Royal-Thomian at the SSC ground from Oct 28-30 | Sunday Observer

Royal-Thomian at the SSC ground from Oct 28-30

24 October, 2021

The 142nd Battle of the Blues cricket encounter between Royal College and S. Thomas’ College will be played from October 28 to 30 at the SSC ground in Colombo without spectator patronage with Dialog as the main sponsor.

In a media statement the joint match organizing committee said that the decision to play the match was done in consultation with the cricket advisory committees of both schools after consultation with the heads of both schools.

“The relevant government authorities have granted permission for the match to be played with strict guidelines to be adhered by the organisers. Consequently, the match will be played behind closed doors without any invitees or spectators.

“The two teams and match officials will be following all Covid-19 protocol and health and safety guidelines of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) that will regulate playing conditions, as well as be within a bio secure environment as per the guidelines of the Ministry of Health,” the Joint Organizing Committee said in the statement.

The Thomians will be led by Shalin de Mel while Ahan Wickremasinghe will captain Royal.

The Royal-Thomian is the second oldest uninterrupted cricket series in the world that commenced two years after two schools in Australia, St. Peter’s College, Adelaide and Prince Alfred College in Adelaide played their first match.

Both Royal and S. Thomas’ have won 35 matches each in the series with the rest ending in draws and this year’s encounter will not have the usual build-up with very little or no proper competitive cricket in the schools arena due to the pandemic.

The Shield at present sits among the silverware iat S. Thomas’ College after they won the encounter in 2020 with Thevin Eriyagama as captain while Royal last won the contest in 2016 with Geeshanth Paditharatne as captain.

Match sponsor Dialog has made all arrangements to donate Rs.1000 for every run scored and Rs.10,000 for each wicket the proceedings of which will go towards the welfare of selected deserving schools according to the organizers.

Last year’s encounter raised more than a million rupees.

Dialog has also made arrangements to stream the match live via thepapare.com, Dialog VIU mobile App and on their TV Channel One.

Comments