the Blues' between the old boys of two of the leading schools in Sri Lanka - Royal College, Colombo and S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia - will be held on Friday at the Sharjah Wanderers Club grounds.

The encounter in the desert precedes the 133rd Royal-Thomian 'big match' which will be played in Colombo next week from March 8 to 10.

It is a blue riband sporting event in Sri Lanka because it is the oldest inter-school cricket encounter in the world and is older than the 'Ashes' cricket series played between England and Australia.

The two schools have produced several top leaders of Sri Lanka.  In fact, the first prime minister of Sri Lanka, D. S. Senanayake played for St. Thomas in 1901 and 1902 while the first executive president of Sri Lanka, J. R. Jayewardene played for the Royal cricket team in 1925.

There are thousands of former students from both schools domiciled abroad, and many of them fly to Colombo to attend their 'Big Match' every year, while others belonging to the alumni associations of these two schools, and  who form a key component of the Sri Lankan expatriate communities overseas,  usually organise their own version of the 'Big Match' in their respective countries of domicile.

Deepal Rajaguru, head of the Old Royalists group in the UAE, and an aviation executive, said: “As prestigious old school ties go, this one is hard to beat . This long-running match is a unique national event and one of the most popular sporting spectacles in Sri Lanka. Not only does it provide entertaining cricket but it has also  grown into a major social networking event that brings  together thousands of old boys and present pupils from the two schools for three days of  fun and frolic. In the UAE, we try to capture and present the spirit of this event  by holding this grand get-together every year.  Our team, which is training hard for Friday’s event in Sharjah, have some experienced players who played for their former school”.

Iqbal Marjan, head of the Old Thomians  in the UAE, said: “This year’s event will continue the tradition of a healthy rivalry that spans over a hundred years. More than winning and losing, it’s the camaraderie and participating in the match that matters. When sports has become fiercely competitive due to commercial interests like sponsorships and advertising, here is one match that symbolizes the sport for what it is known for – a gentleman’s game.”

In the UAE, the two schools boast of a thriving old boys network. Since 2000, the Gulf 'Battle of the Blues' has become a regular fixture in the UAE. In addition, the alumni groups from the two schools organise social events for old boys and their families, as well as supporting charity projects and initiatives undertaken by their alma mater back home.

Besides cricket, there will be a rugby match, a ‘Veterans’ match, a  ladies cricket match for spouses and relatives of the old boys,  along with food, music set to the Sri Lankan Baila beat, a raffle  and games for  the entire family making up a part of the revelry.

With Thomians going out as favourites in 'Battle of the Blues', their old boys based in the UAE are aiming to make it a double in the Gulf encounter since they have not won the rugby match for several years.

"We are more determined to win the rugby as well this time. We are doing very well in our cricket and have four coloursman," said Marjan, a former rugby player.

The Royalists are leading the series in both cricket (6-4) and rugby (7-3).

"Winning the cricket match is a big challenge for us because lost badly last time. We are taking it very seriously this time because Thomians have a good side and won the Independence Cup (organised by Lanka Lions) last year," added Rajaguru.

Held after a gap of two years, the old boys and families will be looking forward to enjoying the camaraderie of the event which begins at 2pm with a veterans cricket match, second XI cricket match, followed by matches for ladies and kids before the main 15-over cricket and 10-a-side rugby matches.

The chief guest on the occasion will be an old Thomian Manesh Peiris with old Royalist Farook Kassim as guest of honour.

"We are in prime form and have been practising for a month before picking the best XI," said Thomian all-rounder Aruna Bandaranayake, who was man of the match last time.

A former Sri Lanka under-19 player, Bandaranayake is one of three 'coloursman' in the side. The others are Meshad Peiris, who Scored a stunning run-a-ball century in the 1999 'Big Match', and off spinner Rashmillan Mohammed.

"In addition we have all-rounder Randesh Vaas and Younus Hamza," said Bandaranayake. Thomians are led by Sadesh de Silva.

Royal are determined to upset the odds having former skipper Keerthi de Silva and UAE national poolist Heshan de Silva in addition to 'coloursman' Amal Karunaratne and Manjula Premaratne in the side.

"We are strong in batting and have a powerful all-round side," said skipper Chaminda Hettiarachchi confidently. He expects all-rounders Roshan Chandrasena, Sankha Rajapakse, Thushan Dasanayake and 'baby’ of the team Dihan Shariffudin, a left handed opening bat to deliver the goods and is bolstered by the arrival of Sri Lanka under-19 leg break bowler Jehan.

Royal have dominated the rugby match in recent years but are up against a side who beat them in the Lanka Lions inter-schools sevens rugby tournament last year.

"We are fielding an inexperienced side because many of them have hung up their boots. It's a change of guard and we are forced to recall veterans Samantha Diyagubadu and Shanaz Hajireen," said Royal skipper Reza Dole.

"Thomians are favourite because they have a well-knit side who have been together for 10 years. We have prepared as well as we could and hope to put up a very good fight," he said.
 
The Thomians have a fine mix of experienced and young players led by Rajith Warnapura, who captained Sri Lanka in water polo.

"The difference this time is that we have trained hard for the first time," said Hamza. The key players in their side are Sam Cooray, who was part of the invincible Thomian team of 90/91 that went through an entire rugby season without conceding a try; Maduka Jayawardena, a member of one of the largest packs ever seen in a Schools team which weighed in at close to a tonne; and Sanjaya Jirasinghe, a national athletic champion who turned out to be one of the fastest wingers in the schools circuit for three seasons.

"We have not won rugby for 2 or 3 years. We have immense confidence in the fact that we have beaten Royal in the Lanka Lions tournament," he said.